Happy birthday Steven Spielberg!

This week the acclaimed director celebrates his 65th birthday, which marks the climax of a very busy year: The release of no less than 2 films he directed (The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse), the airing of the highly anticipated TV series Terra Nova that he produced and more…
But has Spielberg lost the magic touch? Does the symbolic retirement age of 65 means it’s also time for him to retire? Some of his recent works received bad reviews, and although financially he still manages to make a lot of money, some wonder if we are seeing the decline of one of the greatest directors of our time.

5  of Spielberg’s best:

Saving Private Ryan (1998)
One of the most acclaimed films of this auteur, Saving Private Ryan has gained both the love of the critics and the audience. It was nominated for several Oscars and won five (including best direction), and rocked the box office with the highest profits for 1998.
This ensemble cast war drama probably doesn’t need introduction, but for the few who did not see it: it’s a captivating story about an heroic mission of a group of soldiers in WWII, who go out to search for another soldier in order to take him home.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
According to Rottentomatoes, E.T. is the 2nd most acclaimed film by Spielberg (right after Jaws). There’s no wonder: it’s a heart-warming classic delight for children and adults alike. It tells the story of an alien creature, E.T., mistakenly left behind on earth. When a young boy, Elliott (Henry Thomas), finds E.T. and hides him in his home, both their worlds are changed forever.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
This was the ultimate adventure film of the 80s. The groundbreaking special effects and furious, extremely fast pace make for a stylish whirlwind of a movie, topped off with a fabulous sense of humor.  The 2 sequels were fine but not as enjoyable, and the 3rd, a more modern incarnation… well, we’ll come back to it in the 2nd part of this post.

Band of Brothers (2001)
So far we’ve discussed movies, but can Spielberg also create great TV shows? Band of Brothers is the definite proof that he can.
The 10-part HBO television miniseries focuses on Easy Company, a group of American soldiers in World War II, tracking their experiences from the beginning of boot camp to the end of the war.

Schindler’s List (1993)
Spielberg’s dramatic masterpiece, the one that got him into the hall of fame of Academy Awards with his first two Oscars, for direction and for best film.
Based on a true story, this is an epic drama of World War II Holocaust survivors and the man who unexpectedly came to be their savior. It is wondrously evocative, visually stunning, and emotionally stirring.

5 of Spielberg’s worst:

Terra Nova (2011)
Such an anticipated show with such an intriguing premise and such a disappointment at the end.
Terra Nova is a Sci-Fi series, depicting a futuristic world in which humans exhaust almost all resources. To solve this, they travel back in time to the dinosaurs’ age to start over. Sounds good, and from the first episode it is clear that a lot of money was spent on special effects. But unfortunately the story gets more vague from one episode to the next, not to mention that the characters are simply boring…

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
The basic ingredients stayed the same: an exciting and humorous adventurer going on a race against time to defeat a master villain. This time… something in this combination is simply not working. The plot has some embarrassingly bad moments… I mean, come on… alien crystal skulls…???
What’s even more disturbing are the rumors of a 5th title in the series. Seriously, didn’t we have enough? Not to mention Harrison Ford will be celebrating his 70th birthday next year - maybe it’s time for him to think about retirement as well…

Hook (1991)
A moral dilemma: I saw Hook as a child and remember it very fondly. When researching for this post I have found out this is one of the worst-reviewed Spielberg films: it gets only 29% at rottentomatoes. Apparently, most critics felt it was “A clumsy mishmash of a comedy“, “a would-be blockbuster that no one likes” and “Bottom of the barrel Spielbergiana“. Well, I’ll have to go with the majority…

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
This is not such a bad film per say. It is not boring or silly or tasteless. But on the other hand, when you compare this film to the early adventure films that Spielberg made – like Indiana Jones, Jaws, Jurassic Park etc., Tintin is clearly inferior. The characters are too thin and one-dimensional (pun intended…) and ten minutes after you exit the cinema you won’t remember a thing.

The Lost World – Jurassic Park (1997)
The first film was fun, exciting, had a good tight story and decent performances combined with great special effects. This sequel only has the great special effects. Apparently Spielberg wanted to have some mindless fun after finishing the heavy-headed Schindler’s list. Unfortunately the result was not as fun for the viewers.

So as we have seen, the recent years have seen a relative decline in the quality and popularity of Spielberg’s work. Perhaps the problem is, he failed to transform his 80s kitsch style, to a more contemporary sophisticated/witty kitsch, that works nowadays.
However, I would not jump to conclusions and say that his career his over: it is Spielberg after all! In the coming year he has two very interesting projects, that might gain back the audiences’ favor:

Lincoln (2012) – This historical drama about the 16th president during the civil war might just be the Schindler’s List of this decade. With actors like Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln and Sally Field as his wife, this movie simply screams for Oscars.

Robopocalypse (2013) – Based on a highly acclaimed Sci-Fi novel, this film will deal with an uprising of the robots against human society. Hugely budgeted, the film got a convenient slot in the peak of summer 2013, which means the studios feel it can be a big hit. Let’s just hope it will be more like Minority Report and less like Tintin.

