(USA) Directed by George Clooney. Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei. Category IIB.
“Beware the ides of March!”—a soothsayer’s warning to Julius Caesar tells us that the political game has been dirty since before the birth of Christ. So when George Clooney treats such common knowledge as a revelation in his hit-and-miss political drama, viewers are unlikely to find themselves blown away.
Category II-A. Tony Gilroy’s latest film “Duplicity” has enough sabotage, intrigue and lovers/enemies/partners/reunited lovers to rival an MTV reality show “The Hills.” Fortunately, unlike “The Hills,” it stars actual celebrities, is enjoyable to watch, and will engage your gray matter in a way that MTV rarely does.
Category IIB.Reviewer's Bias:Loves: Clive Owen, except in “Children of Men”Hates: “Children of Men”“Shoot ‘em Up” is a self-declared endorsement of gun control. But the kind that would have Charlton Heston creaming his pants. The secret to a fun anti-firearm film, it seems, is firearms. More specifically, firearms being fired. If only Michael Moore had hit on that for “Bowling for Columbine.”
You know you’re in for a turkey of a movie when the distributors for “Lady In The Water” say, in all seriousness, that not only is there not a pre-screening, but three days before the film’s release date, the film reels haven’t arrived. There were still high hopes for this adult fairy tale of "Narfs" and "Skrunts" – but this film would have made more sense if director M. Night Shyamalan had thrown in a Nerfball and made the Narfs and Skrunts take on the Giants and the Seahawks.
