cult film freak: jude law

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Written by James M. Tate / 3/17/2020 / No comments / comic book , conrad l. hall , crime , depression-era , gangster , jude law , mobster , neo noir , paul newman , sam mendes , thriller , tom hanks , zeroes

TOM HANKS & PAUL NEWMAN IN 'ROAD TO PERDITION' W/ JUDE LAW

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqVcLCFkxBTQ_KGiG_ey-fVysGJNvDP_HP0ojlR2RdXays0LlMKyzsTKIDKnpPTDtR-EXYWF2nHEZZ7ktJLN0wFQPKm1C1WnsGbsVP-NAPY3AJlACkf1DxLgIHyH-Z86gwyVwF6uY-rEI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-04-07+at+2.09.31+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqVcLCFkxBTQ_KGiG_ey-fVysGJNvDP_HP0ojlR2RdXays0LlMKyzsTKIDKnpPTDtR-EXYWF2nHEZZ7ktJLN0wFQPKm1C1WnsGbsVP-NAPY3AJlACkf1DxLgIHyH-Z86gwyVwF6uY-rEI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-04-07+at+2.09.31+AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>An actor named Monte billed as Living Corpse with Jude Law in the backdrop of ROAD TO PERDITION Year: 2002</u></td></tr>
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At the very end, the 12-year old son of a hit man, who had spent six weeks on the road with his father, on the run, narrates that he lived a lifetime on that particular journey. And while it feels a lifetime length-wise, hardly anything really happens to make the viewer agree that it was quite a ride... <br>
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But that's not without some anticipation along the way. Like Hanks' Michael Sullivan, a former "enforcer" for Paul Newman's 1930's-era gangster chief John Rooney, having to rob a string of banks and to teach his son to be a getaway driver in the process...<br>

comic book, conrad l. hall, crime, depression-era, gangster, jude law, mobster, neo noir, paul newman, sam mendes, thriller, tom hanks, zeroes

TOM HANKS & PAUL NEWMAN IN 'ROAD TO PERDITION' W/ JUDE LAW

An actor named Monte billed as Living Corpse with Jude Law in the backdrop of ROAD TO PERDITION Year: 2002 At the very end, the 12-year ...

MATT DAMON & JUDE LAW IN 'THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Vintage cover of the Patricia Highsmitch novel</u></td></tr>
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It's rare that a "modern" American remake of a New Wave French film would be ten times superior. Then again, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY from 1999 and 1960's  PLEIN SOLEIL (PURPLE NOON) are really two variations of Patricia Highsmith's novel that the American version's named after...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="font-size: 12.8px;">Alain Delone's Tom's too upfront</u></td></tr>
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In PURPLE NOON everything is presented through dialogue, including what Ripley, played by then-newcomer Alain Delon, intends to do to the older, more experienced mentor he was hired to bring back to his frustrated rich daddy. Any and all suspense is lost in this colorfully playful version compared to the dark yet spry and jazzy Anthony Minghella Neo Noir starring Matt Damon in the TALENTED title role, and the perfect young man in Jude Law's Dickie Greenleaf, a sort of shallow, frolicking, womanizing beatnik in stylish clothes (with a sax instead of bongos), bedding a local girl while engaged to the sweet-natured Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge, his cheated-on soulmate (who makes him wear a ring i.e. what ends up the film's "McGuffin").<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfi17IymX5VJxK-C3kvpOCqfqxo__bofeOtAt1DqivFjEcG0WuwjNM1gXduXgs9Q7G78dk2c8G5P06hvw7ufkG6N4I9JSR8vm2lnAD9JT0XoKdvJt47Z4JbNmJBlDzHUc4apqb336GtAP/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-04+at+4.43.38+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="958" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfi17IymX5VJxK-C3kvpOCqfqxo__bofeOtAt1DqivFjEcG0WuwjNM1gXduXgs9Q7G78dk2c8G5P06hvw7ufkG6N4I9JSR8vm2lnAD9JT0XoKdvJt47Z4JbNmJBlDzHUc4apqb336GtAP/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-12-04+at+4.43.38+PM.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Unlike the original, Dickie's goading is very effective</u></td></tr>
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We'll name a few more folks but some writeups dealing with a handful of characters tend to read like a phonebook. But one thing's clear — there's nothing better than a motion picture with two stories in one: for example, PSYCHO with Janet Leigh first leading the story and then being covered up... And here, Judd Law's spoiled rich kid —acting like he owns life itself in an endless party of jazz and drink — steals the show as if Damon's Tom Ripley is aware of just that: Despite being a bonafide sex symbol, Matt Damon never had the perfect looks of an actor who got by on his appearance alone, making him a sublime, mild-mannered sociopath to realistically covet the life of a seemingly flawless guy while providing enough homo-erotic tension... a catapult for the senses and storyline both... to make every proverbial page-turning moment more and more intriguingly addictive...<br>

anthony mingbella, gwyneth paltrow, jazz-score, jude law, matt damon, neo noir, nineties

MATT DAMON & JUDE LAW IN 'THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY'

Vintage cover of the Patricia Highsmitch novel It's rare that a "modern" American remake of a New Wave French film would b...

