The House of the Devil
02.2.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: R for some bloody violence.
Release Date: 2009-10-30
Starring: Ti West
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: No disponible.
Go to our film page
02.2.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: R for some bloody violence.
Release Date: 2009-10-30
Starring: Ti West
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: No disponible.
02.2.2010 | By Jack Rico |
When it comes to action movies ‘From Paris With Love’ delivers. It’s not the best action film since Wanted, but it did do a good job of extracting a few ‘ooooohs’ and ‘aaaaahs’ from me. I must confess that according to the trailer, the film looked worse to me than what it was. Perhaps this is why I think better of the film, because I was expecting pure detritus. What you need to know is that John Travolta – though he might look a tad silly, one gets over it quickly – is once again intense, amusing and entertaining. Johnathan Rhys Meyers looks like an amateur actor and disappoints tremendously all the while french director Pierre Morel (Taken) is the new John Woo! When people talk about action directors such as Guy Ritchie, Woo and Luc Besson, Morel has to now be a part of the conversation.
The storyline has some interesting twists and turns, enough to dial you in. While in Paris, a young employee (Johnathan Rhys Meyers) in the office of the US Ambassador hooks up with an American spy (John Travolta) looking to stop a terrorist attack in the City of Lights.
This is the type of film you go to when you had a stressful week at work or at home and feel like seeing someone splatter some person’s brain on the wall with a semiautomatic silencer. Definitely a stress reliever.
02.1.2010 | By Jack Rico |
With less than 24 hours away from the 2010 Oscar nomination announcements, most of us movie critics are thinking who the Oscar committee will pick as the Top 10 films this year. Will the comedy ‘The Hangover‘ make a surprise appearance this year? How about ‘Up‘ which I think is one of the best films of the year overall.
Here at ShowBizCafe.com, I got together with our staff and decided to predict the nominees in the top 10 categories. In the Foreign Film department, 9 finalists made it and two of them are Latin American, there is an Argentinean film and Peruvian film in the mix. I picked both because they’re that good, but looks like Haneke’s ‘The White Ribbon’ will take major honors.
Closer to the Oscar Awards in March, I’ll give you my take on the winners.
Without any more delays, check out my 2010 Oscar Nominees Predictions:
Best Picture
Precious
The Hurt Locker
Up in the Air
Inglorious Basterds
Avatar
Up
District 9
500 Days of Summer
A Single Man
An Education
Best Director
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Maggie Gyllenhall, Crazy Heart
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Best Actor
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique, Precious
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Julianne Moore, A Single Man
Diane Kruger, Inglorious Basterds
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Matt Damon, Invictus
Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker
Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter & Bob Peterson, Up
Scott Neustatder & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Adapted Screenplay
Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Animated Feature
Up
Coraline
9
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Mary and Max
Foreign Language Film
The White Ribbon – Germany
A Prophet – France
El Secreto de Sus Ojos – Argentina
Winter in Wartime – The Netherlands
The Milk of Sorrow – Peru
01.30.2010 | By Jack Rico |
‘When in Rome’ is everything that is bad with movies nowadays. A romantic comedy with a recycled and absurd premise, vacuous humor, and a script as predictable as the weather in LA. These are the types of movies that you should never pay to see for many reasons including a lack of soul, depth or real substance to any of these characters. Everything ssems to be a fantasy passed off as reality and the producers must think we are the fools that will buy it.
Here’s the storyline. Beth (Bell) is a young, ambitious New Yorker who is completely unlucky in love. However, when she impulsively steals some coins from a reputed fountain of love during a whirlwind trip to Rome, she finds herself aggressively pursued by a band of suitors with one of them becoming her one true love.
The protagonists seem to be better than what the script constrained them to. Kristen Bell showed promise in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Josh Duhamel (who looks like Joey Lawrence’s long lost twin brother) could be either an action leading man in his future or continue to do rom-com’s. The acting wasn’t the big problem, the screenwriters, David Diamond, David Weissman and the director Mark Steven Johnson are fully responsible for this ignominious failure.
The standard for today’s romantic comedy was set with Rob Reiner’s ‘When Harry Met Sally’ and some would argue Woody Allen’s ‘Annie Hall’. But ‘When in Rome’ looks like a disaster from the onset and should not be worth your time or money at the movies. Perhaps a DVD pick? Not even. It is one of the worst movies of the year.
01.28.2010 | By Karen Posada |
*Updated December 2025
Edge of Darkness was directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) who also directed the English mini-series from the 80s with the same title on which the movie is based. Not being familiar with the mini-series, I thought the previews had given too much away and I could guess the outcome. I was wrong. Read More
01.28.2010 | By Jack Rico |
We just got a hold of the first TV spot of The Crazies before it has even hit the TV networks! It shows some never before scenes directed by George A. Romero.
The Crazies is a remake from the 1973 original that George Romero directed about the inhabitants of a small Iowa town suddenly plagued by insanity and then death after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply. One man, his wife, a nurse, and the sheriff try to survive this plague, but when the military are killing everyone on sight, they’re going to have to fight their way out, or die by either the plague or the military.
The film is released Feb 26th! Check it out now!
