items tagged with Ed Harris

THE HOURS

Stephen Daldry’s The Hours is so meticulously crafted, so assured in its conception, and so insistent on its themes and motifs that it’s bound to drive a lot of people bananas.

BLACK HAWK DOWN

It has been widely reported that Ridley Scott’s war drama Black Hawk Down, originally due later this year, had its release bumped up to qualify for year-end awards consideration and, in theory, serve as a balm for a country forever damaged by the tragic events of September 11. There’s no reason to refute this, and there might even be a kind of self-serving nobility in Columbia Studios’ decision, yet the film in question is a technically impressive atrocity, one that’s perhaps even more heinous in light of last fall’s terrorist attacks. Although based on true events and Mark Bowden’s well-regarded book, Black Hawk Down is jingoistic, dramatically inert, and sometimes shockingly racist; expect nominations and awards to follow.

HEARTBREAKERS

Though the competition is fierce – The Insider, All That Jazz, maybe even Beetlejuice – I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a movie that made smoking look more repellant than David Mirkin’s comedy Heartbreakers.