Viggo Mortensen

Creating cool fight scenes has never been easier in the current age of filmmaking. Special effects have evolved to the point where the eye can rarely discriminate between what is real and what isn’t, while choreography is much more sophisticated than it was in the past, and there’s no shortage of cash to throw at action films to get everything done just right. So with all of these advances going in modern film’s favor, why aren’t more fight scenes memorable?

It’s hard to nail down the personification of the ultimate evil. The Prince of Darkness deserves to be more than just a cackling, dark figure in the background or an over-the-top sleaze.  This is an angel who has been cast out of Heaven and carries a major grudge. Neglecting the depth of his pain or not seizing …

Guilt is a powerful motivator. Its nagging voice can corrupt even the noblest of intentions. In the case of The Two Faces of January, a son’s guilt leads him into a questionable alliance in which he becomes inextricably trapped. There are twists and turns, jealousy and lust, but the real pleasure of a film like this is watching how far people will go to silence those nagging voices. Even if it means losing everything they care about.

Patricia Highsmith is one of those authors whose body of work the film industry just can’t stop panning for gold. The Two Faces of January is the latest adaptation of one of her books, and it ticks off most of the drinking game check marks we’ve come to expect from her stories: a vivid locale, desire that turns deadly, antagonists bound together by circumstance, numerous double-crosses, and a general mood of darkness in the soul. This is also the directorial debut of Hossein Amini, whose genre screenplays (Drive, Snow White and the Huntsman, 47 Ronin) have become a hot Hollywood commodity in recent years. With the help of a capable crew, Hossein has helmed a thoroughly capable film.

The Two Faces Of January Written and directed by Hossein Amini USA and UK, 2014 Anyone acquainted with Roman theology or a pub quiz will know that January is a Anglicisation of the Roman god Janus, the two-faced figurine  who stands at the cusp of the new year, simultaneously musing backward at recent lessons and …

Begin Again Formerly known as Can a Song Save Your Life?, writer-director John Carney’s latest film marks a return to the New York music scene in an uplifting tale of reinvention and rediscovery. Keira Knightley stars as Greta, an amateur singer-songwriter left heartbroken in the Big Apple after her douchebag musician boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) …

A Perfect Murder is anything but. Far from a complete misfire, Andrew Davis starts things off very nicely and definitely manages to cover some of the cracks in the armor with some slick direction and an impressive cast, but the script is woefully uneven, even unsure of itself at times. It makes for a decent thriller but all three leads have been in far better movies than this.

Cinema is a kind of uber-art form that’s made up of a multitude of other forms of art including writing, directing, acting, drawing, design, photography and fashion.  As such, film is, as all cinema aficionados know, a highly collaborative venture. One of the most consistently fascinating collaborations in cinema is that of the director and …

2005, judging by the theatrical releases, was an exceptional year for the neonoir sub-genre. Last summer, for the special Friday (neo)Noir series, reviews for Rian Johnson’s breakout independent hit Brick and Robert Rodriguez’s cinematic visualization of Sin City, both from 2005, were written. A couple of weeks ago another neonoir from the same year was put under the microscope, Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. This week features, yes, still another entry from that illustrious year, one from the most lauded director of the bunch, David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence.

Gary Oldman as Jackie Flannery in State Of Grace (Phil Joanou, 1990, USA): Long considered one of the most talented actors in cinema, it’s very strange that his outstanding acting as the younger brother of Ed Harris’ local crime boss in this underrated film doesn’t get talked about nearly enough when discussing Oldman’s body of …

David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method is a fine example of deceptively simple direction, utilizing classic cinematic language in a subtle way so as to direct its audience in a way above and beyond the majority of films of its type. This is probably the director at his technically finest, breezily and classily manipulating the audience through his …

A Dangerous Method Written by Christopher Hampton Directed by David Cronenberg Canada / Germany / UK / Switzerland, 2011 David Cronenberg’s first film since 2007’s uneven mob thriller Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method seems destined to confound and divide nearly both seasoned fans and casual moviegoers. Considerably more austere and literary than any of his …

Dimension Films, The Weinstein Company, and 2929 Productions present The Road, a film by John Hillcoat. Based upon the acclaimed novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy and adapted by Joe Penhall, The Road stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee with notable names in supporting performances given by Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, and Charlize …