cult film freak: russell crowe

Showing posts with label russell crowe. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 5/21/2016 / No comments / 2016 , action , buddy , crime , dark comedy , genre tarantino , gumshoe , neo noir , russell crowe , ryan gosling , shane black

RUSSELL CROWE & RYAN GOSLING IN 'THE NICE GUYS'

2016, action, buddy, crime, dark comedy, genre tarantino, gumshoe, neo noir, russell crowe, ryan gosling, shane black

RUSSELL CROWE & RYAN GOSLING IN 'THE NICE GUYS'

Nice 1970's Neon Font for Shane Black's NICE GUYS with Russell Crowe & Ryan Gosling Year: 2016 It makes complete sense that ...

RUSSELL CROWE DIRECTS AND STARS IN THE WATER DIVINER

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 rating: ***</td></tr>
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Some of us who are more well viewed than well read only know history through cinema, and anyone who has experienced the Australian anti war epic GALLIPOLI, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee has, as viewers, been through the ringer, in droves. And now actor and first time feature-length director Russell Crowe turns the tables while providing a brand new setting as THE WATER DIVINER serves up tea and sympathy back in Turkey, four years after the bloody battle. <br />
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While centering on Crowe’s Connor, a hopeless widower on a journey to locate and bury his three dead soldier sons, it’s more of an overall chance to make amends – to the Turks. For example, a cold Catholic priest, where Connor owns a sparse Australian farm and has the ability to seek out water beneath dead soil, refuses to bury his wife on sacred ground – far contrasting from the Turkish Muslim locals who provide help later on, but not without obstacles including sporadic bouts of racism towards Connor, who, upon arrival, winds up at a quaint hotel owned by a much too beautiful widow; although Olga Kurylenko is a good actress and makes the role work despite seeming a bit too... Hollywoodish. Yet the real connections are between Connor and her resilient son, and especially a wise Turkish major played by Yilmaz Erdogan, a sort of Omar Sharif to Crowe’s quiet yet strong-willed "Lawrence". <br />
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While not a perfect film, often brooding too long in arthouse sentiment whenever the potential for suspense or adventure arises, there is a quaint, gentle aura to the historic location and the characters absorbing it.

2015, jai courtney, russell crowe, war

RUSSELL CROWE DIRECTS AND STARS IN THE WATER DIVINER

year: 2015 rating: *** Some of us who are more well viewed than well read only know history through cinema, and anyone who has experienc...

Written by James M. Tate / 3/31/2014 / No comments / 2014 , biblical , darren aronofsky , disaster , emma watson , jennifer connelly , russell crowe

DARREN ARONOFSKY DIRECTS NOAH

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">year: 2014 rating: **</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">If you think building a giant boat that will protect a few selected humans from God’s forty day/forty night torrent, or the pairing up of every animal, including reptiles, is detailed that much in director Darren Aronofsky’s fantastical epic, think again… All these important elements occur as quickly as falling raindrops… </span><br />
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Thanks to giant spiderlike rock trolls – formerly fallen angels who have risen from the Earth – constructing the Ark is easy enough. The real task is Noah himself... will he ever come to his senses? Figuring God must want all humans dead, eventually, Russell Crowe’s bearded prophet becomes more of a tormented villain than a Biblical icon, and as doggone stubborn as two mules put together.<br />
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Once the Ark is built, and the Trolls have battled hordes of evil men wanting a free ride, and the floods have taken over completely, scenes where Noah’s vengeful middle child is tempted by a nefarious stowaway provides the only suspense. Meanwhile, the best <i>visual</i> shows Creation as Noah tells the story around a cozy on-deck fire… This is about the only time dad gets any respect from his family, all on the verge of mutiny, and then some.   <br />
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While it’s understandable that poetic license must be taken when basing an entire motion picture from a surprisingly few amount of verses, it seems Aronofsky’s either making the flood story (or as Wikipedia seems it "The Flood Myth") seem as engagingly farfetched for Believers as the Bible itself is to Non-Believers, or perhaps he simply wanted to direct a big budget disaster film for everyone, no matter what their religion or lack of. But NOAH is much too slow and brooding for its own good…<br />
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What we can use right now is some old school Charlton Heston: over-the-top or not, that man delivered!