THURSDAY NIGHT REVIEW OF SPY

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: ***</td></tr>
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The string of films that came out after Melissa McCarthy got famous from her feature role in BRIDESMAIDS seemed like, for fans of the energetically rotund comedy actress, they just couldn’t miss. Well, they all kind of did – especially her passion project TAMMY, not even scoring in the box office. And now, Melissa and her BRIDESMAIDS and THE HEAT director Paul Feig have taken a huge risk… and surprisingly enough, this big budget SPY spoof pays off, pretty much…<br />
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With a fairly serious body count, it isn’t all fun and games. A good thing since some of the jokes aren’t that humorous, and can get downright redundant. And taking the usual underdog McCarthy role is Miranda Hart as Nancy: Once Melissa’s basement-dwelling backup CIA agent Susan Cooper travels to Paris to be the real thing, Hart's token sidekick winds up as the forced yet sometimes effective comic relief to McCarthy’s, dare it be said… relatively serious performance.<br />
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With a reluctant partnership with Rose Byrne’s classy villain, and both Jason Statham and Jude Law playing completely different types of Alpha Males, what really works about SPY is the story – one scene leads smoothly to the next in an intriguing, adventurous fashion while the cast seems merely along for the ride.

2015, action, comedy, jason statham, jude law, melissa mccarthy, paul feig, rose byrne, spy

THURSDAY NIGHT REVIEW OF SPY

2015 rating: *** The string of films that came out after Melissa McCarthy got famous from her feature role in BRIDESMAIDS seemed like, f...

Written by James M. Tate / 2/17/2013 / No comments / 2013 , channing tatum , jude law , neo noir , rooney mara , steven soderbergh , suspense

STEVEN SODERBERGH BIDS FAREWELL TO CINEMA W/ SIDE EFFECTS

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Year Released: 2013</td></tr>
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Move over Prozac, the ultimate depression drug is out there, and Rooney Mara’s Emily Taylor really needs it. Her husband (Channing Tatum in a filler, Janet Leigh type of "Surprisingly quick" role) just got out of jail and doesn’t seem completely done with shady deals.<br />
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Emily crashes her car into a wall, on purpose, and recovers in a mental ward where we meet Jude Law’s Dr. Jonathan Banks, a psychologist, husband, step-father, and all around good guy. With a mellow yet attentive countenance, Dr. Jon takes a particular interest in Emily, getting info from her former shrink (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who winds up prescribing the wonder drug that might help Emily’s problems: but there are, uh, SIDE EFFECTS… Or actually just one that causes the plot to shift from an involving, smartly paced suspense film into a medical mystery that, weaving in and out of melodrama, is hit and (mostly) miss.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoP7mKjY9hCY7iw7r0CMdi-LqYpO6Gg0mQiJj7j9EaF_yIJc0Ah1pWXAgckYXIQgqaMd0B27xhbj0p_U2Q-ZEW30npUySD182Gnq3TrCsEwox6Jf2tc8RF8F84-l2mzFL3eKce88eeqQQ/s1600/side-effects.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoP7mKjY9hCY7iw7r0CMdi-LqYpO6Gg0mQiJj7j9EaF_yIJc0Ah1pWXAgckYXIQgqaMd0B27xhbj0p_U2Q-ZEW30npUySD182Gnq3TrCsEwox6Jf2tc8RF8F84-l2mzFL3eKce88eeqQQ/s320/side-effects.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SideEffectScore: **1/2</td></tr>
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Rooney Mara provides a vulnerable, porcelain doll damsel who initially deserves rescue by Jude Law, a fun actor to watch whether he's spouting dialogue or intensely listening to someone else’s. Meanwhile, last-time feature director Steven Soderbergh (supposedly quitting his day job after he could only make his Liberace biopic on cable) keeps a metronomic pace backed by a sleepy jazz score, as if the entire movie were on its own ominous medication. In this particular case, the side effect is replacing that intriguing perfect drug with a "perfect murder" plot that gets way too convoluted for its own good. And so, instead of top-shelf Soderbergh we have yet another standard Hitchcock inspired outing.

2013, channing tatum, jude law, neo noir, rooney mara, steven soderbergh, suspense

STEVEN SODERBERGH BIDS FAREWELL TO CINEMA W/ SIDE EFFECTS

Year Released: 2013 Move over Prozac, the ultimate depression drug is out there, and Rooney Mara’s Emily Taylor really needs it. Her hus...

