Archive for January, 2003

A Bug’s Life

While watching "A Bug’s Life," I kept marveling at how far computer animation has come since "Toy Story." I remember being impressed by the 64-bit graphics on my computer games, wondering how they could ever improve on the technology. Read the rest of this entry »

Saturn 3

By the time he produced “Saturn 3,” Sir Lew Grade had become known as Sir Low Grade. What started off as great aspirations quickly became financial and critical embarrassments at the box office. “Saturn 3” was an attempt to duplicate the success of recent Sci-Fi efforts like “Alien,” “Logan’s Run” and “Star Wars.” Instead, “Saturn 3” emerged as a dubious biblical parable about the Garden of Eden. Read the rest of this entry »

Deep Impact

The logistics of getting a whole baseball stadium to do the wave are staggering. Imagine trying to get the whole Eastern seaboard of the United States to do the wave simultaneously. That’s the task of director Mimi Leder, who capably brings the first of this season’s two comet movies to the big screen. “Deep Impact” takes a human look at an extinction level event, the threat of a comet the size of Manhattan colliding with Earth. Read the rest of this entry »

Hair

I was fortunate enough to see the rock musical “Hair” on stage (not the original production, but a touring company in the 1970s). With a popular rock soundtrack (which spawned five hit singles) and universal message of peace and love, “Hair” was indeed pop culture at its best. Read the rest of this entry »

The Deep

As a member of the illustrious entertainment press, I have been fortunate during my 22 year tenure to be part of some exciting stories. One of those events even changed my life, and the way I live it. In August of 1976 I was invited by producer Peter Guber to a press junket for the film “The Deep. Read the rest of this entry »

Behind Enemy Lines

As we have been reminded time and time again since September 11, the world as we know it has changed. Even in the way that Hollywood does business. Several high-profile films were pulled from release and locked up when it was determined that their subject matter might not be sensitive to the current climate. Read the rest of this entry »

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

“Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” almost didn’t get made. It’s existence was the result of a bad video deal. When the owners of MPI Video refused to pay a higher price on some wrestling video than they had previously negotiated, they found themselves sitting on a nice chunk of change. Read the rest of this entry »

The Constant Gardener

Literary spy master John Le Carre is at his best when dealing with strangers in a strange land, faced with uncomfortable truths challenging their moral ambit. Mixing a strong political undercurrent with global espionage and romance, Le Carre’s novels make for grand entertainment, but not always entertaining movies. Read the rest of this entry »

High Crimes

“High Crimes” may be based on the popular novel by Joseph Finder, but the film is hardly a page turner. Directed with style but little conviction by Carl Franklin, “High Crimes” has all of the cohesiveness of a ransom note constructed from cut out newspaper headlines. Read the rest of this entry »

The Bourne Identity

They are the hero in all great works of espionage fiction, the super spy who is invisible to all but a few, the guy you send in when you want the job done right, fast, and with complete discretion. Of course these phantom agents only exist in fiction, right? Read the rest of this entry »