A History of Violence (2005)

David Cronenberg has fascinated me since I discovered Dead Ringers in the early 90s. See, I was convinced at the time that there were two guys playing Mantle brothers. I realize that part of the credit should go to Jeremy Irons, but it also takes a special director to present two different people, with two …

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

Recently it has become very difficult to go see a movie without bringing in a prefabricated bias. The scandals, the scoops, the marketing campaigns trying to capitalize on the fame of leads are becoming confusing (let alone tiresome). Although I can avoid the gossip pages, or ignore the constant attentions big stars get these days, …

Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica is back with season two this week. Start your weekend early, and get glued to TV screen every Friday at 10pm on Sci-Fi (Space in Canada). NBC will be rerunning some of the season 1 highlights, and new episodes as well. If you’re not familiar with the show, here’s a brief story: Battlestar …

War of the Worlds (2005)

Death and destruction everywhere. Steven Spielberg sheds the usual cutesy antics. The typically warm fuzzy feelings we associate with “his” aliens are gone out of the theater with the first strike of lightning. And there’s quite a lot of lightning in the movie. What you’re witnessing is an invasion. What will follow is a story …

Rescue Me Premiere (FX)

FX network is bringing back one of its best shows of 2004. Dennis Leary has been trying to get a regular TV gig for quite some time. This time, I think he’s here to stay. A brutally honest, in-your-face drama about NYC firefighters in a post-9/11 world, where being a public hero is a weight …

Batman Begins (2005)

The franchise that was successfully squandered by a well known director (see Joel Schumacher) gets a well-deserved reboot in this origin story. Directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia), and written by David S. Goyer (Blade, Dark City), this film is a prequel that sets up all adventures to come. Darker, more violent, even scarier than …

Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

It’s finally over. The saga is complete, George Lucas will hopefully move on to other projects, FOX studios will start looking for a new franchise to milk (while they’re squeezing off the last drops from SW movies), and all of us fans will have to deal with this finale, and move on to other sci-fi …

Kung Fu Hustle (2005)

Kung Fu Hustle was by far the silliest Kung Fu movie I have ever seen. It was very much the insanity and slapstick humor of the Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, and all the Warner Brothers cartoons mixed in with Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Couching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and every anime, superhero and kung fu movie …