Category: Movies (Page 379 of 498)

A Chat with Naoko Mori of “Torchwood”

September 11, 2008 /

If you’re an Anglo-centric sci-fi fan, then I won’t be telling you anything you don’t already know when I say that “Torchwood” is one of the best shows of its type to come around in ages. Spun off from “Doctor Who,” the series focuses on the Cardiff branch of the Torchwood Institute, an organization which was founded in 1879 by Queen Victoria to research and combat alien threats to the British Empire. If you’ve never watched “Torchwood,” it’s time to start playing catch-up. Season 1 is already available on DVD, and Season 2 makes its DVD debut on September 16th.

In conjunction with the Season 2 release, we were granted the opportunity to speak to one of the show’s cast members: Naoko Mori, who plays computer specialist Toshiko Sato. Like everyone affiliated with Torchwood, Toshiko…or Tosh, as she’s more familiarly known…has gone through quite a lot in her time with the Institute, but she definitely had more than her fair shares of issues in Season 2. We spoke with Ms. Mori about how she came aboard “Torchwood” in the first place, asked what it was like working during James Masters, quizzed her on her favorites episodes of the show, and – perhaps most crucially – asked if she still gets secretly excited when she recalls how she had a role in “Spice World.”

Stay tuned for…

Naoko Mori 1

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Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, Interviews, Movie Comedies, Movies, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV DVDs, TV Sci-Fi

Taking 5

September 11, 2008 /

There was never any reason to go into the movie “Taking 5” expecting anything other than a tweener-centric comedy with laughs on par with your average Nickelodeon sitcom, but it had one thing going for it: the inclusion of The Click Five. What can I say? I like the power pop, and those guys do it well. Plus, as a music fan, the premise of the film sounded funny enough: Devon (Alona Tal) and Gabby (Daniella Monet) desperately try to win a contest where the prize is a performance by their favorite band, 5 Leo Rise (played by The Click Five), but when things go horribly wrong, they decide to kidnap them and force them to play. I should’ve known, however, that there was something a little dodgy about this flick when I heard that the line-up of the band in the film included their original lead singer, Eric Dill, who left the band in late 2006. So why did this film sit on the shelf for so long? You’d like to think it’s because The Click Five lost some serious career momentum after Dill’s departure (and, boy, did they), but it’s more likely because the band originally come off sounding like the biggest assholes in the world. Oh, sure, eventually they come through and save the day, but why would they start the film by showing the object of the girls’ obsession acting like a bunch of complete dicks? Oh, wait, I forgot: chicks dig that. Well, in that case, maybe they’ll dig this movie more than I did.

Click to buy “Taking 5”

Actors, Actresses, External Movie DVDs, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies, Reviews

Bullz-Eye’s Pacino and De Niro on the QT

September 8, 2008 /

They’ve been linked since 1974 and “The Godfather: Part II.” Al Pacino, with only one major performance behind him, had become a major star with a perfectly modulated performance as reluctant Mafia prince Michael Corleone in “The Godfather.” Two years later, Robert De Niro‘s energetic work as the young Vito Corleone in the universally acclaimed sequel transformed the respected working actor into an almost instant superstar. The laws of time and space dictated that they could not appear together as father and son (this wasn’t “Back to the Future: Sicilian Style”), and so the two remained on separate tracks. Even in Michael Mann’s hugely successful 1993 action drama, “Heat,” the ballyhooed Pacino-De Niro collaboration was mostly limited to a single scene over a cup of coffee at a pricey Beverly Hills eatery. It was as if all that intensity could only be contained in a few minutes of caffeine-fueled conversation and posturing.

