Loitering with Intent Written by Michael Godere and Ivan Martin Directed by Adam Rapp USA, 2014 Although the profession of the screenwriter has been highlighted on the big screen many times before (Adaptation, Barton Fink, and Get Shorty), Loitering With Intent makes a valiant effort to strip away bombastic plot devices in order to showcase …
Galaxy Quest Written by David Howard and Robert Gordon Directed by Dean Parisot USA, 1999 “Never give up. Never surrender.” Truer words have never been spoken. In 1999, the science fiction genre was shaken up a bit by a movie so smart and so funny that no other film has managed to duplicate its greatness …
Better Living Through Chemistry flirts with danger from its opening moments, in which a narrator first says that while each of us can’t help everyone, everyone can help someone, and follows it up by saying that our lead character would dismiss that sentiment as fortune-cookie foolishness. That character, portrayed by Sam Rockwell, who grows more Sam Rockwell-esque by the minute here, would be right to do so, but the film he occupies essentially embraces that sentiment, if to a slightly amoral extent. Better Living Through Chemistry is, seemingly, a bit desperate to both occupy the same satiric subgenre as American Beauty and to be so emphatically unique among other American Beauty-esque films that it’s unable to fully achieve either goal in the end.
Sam Rockwell American actor Sam Rockwell is one of the few actors who’s genuinely naturally funny, but what’s more, Rockwell can take his humour and apply it to serious films. Despite playing the utterly terrifying Wild Bill in the 1999 critically acclaimed Green Mile, Rockwell’s success did not fly into the stratosphere until much …
They’re back!!! Sam Raimi and Gil Kenan are remaking the horror classic Poltergeist, and not even Hollywood rumors about a deadly curse are enough to stop them. What makes the original 1982 version so terrifying? Let’s recap. An average everyday family, living in a run-of-the-mill suburban house, begin to notice some strange things are happening in …
Sam Rockwell’s secret weapon is not his gift of gab, but his ability to use that chatty nature to disarm everyone around him. Rockwell, so rakish and charming in this summer’s indie hit The Way, Way Back, isn’t the kind of actor who can’t play taciturn, but deliberately robbing him of his quirky, squirrelly speech patterns is always a bit of a letdown.
A Single Shot USA, 2013 Directed by David M. Rosenthal When John Moon (Sam Rockwell) accidentally shoots a young woman and discovers a bag full of cash, he has to make the fateful decision whether to provide for his separating family or come out clean. His struggle to conceal both the death and the money …
Seven Psychopaths Directed by Martin McDonagh Written by Martin McDonagh USA and United Kingdom, 2012 Christopher Walken has become a gag in modern popular culture, a punchline to a joke no one’s actually told. His repeated hosting gigs on Saturday Night Live over the past two decades along with a series of bizarre appearances in …
Robot & Frank Directed by Jake Schreier Written by Christopher Ford USA, 2012 When writers play tricks with their audience, they have to be careful for two major reasons. First, they need to execute those tricks deftly, but more importantly, the stories they create can’t exist solely to pull a fast one on us. Robot …
With the Oscars finally concluded and cleared up for another year, with familiar lessons learned and perturbing trends set for the rest of the year, time comes for evaluation and discussion, thoughtful or otherwise. And one thing is clear: if there was predictability to be had in 2012, it came in the acting categories. Although …
Moon Directed by: Duncan Jones Written by: Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker 2009, USA In a genre that typically gets bogged down with clichés and conventions, Moon is a standout, a subtle and surprising 2009 film, the debut of director Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie). Refreshing and original, Jones takes us on a poignant journey …
Director Duncan Jones is on a mission to get actor Sam Rockwell an Oscar nomination by getting behind a grassroots fan campaign. Sony Pictures isn’t offering to put any money into any sort of promotion and so we here at Sound On Sight are helping out. Personally I think Duncan should also be nominated for …