Red Eye
doesn’t have many ambitions beyond being the ultimate “bad guy to sit next to on an airplane” story. It’s like an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents given a slightly longer running time.
Fortunately, Rachel McAdams, who has to carry this film, does an admirable job of doing so, without the sort of “look at this great performance” stuff a bigger name might well have given us. And that elevates this bit of fluff into being quite impressive fluff.
Fun stuff, and a film that should definitely keep McAdams’ star on the rise and help director Wes Craven get more chances to spread his wings without Freddy Kruger around.
A definite recommendation for thriller fans.
Nicholas Cage seems to do the classic (although now somewhat uncommon) practice of making a highly commercial movie to pay the bills, followed by a more interesting, more arty film. Lord of War is one of those artier films, but it has the ability to cross over to audiences who don’t normally think of themselves as enjoying such movies. Think of it as the Goodfellas of gun-running.
Lord of War is a blend of comedy and drama, weighted on the dramatic side, telling the whirlwind story of how a boy from Brighton Beach became one of the world’s biggest arms dealers. The movie moves too fast for us ever to learn much about most of the characters, but the actors are mostly up to the cast, sketching out their characters in a few quick strokes that suggest hidden detail the viewer never gets to see.
In particular, Jared Leto plays Yuri’s younger brother who is tormented by the morality of their livelihood. Leto sinks his teeth into an arguably underwritten role and serves as the canary in the moral coalmine.
Cage is his typical mix of manic and obsessive in a role where both work, and Bridget Moynahan is radiant while still bringing gravity to her role later in the film.
The movie has no easy answers for the moral questions it raises.
A solid recommendation for fans of intelligent crime movies, Nicholas Cage and Bridget Moynahan.
I … remember when CSI: Miami used to be … if not great, pretty good, Alexx. But … at some point … in its first season … it turned into CSI: David Caruso.
And … was a stinker, on top of that. (NYPD: David Caruso was much better and … had nudity, Detective Sipowicz.)
There may be … a worse show on television, Mr. Wolfe … but those involved … should be in jail.
So here … in recognition of the … worst-written … worst-acted … show on network television … is the CSI: Miami Drinking Game, Ms. Duquesne. I’m sorry about your alcoholic DA father.
The CSI: Miami Drinking Game!
- Horatio puts on or takes off his sunglasses: Take a sip
- Horatio … pauses unnaturally … while talking: Take a sip
- Horatio openly lusts for his brother’s wife: Take a sip
- Horatio lowers his head: Take a sip
- Horatio talks while refusing to look at someone: Take a sip
- Horatio puts his hands on his hips: Take a sip
- Someone calls Horatio “H”: Take a sip
- Horatio calls someone “my friend”: Take a sip
- Horatio makes a solemn promise to a victim or a victim’s relative: Take a sip
- Horatio saves someone from a bomb, sniper or natural disaster: Take a sip
- A good guy looks at Horatio with adoration: Take a sip
- A bad guy glares at Horatio: Take a sip
- A bad guy threatens Horatio: Take a sip
- Horatio’s “dead” brother Raymond is mentioned: Take a sip
- Someone mentions Horatio’s troubled New York past: Take a sip
- Cheesy line, Roger Daltry screams “YEAH!” and the opening credits roll: Finish your drink
- Horatio’s brother’s wife, Yelina, shows cleavage: Take a sip
- Eric Delko acts tough and/or troubled: Take a sip
- Someone refuses to give Ryan Wolfe the benefit of the doubt: Take a sip
- Calleigh Duquesne’s father is in a scene: Take a sip
- Alexx Woods talks to a dead person: Take a sip
- Detective Frank Tripp looks pissed: Take a sip
- We see girls in bikinis: Take a sip
- We see girls in a night club: Take a sip
- We see someone having sex in a flashback: Take a sip
- We see someone taking drugs in a flashback: Take a sip
- We see a department-owned Humvee: Take a sip
- Someone talks in a thick accent: Take a sip
- Something explodes: Take a sip
- Amazingly, a case turns out to have a link to Horatio: Finish your drink
And the evidence … never lies, my friend.
Liz Phair, after being MIA for a bit — Where’s her podcast? Where are her 2006 tour dates? — has resurfaced, with a new iTunes Exclusives album over on, you guessed it, iTunes.
The album comes in both Clean and Explicit versions. Honestly, who’s listening to Liz Phair that wants a clean version? Some of her most interesting and most adult songs would be nigh-incomprehensible bowdlerized.
Anyway, both versions are $9.99, include her talking about her entire career and how she came up with the specific songs and feature live versions of a dozen songs, but you’ll need to burn them to CD yourself.
Reality TV may have given us The Bachelor, but it also gave us American Chopper, one of the most-compulsively watchable shows on television today.
This season is the best to date, with some interesting bikes (the I, Robot bike is a whole lot cooler than the movie that inspired it), some classic Senior/Junior blow-outs and, best of all, lots of classic Mikey bits, including Mikey getting his wisdom teeth out and being absolutely out of his gourd on the drugs given to him by his dentist.
The Senior vs. Junior special is not closed-captioned, unlike the rest of the season’s shows, for some reason.
This is a value-priced DVD set and a great buy for the many, many fans of American Chopper, whether you like bikes or just enjoy the Teutel family’s antics.
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