01.27.2010 | By Namreta Kumar |
There are some films that you love instantly, and others that you hate; this film does not fit either category. Saint John of Las Vegas is distinctly unmemorable. Read More
01.25.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Lionsgate announced today that it has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to the 2010 Sundance Film Festival sensation, BURIED, directed by Rodrigo Cortés (THE CONTESTANT). A taut, inventive thriller, BURIED stars Ryan Reynolds (THE PROPOSAL, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE) and is written by Chris Sparling (the upcoming MERCY). The producers are Adrián Guerra and Peter Safran (NEW IN TOWN, MEET THE SPARTANS); Alejandro Miranda is executive producer, alongside Rodrigo Cortés. The director of photography is Eduard Grau (A SINGLE MAN). The announcement was made today by Joe Drake, Lionsgate Co-Chief Operating Officer and Motion Picture Group President, and Jason Constantine, Lionsgate President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions.
Said Constantine, “BURIED is one of the tightest, most intense thrillers we’ve ever seen, and we were absolutely determined to bring it home to Lionsgate. BURIED is a powerful reminder that all you really need for an unforgettable movie experience is a great story, inventive filmmaking and brilliant acting. And because of the combined excellence of Rodrigo, Ryan and Chris, it’s all there in BURIED.”
“I’m very excited to be working with Lionsgate,” affirmed Cortés. “They are consistently creative and know how to use their resources to make the strongest possible impact – which is exactly what we set out to do with BURIED. So it’s a very natural fit.”
Commented Safran, “Making BURIED has been a deeply rewarding creative experience, and I am fortunate to have had outstanding producing partners in Adrián and Alejandro. We are delighted to be joining forces with my good friends at Lionsgate, and look forward to making BURIED the breakout hit it deserves to be.”
The film is about Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), truck driver and family man, wakes up BURIED ALIVE in an old wooden coffin. Not knowing who might have put him there or why, his only chance to escape from this nightmare is a mysterious cell phone. Poor reception, battery and lack of oxygen are his worst enemies in a race against time: Paul has only 90 minutes to be rescued.
01.22.2010 | By Jack Rico |
I was invited by Dreamworks Studios this week to watch never before seen footage from 3 of their upcoming animated releases for 2010… one of them was ‘How To Train Your Dragon‘ starring Jay Baruchel. After the screenings, Dreamworks takes us to a restaurant called A Voce at the Time Warner Center in Manhattan to frolic and eat with peers. One of the lovely publicists at the event asks me if I could chat with Jay to get to know him better. I said sure.
Baruchel approaches me with a trucker hat, a heavy beard and a tattoo of his mother’s name on his right forearm. I ask him about it and he replies I’m going to get a few more on my body for her. He must really love his mother! We then segue into 4 films coming out this year with him as one of the lead roles: She’s Out of My League, How To Train My Dragon, The Trotsky and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. I asked how happy was he of being in the middle of a comeback. He answers disappointingly that it doesn’t mean anything, it’s all coincidence of the release dates. (as he was cursing up a storm). He continues saying that he’s been through this notion of the IT guys before and nothing has happened, “for example, when I was in ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ everybody said watch out for this guy, he’s gonna be someone. Then when I was in ‘Knocked Up,’ people said I was in a sleeper hit, gonna need to watch that kid. Then in ‘Tropic Thunder’ I was hailed as the one to watch…again! So I say, I don’t believe in being the IT guy nor am I interested.”
He then went on to share with me EXCLUSIVELY, that he wants to quit acting altogether. “You know, I think I’m gonna quit acting. I don’t wake up with that feeling of love for acting, for this business. I really just do it to pay my mom’s bills and take care of her.” With his beard in tow and the disappointed look, I had to ask if he was pulling a Joaquin Phoenix here. He laughed and scoffed at the notion. He says that it was embarrassing to see that and assured me it was nothing of the sort. We finally concluded with a new movie he’s currently filming called ‘Notre Dame de Grace’ which might be his last project.
01.21.2010 | By Jack Rico |
I didn’t really know what to expect of the latest family film ‘Tooth Fairy’ starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. At one point I thought it might be the same fare as his 2007 ‘The Game Plan’, which was #1 at the box office for two weeks in a row, but no, this was nowhere near as charming as that one. ‘The Tooth Fairy’ was just bad cinema. The Rock is a simpatico guy, but with a ludicrous plotline, uninspired dialogue, the worse camera editing I’ve seen in years and a paltry supporting cast, there was no way he was saving this sinking ship.
Here’s the story. A bad deed on the part of a tough minor-league hockey player (The Rock) results in an unusual sentence: He must serve one week as a real-life tooth fairy.
He wears a ballerina dress when first becoming a fairy and instead of it being a funny moment, it was a bit embarrassing. I’m wondering why he needs to be working these types of films. Could you imagine what his wrestling buddies must be saying? His body of work isn’t so bad at all. His previous roles in films such as ‘Race to Witch Mountain’ was great family fun potpourried with thrills, chills and action. ‘The Game Plan’ was a touching and charming movie that makes grown men cry when they see it.
Director Michael Lembeck, mostly a TV director, shouldn’t be doing movies. His camera shot selections were not flattering to the actors and showed the many audio dubbing flaws caught by the lens. Just intolerable. Adding to the demise of the movie was seeing a New York legend Billy Crystal in a pajama like costume regurgitating screenwriter Lowell Ganz’s stale and infantile dialogue.
Do not spend your money this week on ‘Tooth Fairy’. If you want the same family vibe with lots of smiles and warm, fuzzy sentiments and a tear or two, see ‘The Game Plan’ on DVD. You’ll be grateful I recommend it to you.