2014, biblical, darren aronofsky, disaster, emma watson, jennifer connelly, russell crowe

DARREN ARONOFSKY DIRECTS NOAH

year: 2014 rating: ** If you think building a giant boat that will protect a few selected humans from God’s forty day/forty night torren...

Written by James M. Tate / 4/25/2013 / 1 Comment / nineties , russell crowe , sam raimi , sharon stone , western

SAM RAIMI'S THE QUICK AND THE DEAD

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1994 cast: Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
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The Spaghetti Western gets a special treatment by director Sam Raimi. The so-called “Man With No Name” is a woman and, like all Clint Eastwood’s characters in the Sergio Leone series, she does have a name.<br />
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Sharon Stone, as a mysterious stranger Ellen, enters a small town and takes part in a contest of the fast draw. Each person, ranging from cutthroats to convicts to the law, takes part in what eventually becomes a do-or-do match along the dusty main street.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sharon Eastwood Stone</td></tr>
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Gene Hackman steals the show as the nefarious Sheriff Herod, mixing diabolical prowess with a sorrowfully vacant melancholy. Running the town with a cool iron fist, Herod keeps his eye on Stone and especially his prisoner, Cort... Russell Crowe in a slowburn performance... a maligned preacher with a past.<br />
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The duels are fantastic – each character’s personality introduced in a Graphic Novel fashion, and their impending fate means more than mere body count. These include Lance Hendriksen as a self-promoting/self-proclaimed fastest gun; Keith David as a mercenary; and an Indian claiming no bullet can kill him. This contest provides competitive intrigue that we can always fall back on, liken to the Bruce Lee classic ENTER THE DRAGON.<br />
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The eclectic contestant's aside, we’re full aware who the final four will be: Ellen, Herod, Cort, and a very spirited Leonardo DiCaprio as “The Kid,” a bragging youngster with an energetic courage exceeding common sense. And although Sharon Stone does a good job as the scowling figurehead, the real stuff centers on Hackman and Crowe, both connected more than the revenge-driven heroine wants to believe.

nineties, russell crowe, sam raimi, sharon stone, western

SAM RAIMI'S THE QUICK AND THE DEAD

year: 1994 cast: Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio rating: ***1/2 The Spaghetti Western gets a special treatm...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/28/2013 / No comments / 2013 , griffin dunne , mark wahlberg , neo noir , politics , russell crowe , thriller

BROKEN CITY

2013, griffin dunne, mark wahlberg, neo noir, politics, russell crowe, thriller

BROKEN CITY

year: 2013 cast: Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Griffin Dunne rating: ** New York is a broken city… Not only is this the film’s title ...

Written by James M. Tate / 11/03/2012 / No comments / 2012 , action , exploitation , kung fu , martial arts , quentin tarantino , russell crowe

THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2012 cast: Russell Crowe, RZA, Rick Yune rating: **</td></tr>
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In most cases when an established director’s name appears before the word PRESENTS – in this case <i>Quentin Tarantino presents THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS</i> – it means they served as executive producer and the film will somewhat bear their directing style (think Steven Spielberg with POLTERGEIST or GOONIES). Well QT’s name is <i>nowhere</i> in any of the credits, including the story conceived by The RZA – who provided a fantastic soundtrack for KILL BILL – and Eli Roth co-wrote the script. But there are certain aspects, like the exploitative/gratuitous homage to the drive-in Kung Fu flicks, giving the impression the PULP FICTION icon is somewhere in the building: But that’s about where his signature ends.<br />
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Set in 19th century China we have a score of science-fiction (or comic book) elements: a man who can morph into steel, weapons with a variety of functions, and people flying around like twirling bats. Suspension of disbelief is essential and you should ignore all the plot points within the first half hour that can be somewhat confusing: Just know there’s a bunch of gold and several factions want it. That being the nefarious Lion Clan who kill their leader in cold blood – his son (Rick Yune) seeks revenge. He eventually bands with Russell Crowe’s tough and tubby maverick Jack Knife and a black blacksmith played by RZA himself, perhaps the most sympathetic character with a backstory and handicap.<br />
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As a director, the talented musician seems to mimic KILL BILL but without any characters to invest in – while his lethargic acting’s nothing to brag about. That’s not to say there aren’t a few kickass fights worth watching, although the overabundant (computer generated) blood and guts become distracting. And the title character is but a formidable adversary with a lot more iron than just his hand. Perhaps his description makes the coolest sounding name on the marquee, but the people who really shine are Lucy Liu’s gorgeous brothel vixens including (and especially) Jamie Chung – she alone is worth the time and money: Everything else feels like a lotta running around with rap and soul music blasting at every turn. Perhaps if RZA went for more dark comedy and put the melodrama aside, we could laugh along with the corny dialog rather than cringing at it. Yet everything leads to another round of kicks, swinging swords and flying limbs: so if that’s all you’re after, look no further. Just don't expect anything with depth or meaning.

2012, action, exploitation, kung fu, martial arts, quentin tarantino, russell crowe

THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS

year: 2012 cast: Russell Crowe, RZA, Rick Yune rating: ** In most cases when an established director’s name appears before the word PRES...

Written by James M. Tate / 4/02/2012 / No comments / christian bale , elmore leonard , logan lerman , luke wilson , peter fonda , russell crowe , western , zeroes

3:10 TO YUMA

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00H8DQNzyiHqqJ7W9mBqQeAI10Af2ZBIFu20y-lSnJkuqiIC83F0bhuEbYkP2LXtx13KfFV1qlprQ3er2jduwU8UePf5jBG1qOftfNfXdiS8aJH1Oe8KlHtNfudLdqFX-D79abdDr3vZW/s1600/310_l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00H8DQNzyiHqqJ7W9mBqQeAI10Af2ZBIFu20y-lSnJkuqiIC83F0bhuEbYkP2LXtx13KfFV1qlprQ3er2jduwU8UePf5jBG1qOftfNfXdiS8aJH1Oe8KlHtNfudLdqFX-D79abdDr3vZW/s1600/310_l.jpg" /></a></div><b>title: </b>3:10 TO YUMA<br />
<b>year:</b> 2007<br />
<b>cast: </b>Russell Crowe, Christian Bale<br />
<b>rating: </b>***1/2<br />
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Hurray, they got a modern Western right while treating an Elmore Leonard cowboy flick with the grim gusto of his source novel. Full of twists and bloody gunfights, this is a suspenseful tale of an injured debt-burdened rancher Dan Evans who witnesses a massacre involving an outlaw, Ben Wade, and his gang of seedy, stage coach robbing thugs. Christian Bale as Evans exudes the right amount slowburn pathos for a burdened protagonist, allowing Russell Crowe’s Wade, a cross between Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Hannibal Lector, to steal the show. While in transit to a small town where a 3:10 train will take the captured Wade to Yuma prison, the lawmen have to keep the Bible-reciting villain out of their heads. He can play with any mind if you let him, and cut throats too. Crowe displays a cool murky charm, especially in conversations with Stevens and his young son, who aren’t sure if a heart resides beneath that iron skin. There’s a constant feeling that anything can happen, and the best scenes occur before arriving at the town where, holed up in a hotel, Wade’s men (including an ultraviolent Ben Foster) arrive to free their boss in a somewhat typical showdown. But it’s all pretty great "Neo Noir Western" stuff from start to finish.

christian bale, elmore leonard, logan lerman, luke wilson, peter fonda, russell crowe, western, zeroes