Elsewhere in this fine blog, my esteemed colleagues Andrew Osbourne and Scott Von Doviak are posting their picks for the big hits and dismal failures coming to a theater near you in 2009.  Frankly, as much as I'd like to play along, I exhausted myself almost to death just trying to catch up with all the movies I needed to see at the end of 2008, and I'm in no shape to guess whether or not the next year's worth of cinema is going to sink or swim.  I'll just say good luck to the fellas, and crawl into my cave for a while; wake me when the next Coen Brothers movie is released.  

But before I settle in for my long winter's nap, I thought I'd at least leave you with a new installment of a feature that proved pretty popular last time around.  Thanks to the dedicated crazies who post at the infinitely useful Internet Movie Database, movies that haven't even been completed yet have their own "keywords" -- little descriptive words or phrases containing a movie's themes or content that you can use to search IMDB.  For reasons of their own, some of the crazies get awfully specific with their use of keywords, and that means big fun for you, as we provide you with the following list of ten releases due out in winter of 2009, identified only by specifically selected IMDB keywords.  Using your knowledge of abnormal psychology, check under the cut and see if you can guess which movie is which based just on the kooky keywords! Answers, as always, are at the end.

Read More...

SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER (1993)



If you’re ever standing around awkwardly at a cocktail party with my father, just mention this movie and watch his eyes light up: you’ll instantly have a new friend and at least half an hour of fresh conversation fodder. Before he retired, you see, my father was a public school teacher who worked with “gifted and talented” students – and no, despite the beliefs of every pushy parent in America, not all of their little darlings are technically “gifted” – but Joshua Waitzkin, the real-life chess prodigy at the heart of screenwriter Steve Zaillian’s directorial debut, would definitely qualify. And that’s the character’s problem: as the saying goes, “Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first call promising.” Waitzkin (portrayed with believable, naturalistic grace by a then-eight-year-old Max Pomeranc) has undeniable talent, but worries his gift will ultimately rob him of a normal, happy life. The movie comes down to a battle for Waitzkin’s soul, with Ben Kingsley’s joyless mentor on one side, urging the boy to use his abilities to win at all costs (like World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer), and Laurence Fishburne’s laid-back speed chess guru on the other, reminding Waitzkin that Fischer’s exclusive focus on winning eventually drove him into bitter seclusion. The notion that winning and happiness aren’t necessarily the same thing is a rare theme in Hollywood (and the U.S. in general)...which is exactly why my Dad and me both dig this film so much.

Read More...

Paul Scofield has died, at the age of 86. He had been suffering from leukemia. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of his generation, Scofield had a richer career in the theater than in the movies, where his recessive, slightly chilly presence as much as his devotion to the stage may have prevented him from ever becoming a major star. Yet he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his fourth film and second Hollywood-funded production, playing Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons (1966), director Fred Zinnemann Oscar-garlanded film version of Robert Bolt's play. (Scofield had earlier played the Nazi villain in John Frankenheimer's The Train, starring Burt Lancaster. Maybe he and Lancaster got on well, because one of his few other adventures in Hollywood hackwork came in the 1973 Lancaster vehicle Scorpio.) Scofield already had a Tony for the Broadway production of the play, in which he had made his American debut.

Read More...