Written by James M. Tate / 12/16/2011 / No comments / action , jared harris , jude law , mystery , robert downey jr. , sequel , suspense , tens

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHJ4iewpxgk9oJEs_PQzGE8W_W5BitpxBsj7qLc1zvWjiKrrO0CsDMZcMSTLXqy-hJmML4DF1gpBlOETGoQAKdhpUPySSTG1L_S-MmeAByHjU6zC3_2wT-pqWoERFKz3fcQTKB1wK2fK70/s1600/sherlock-holmes-460x307.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687003647013858322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHJ4iewpxgk9oJEs_PQzGE8W_W5BitpxBsj7qLc1zvWjiKrrO0CsDMZcMSTLXqy-hJmML4DF1gpBlOETGoQAKdhpUPySSTG1L_S-MmeAByHjU6zC3_2wT-pqWoERFKz3fcQTKB1wK2fK70/s320/sherlock-holmes-460x307.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 224px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2011<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Robert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Downey</span> Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> **1/2<br />
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The usual template for an action-packed sequel is to outdo the original with more explosions, fights, etc., and although there are some of these elements, mostly we have an 18<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> century cold-war thriller where Holmes and Watson take on the evil Professor Moriarty, played by a sneering Jared Harris, who, through bombing buildings, wants to ignite a sort of World War III… only thing is, there <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">hasn</span>’t been a First World War yet. But that’s how it all plays out: in a James Bond meets Tom Clancy meets modern day headlines with a few good fights and not enough of what makes this new Sherlock Holmes, and the original Inspector created by author Conan Doyle, work: the steel-trapped brain that can figure out anything to solve a crime. There’s little mystery involved since we quickly learn the intentions of the bad guy – to start a few fake battles to cause a real big one – and the bickering relationship between Holmes and Watson has dwindled considerably, making it less humorous but ultimately allowing Jude Law’s Watson to be more than a straight man, especially during the climax. Robert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Downey</span> Jr. displays the essential offbeat charm but seems to be holding back at times. And while Rachel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">McAdams</span> provides a mere cameo, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Noomi</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Repace</span> steps in as a fortune teller whose brothers have joined Moriarty to… well that’s all part the plot and, while somewhat convoluted and lacking the sparse punch of the original, there remains that essential string tugging the audience along to the next suspense-filled obstacle: too bad there’s not enough of them this time around. And those narrated brainstorms during perilous situations... careening us back to the action at hand... seem more forced than <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">imperative</span>. But the stuff that does work, like a fight on a train, makes for a pretty good time.

action, jared harris, jude law, mystery, robert downey jr., sequel, suspense, tens

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS

title: SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS year: 2011 cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris rating: **1/2 The usual template...

Written by James M. Tate / 12/07/2011 / No comments / action , jude law , mystery , robert downey jr. , zeroes

SHERLOCK HOLMES

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYpPcu4y8YKIVE921zoOP-VS67zE3h-W4uautSj9ayJxDjfmdP3m8iafG6g5cE5Y1FE7MeOgVPl2gAUSLr1mqccQdTCjqUpQ9Qbqay-3wqw_UyfCSsx0uz2nFa7ePWFlm3w50HpTegtCJ/s1600/holmes-2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683619918763673170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYpPcu4y8YKIVE921zoOP-VS67zE3h-W4uautSj9ayJxDjfmdP3m8iafG6g5cE5Y1FE7MeOgVPl2gAUSLr1mqccQdTCjqUpQ9Qbqay-3wqw_UyfCSsx0uz2nFa7ePWFlm3w50HpTegtCJ/s320/holmes-2.jpg" style="float: right; height: 310px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> SHERLOCK HOLMES<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2009<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>***1/2<br /><br />Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the real Sherlock Holmes, consisting of stories and novels written about the great British sleuth who could lasso facts like most people breathe, is not only spinning in his grave – he’s doing karate kicks. Okay, well, there are tons of liberties taken to change the lanky cerebral Inspector into an ass kicking, pit-fighting lunatic, but it’s a lot of fun. Robert Downey Jr. has the right amount of askew charisma in playing the fanatical Holmes, who would be lost without his better half… that being Doctor Watson, just as calm and calculated as his boss is spontaneous and quirky. But the rogue Inspector can figure out just about anything in seconds flat, and that’s the most fun: the lightning-speed fashion Downey gathers facts and deduces clues: about both crimes and people. But this is somewhat hindered by a heavy that, being a wraith-like leader of a Satanic cult, feels more of a world-dominating Bond villain, providing less mystery for our heroes who spend the most time fighting antagonists like revved up action stars. But the fights flow nicely, and the gorgeous Olde England location feels like a ragged bedlam character in itself. Downey and Judd Law, portraying Watson with the right amount of frustrated woe, have great chemistry – and there are terrific one-liners and brainy, scheming dialog that will keep the viewer alert even after they’ve stop caring about the turnout. And Rachel McAdams as the poisoned apple of Holmes’s eye adds an unpredictable vitality whenever needed: acting both as the love interest and the one person our titular hero can’t control or figure out. <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2011/12/sherlock-holmes-game-of-shadows.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">CLICK HERE</a> for SHERLOCK HOLMES: GAME OF SHADOWS review.

action, jude law, mystery, robert downey jr., zeroes