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The Prestige

Cast for this film:

Hugh Jackman as Robert Angier
Christian Bale as Alfred Borden
Piper Perabo as Julia McCullough
Samantha Mahurin as Jess
Michael Caine as Cutter
Samantha Mahurin as Jess
Andy Serkis as Alley
Jim Piddock as Prosecutor
Mark Ryan as Captain
Jamie Harris as Sullen Warder
Ron Perkins as Hotel Manager
J. Paul Moore as Virgil
Chao Li Chi as Chung Ling Soo
John B. Crye as Voice
Sean Howse as Man
Ezra Buzzington as Ticket Hawker
Olivia Merg as Jess - Toddler
Johnny Liska as Scalper
Kevin Will as Man in Hotel
Christopher Judges as Burly Stagehand
Sam Menning as Blind Stagehand 2
Scott Davis as Carriage Driver
Nikki Glick as Housekeeper
Clive Kennedy as Warder
Chris Cleveland as Will
Rebecca Hall as Sarah
David Bowie as Tesla
Daniel Davis as Judge
Christopher Neame as Defender
Roger Rees as Owens
Monty Stuart as Stagecoach Driver
Ricky Jay as Milton
Anthony De Marco as Boy
Gregory Humphreys as Policeman
William Morgan Sheppard as Merrit
Julie Sanford as Elegant Lady
James Lancaster as Moderator
Zoe Merg as Jess - Toddler
Russ Fega as Man in Hotel
Edward Hibbert as Ackerman
James Otis as Blind Stagehand 1
Brian Tahash as Blind Stagehand 3
Jodi Bianca Wise as Glamorous Assistant
Enn Reitel as Workman 1
Rob Arbogast as Leonard

Release Date: 02/20/2007

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The Prestige [Blu-ray]

Release Date: 02/20/2007

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The Black Dahlia (Widescreen Edition)

Brian De Palma's "The Black Dahlia" is like a beautiful sports car with no engine under the hood: it sits there looking mighty pretty, but it never actually goes anywhere.

The movie is based on the James Ellroy novel of the same name, a highly fictionalized telling of Hollywood's most notorious unsolved murder case. On January 15, 1947, a young woman named Beth Short was found brutally slain - her body gruesomely dismembered and gutted - in a field in Los Angeles. The case became a cause celebre around the nation, with speculation rife as to the background of the victim and the identity of the perpetrator, but the actual killer was never found. The movie focuses on two fictional homicide detectives, played by Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart, who, to varying degrees, become obsessed with the case. Their investigation leads them into the heart of a film noir maelstrom comprised almost exclusively of twisted psychosexual perverts and Tinsel Town sickos.

Thanks to Vilmos Zsigmond's fine cinematography and all the spiffy 1940's paraphernalia with which the costume designer and art directors have decked out the movie, "The Black Dahlia" is never anything but dazzling to look at, but in almost every other respect, the film is a monumental disappointment. Although the first half is relatively straightforward in its approach and style, by about the midway point, De Palma's trademark cinematic excesses - stilted dialogue, floridly staged action scenes, campy performances, and overemphatic music - begin to take over and the film becomes an incoherent mess.

It becomes virtually impossible to keep all the characters straight without a program, and poor Fiona Shaw - so wonderful in "Mountains of the Moon" - is required to overact so outrageously that audiences the world over will be doubled over in laughter at her scenery-chewing histrionics. Her climactic speech - in which she names names and blurts out all the details of the crime, of course - will surely go down in movie history as one of those classic it's-so-bad-it's-good moments that movie lovers everywhere will be mimicking and howling over for years to come.

Not that the other actors fare much better. Hartnett gives his all to the role of Bucky Bleichert but, as an actor, he lacks the gravitas necessary to make the character interesting. Eckhart is forced to thrash around inside a character whose motivations are never convincingly spelled out for either the actor or the audience, and Scarlet Johansson and Hilary Swank seem to be doing parodies of crime thriller vixens rather than serious interpretations of believable, three-dimensional characters.