The release of the new cop thriller, “Righteous Kill,” promises more Bob-and-Al interaction, but there’s no reason these two acting powerhouses with Italian surnames can’t share the screen comfortably. There’s no taking away from the power of their most iconic non-“Godfather” roles: screwed-up vigilante-in-training Travis Bickle (“Taxi Driver”); hapless would-be bank robber Sonny Wortzik (“Dog Day Afternoon”); troubled boxer Jake LaMotta (“Raging Bull“); ultra-ambitious immigrant gangster Tony Montana (“Scarface“); or quick to kill wise guy Jimmy Conway (“Goodfellas“). And there’s a lot more to these two performers than barely concealed rage, well-wrought angst and occasional bouts of scenery munching.

Take a look at our list of 20 somewhat less well known performances showcasing the less obvious attributes of these two Italian-surnamed dynamos, and then come back and let us know what performances you might have added (or subtracted).

Action Movies, Actors, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies

The Foot Fist Way

September 8, 2008 /

The first 30 minutes of “The Foot Fist Way” are as intolerable as anything released in the last ten years. The rest of this mercifully short movie is slightly more tolerable, yet remarkably unfunny for a comedy. Tae Kwan Do instructor Fred Simmons (Danny McBride) is the most socially retarded, immature bag of douche you will ever run across. His miserable whore of a wife (Mary Jane Bostic) eventually becomes fed up with his petty mind games and leaves him, and the only way Fred can set things right with the blow to his ego is to meet up with his hero, Tae Kwan Do master and B-movie action star Chuck “The Truck” Wallace (Ben Best), who turns out to be a drunken, lecherous jackass. The biggest laughs involve a student with anger issues knocking a senior citizen student unconscious, and Fred pounding the eight-year-old son of a man Fred suspects was having an affair with his wife. The movie clearly thinks Fred’s obliviousness to everything around him is funny – take, for example, his belief that he had a fling with a student that never actually happened – but it’s really just sad. It’s one thing to make your lead character an anti-hero, but Fred isn’t an anti-hero; he’s a loser, and there is no bigger waste of time for us than watching a loser act like a loser. That Will Ferrell and Adam McKay thought this movie was funny isn’t just puzzling; it’s disturbing.

Click to buy “The Foot Fist Way”

External Movie DVDs, Movie Comedies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

The Fall

September 5, 2008 /

Anyone who has seen director Tarsem Singh’s first film, “The Cell,” knows how visually stunning his movies are, but that’s nothing when compared to his latest picture, an orgy of bright reds and blues that looks like it’s been ripped straight from the pages of a comic book. Four years in the making, “The Fall” takes place in 1920 Los Angeles where a Hollywood stuntman named Roy (Lee Pace) has been hospitalized following a near-fatal accident on set. His back may be broken, but his heart is completely shattered when he learns that his lover has left him for another man. To help pass the time, Ray strikes up a friendship with a little girl named Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) – who, curiously enough, has also incurred an injury from a fall – and tells her the epic tale of Governor Odious and the five warriors who have vowed to defeat him. What Alexandria doesn’t realize, however, is that Ray has an ulterior motive – namely, to use the story as a means of tricking her into helping him commit suicide.

The Fall

Reminiscent of “Pan’s Labyrinth” in its blending of reality and fantasy, “The Fall” aims to take things one step further by reimagining the people in Alexandria’s life as characters in the story, à la “The Wizard of Oz.” Unfortunately, the film doesn’t flow quite as well as Guillermo del Toro’s adult fairytale, and it’s probably a result of its piecemeal construction. This affects both the story’s tonal consistency and the pacing, which makes the movie feel about twice as long as it really is. Still, it’s hard to deny that Tarsem has created something special, even if it isn’t as great as it could’ve been. The visuals are a treat as usual and the chemistry between his two stars is extraordinary considering the age gap and the fact that this is Untaru’s first-ever acting gig. In the end, it might be a little too weird for most moviegoers, but if you like your films colorful and offbeat (think Cirque du Soleil as directed by Terry Gilliam), “The Fall” may be right up your alley.

Click to buy “The Fall”

External Movie DVDs, Movie Dramas, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

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