items tagged with Samuel L. Jackson

FRAILTY

Until it flirts with supernatural looniness in its last reel, Bill Paxton’s directorial debut Frailty is a strong, scary, deeply affecting piece of work – so good, in fact, that it easily ranks, thus far, as 2002’s finest film achievement.

TRAINING DAY

In Training Day, Denzel Washington plays a character so far against type – a ruthless, volatile inner-city detective who just might be a sociopath – that the movie’s opening 30 minutes give you a bit of a charge; you’re willing to give this umpteenth good-cop/bad-cop tale the benefit of the doubt for the chance to see Washington showboat in a larger-than-life villain role.

UNBREAKABLE

You gotta give M. Night Shymalan credit: The man gives great preview. Though it’s impossible to determine just how much of a hand he had in creating the theatrical trailer for his new thriller Unbreakable, by the time the words “from the writer/director of The Sixth Sense” hit the screen, they’re completely superfluous; a mere 30 seconds in, you know it couldn’t possibly be the work of anyone else.

SHAFT and FANTASIA 2000

For about a month now, when friends have asked me what new movies they should see, I've come dangerously close to drawing a blank. I'd mention Gladiator (which, naturally, most of them had already seen) and Small Time Crooks (which, sadly, most were uninterested in). Then I'd generally guide them in a different direction altogether, like Paul Thomas Anderson's magnificent Magnolia, which recently returned to Moline's discount cineplex. Or video and DVD, with the recent release of two extraordinary documentaries: Chris Smith's hilarious and touching American Movie, probably the best film of 1999 that wasn't seen locally, and Errol Morris' disturbing but brilliant Mr. Death: The Rise & Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.

RETURN TO ME

There's so much goodwill built into Return to Me – the promise of an audience-pleasing romantic comedy, the likability of the cast, the presence of director/co-writer/co-star Bonnie Hunt, the prospect of David Duchovny smiling – that I feel like something of a heel for saying that the movie itself is pretty crummy.