It pains me to have to say this, but no one comes out smelling like a rose with this "Dahlia." -- Roland E. Zwick (Valencia, Ca USA)

Release Date: 12/26/2006

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The Black Dahlia (Full Screen Edition)

Release Date: 12/26/2006

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Scoop

Woody Allen seemed to be losing it at the start of the twenty-first century. The films he released around that time (THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION, SMALL TIME CROOKS, etc.) failed to make a lasting (or for that matter positive) impression on audiences. In 2004 he enjoyed something of a comeback with MELINDA AND MELINDA before bursting back on the scene with his thrilling masterwork MATCH POINT. Now he's back to whip up another slice of cinema greatness, and this is a slice considerably sweeter than (though not as classy as) MATCH POINT. This is SCOOP, one of the most delightful romantic comedies of the year.

SCOOP revolves around Sondra Pransky (Scarlett Johansson), an American college student eyeing a career in journalism. While vacationing in England with a friend, she visits a magic show run by the timid Sid Waterman (Woody Allen). Sid decides to use Sondra in a magic trick involving a box from which Sondra will supposedly disappear. Instead of disappearing, Sondra watches as famous - and recently diseased - journalist Joe Strombel (Ian McShane) appears. Joe gives Sondra a tip on who may be the notorious "Tarot Card Killer" before vanishing into thin air. Now it's up to Sondra, along with incompetent magician Sid, to follow a lead from a dead journalist and investigate the man who may be a vicious serial killer: irresistible (and rich) bachelor Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman).

SCOOP is a compelling and thoroughly entertaining picture. It's not an unforgettable film, nor one that could be considered a moviemaking milestone. Much of the film's charm comes from the fact that it doesn't try to be. What it does try to be is a witty, entertaining, fun and funny mystery film, and that's exactly what it is. Much of the credit for this should go to Allen's taut, fine-tuned script. It has laughs a plenty, thrilling mystery, and not a slow spot in sight.

The rest of the credit goes to the cast. Though most people are accustomed to seeing Johansson portray scalding hot blonde bombshells in films like THE BLACK DAHLIA and MATCH POINT, her performance as a geeky young college student is surprisingly convincing. Jackman, as always, shines; he's every bit as charismatic as his character, and then some. With actors as great as these, it's a little surprising that Allen himself is the highlight of the cast. Sid the magician's foolishness isn't irking at all; in fact, it's immensely amusing, and Sid winds up as an almost adorable character rather than the bothersome twit he could have been. As a huge BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER fan, I was also immensely pleased to see Anthony Stewart Head pop up toward the end of the film as a detective.

Ashamed as I am to admit it, as of this writing I have seen only one other Woody Allen film, MATCH POINT. Thus I can't make any remarks about where SCOOP ranks in comparison to Allen's many previous films. I can and will say this, however: SCOOP is a delight. It's not grand, and it doesn't try to be. It is what it is: a very entertaining, very funny, very fun film, and a great way to spend two hours. -- Tom Benton (North Springfield, VT USA)

Amazon Price: $8.99 (as of 07/10/2009)

A Good Woman

Oscar's Wilde play `Lady Windermere's Fan.'has been transferred into a decent movie from the British director Mike Barker (`To Kill a King'). This is all about a humorous brilliant production with an outstanding cast as Wild deserves.
Mrs. Erlynne (Helen Hunt) is a middle age experienced woman who is desperate to find money to support her luxurious way of living. She goes in the Italian country side where she is picking up her victims. There she will meet the ideal victims a just married couple the innocent Lady Windermere (Scarlet Johansson), and her husband Lord Windermere (Mark Umbers. In the scene there is a devoted admirer (Tom Wilkinson), and a man really close to Mrs. Erlynne Lord Darlington (Stephen Campbell Moore. Secrets stories rumors will create a good movie more funny and less melodramatic all these dressed with beautiful romantic costumes and always with the background of the 19th century. I recommend it have fun -- A. Kiriakopoulos "iceman" (Athens Greece)

Amazon Price: $13.49 (as of 07/10/2009)