Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are movie stars in a world that no longer respects stardom. Studios are more interested these days in titles that have name brand recognition (it requires less work) and so the two appearing together in a film in 2011 means that it’s met with a curious indifference. Shouldn’t Larry Crowne be a bigger deal? Well, like the film itself, the appeal is mellow and surprisingly unassuming, and it’s pleasures are more in what it’s not (loud and dumb) than what it is (a formulaic romantic comedy). Find out more below…

Continue Reading

“Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, together at last!” That’s the marketing hook for Hanks’s film Larry Crowne, which he co-wrote and directed – or at least what’s supposed to be appealing about this. Then again, they were in Charlie Wilson’s War together, and that disappeared. The first trailer played up the idea of a man (Hanks) starting his life over after being laid off, this new trailer goes less with the melancholy, and more the yuks by playing up the presence of George Takei and Cedric the Entertainer. Check it out…

Continue Reading

Liam Neeson’s career has been at an all time high over the past two years and his future looks even more promising. The actor has just been confirmed to star in Oscar nominated director Lee Daniels civil rights drama Selma as President Lyndon B. Johnson. All this time everyone pegged him to play Abraham Lincoln and he went behind our backs and got cast as Johnson instead.

Continue Reading

Doing justice to one cultural icon is a challenge. In Cadillac Records, writer-director Darnell Martin speeds through six, count ‘em, six music legends in two hours. It should come as no surprise that the result can be a bumpy ride. Mostly it plays like polished cable fare blessed with a run on the big screen, but there are a few highlights, including the most outstanding cast in recent memory.

Continue Reading