When one describes a film that narrates the rise and fall of a gangster with an ethnic background, throughout several decades, nine readers out of ten will be thinking of Scarface. And that is exactly the prejudice that American Gangster will have to deal with at the box office.
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I’ve definitely done my share of complaining when it comes to the lack of decent storylines in action movies. Usually there’s a very simple motivation, like revenge, that motivates the main characters to chase, fight and defeat their opponents. And sometimes that’s just fine. But more often you feel cheated by plot holes and find the story does not justify the hero’s actions. This can really ruin the moviegoing experience. The makers of this movie should at the very least be commended for trying to add context to what still remains an action movie.

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Dirty Dancing reached its twentieth anniversary this year, and it’s still as popular as ever. It’s shown on tv all the time and a new longer version has just been released on DVD with plenty of special features. It’s the movie that makes people with two left feet wish they could dance. I believe the reason this film has remained so popular over such a long space of time is because it really is the ultimate chick flick. It combines great romance with great music and there are strong performances from the cast.
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I can understand it when a sporting event, such as The Olympics or NCAA March Madness commences and films playing in theatres take a pinch. Sometimes what causes films to not doing well is holiday weekends…in fact many years ago in the US, releasing a film on the fourth of July meant the kiss of death, as folks would rather see fireworks and roast marshmellows. Forget all of that now. Just forget it. Because now when a film flops, it isn’t due to a sports event or holiday. It may not even be that the film was bad or poorly marketed. It may not be that audiences wanted to see something else. Now the scapegoat is…a fellow named Master Chief.
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One of the two biggest problems with the first season of BBC’s new Robin Hood series arises early on in the first episode: why go for a young Robin Of Loxley (Jonas Armstrong), when it is clearly stated he’s coming home from The Crusades? When one thinks of the two past Hood incarnations, the strangely good/bad flavor of 1990’s Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves and the much underrated TV film from 1991 with Patrick Bergin, we sort of expect at least, that Robin look like he’s closer to 30 years of age, then opposed to in his 20’s. Yet, as the new BBC show progresses, that little issue is swept under a rug, as the series warms the viewer over with charm. So what are the other two problems?
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It has been said that Susannah Grant’s debut film, Catch and Release originally clocked in at three hours before being edited to two hours. Not any of the deleted footage shows up on the DVD R1. Maybe most of that footage explains Sam (Kevin Smith) and the obsession with the inspirational quotes off Celestial Seasonings tea boxes, but I’m pretty sure none of it will explain the near preposterous story we do see.
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I have to make a small confession. It’s been at least seven months since I finally got to see the Tony Bill directed Flyboys. The reason why it took me so long to write this, is because…well, there isn’t a lot to write about in my enthusiaism for this picture. Not that it is a complete mess. I appreciate what the film wants to do- have a film that is a shout out to the war films of yesteryear. But the film, about American WWI pilots in France, has more cliches, wooden acting and confusing aerial battles than I could stand. At least the landscape of the French countryside looks well photographed.
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 Infamous tells the story behind Truman Capote’s most famous novel ‘In Cold Blood’ – a non-fiction novel about the gruesome murders of a family in Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. The film reveals how the author became obsessed with the murders, even going so far as to spend years in the town in which the crimes took place in order to find out as much information as feasibly possible. It also reveals how his interest in the case led him to meet and interview the criminals involved, one of whom he developed a close friendship with.
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