And if, after all you’ve read you still think we need to have a replacement for Spielberg in order for him not to ruin such promising projects, I feel I have a worthy successor:  J.J. Abrams. He showed us in super 8 that he has the same touch for sentimentality and kitsch (Like in E.T.), and in Star Trek that he can pull of an exciting and fast adventure (Like Indiana Jones).

Technorati Tags: Steven Spielberg, The adventures of tintin, War Horse, Terra Nova, Saving Private Ryan, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Band of Brothers, Schindler’s List, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Hook, The Lost World- Jurassic Park, Lincoln, Robopocalypse

Popularity: 1% [?]

We’re in the midst of festival season, and two of the most important festivals are about to open – in Venice and in Toronto. With recent winners like Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler (2008), Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005) and distant past winners like Luis Buñuel’s essential Belle de jour (1967),you want to know what’s going on there. In Toronto there is no jury and no official competition, only a People’s Choice Award, but according to past winners (The King’s Speech, Precious, Slumdog Millionaire, Tsotsi, American Beauty and many more) this maybe the most accurate Oscar predictor we have. So without further adieu, I will look at the ten most intriguing movies of this year’s Venice and Toronto film festivals.

1. The Ides of March (2011) – George Clooney’s film will open this year’s festival. Clooney has already established himself as one of the top political directors/actors with Good Night and Good Luck, Syriana, Michael Clayton and now this drama about a staff member of a presidential candidate whose idealism is challenged and innocence lost during an electoral campaign. The cast is impressive with Ryan Gosling as the main character, Clooney as the candidate, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman and more.

2. A Dangerous Method (2011) – David Cronenberg’s period film boasts an equally impressive cast, with Viggo Mortensen (his regular), Keira Knightley, the ubiquitous Michael Fassbender, and Vincent Cassel. The story surrounds the two fathers of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (Mortensen) and Carl Jung (Fassbender), when a mentally unstable Russian woman (Knightley) comes to Jung’s care. With Cronenberg we can expect a no holds bar kind of historical drama.

3. Alpeis (2011) – After Kynodontas received a surprising Academy Award nomination, and became a Cannes Festival winner, Giorgos Lanthimos is back with another bizarre tale. A group of people, led by a nurse, form a sort of therapy group for people in grief that impersonate the deceased, and by that (of course) help with the grieving process. It’s an unconventional method if I’ve ever heard of one. The director promises it’s more disturbing than his last movie (also more humorous), but I don’t know if that’s possible. In any case, be prepared for an offbeat experience.

4. Poulet aux prunes (2011) – Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud return after 2007’s Persepolis with another based on comics movie, only this time it’s a live action film. The story sounds pretty gloomy, a talented musician whose instrument is broken loses meaning in life, but as with Persepolis we can expect it to be a bit humorous and surreal.

5. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011) – Tomas Alfredson’s period thriller is based on a TV series and based on a book by John Le Carré, and is set in 70s England. A former special agent is investigating a mole at the top of MI6. Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and John Hurt headline this film by the promising Swedish director. After 2008’s amazing horror drama Let the Right One In, you expect a lot.

6. 360 (2011) – A Fernando Meirelles movie is always intriguing. The City of God director is back with a film based on a play by Arthur Schnitzer that spans the world for sexual relations between people of different social backgrounds. Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Foster and Eminem (?!) complete an interesting cast.

7. Le premier homme (2011) – Although Italian director Gianni Amelio has already received 9 awards at Venice, his new film will skip Italy and premier at the Toronto Film Festival. It’s his first French speaking feature, based on a book by Albert Camus, and featuring a great cast of French actors, Jacques Gamblin, up and comer Maya Sansa and the always excellent Denis Podalydès.

8. L’ordre et le morale (2011) – Matthieu Kassovitz wrote, directed and stars in this historical drama about an incident that happened in 1988 in the French colony of New Caledonia, where a group of Kanak separatists took some cops as hostages. Since 1995’s Hate, Kassovitz hasn’t done anything close to it, but this could be a return to form.

9. Trishna (2011) – Michael Winterbottom is always an intriguing director. His career has been mostly hits (Tristram Shandy, 24 Hour Party People), but he has had some misses (9 Songs, Code 46). This adaptation of a Thomas Hardy novel is set in India, starring the beautiful Freida Pinto, and tells the up and down relationship between two people of social differences.

10. Albert Nobbs (2011) – Oscar alert! Glenn Close plays a woman who disguises herself as a man and works as a butler for twenty years. Up and comer Mia Wasikowska, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Aaron Johnson co-star in Rodrigo Garcia’s period film. If that’s not worth an Oscar nomination, then I don’t know what is.

Technorati Tags: Toronto Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, The Ides of March, A Dangerous Method, Alpeis, Poulet aux prunes, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, 360, Le Premier Homme, L’ordre et le morale, Trishna, Albert Nobbs

Popularity: 2% [?]

The Smurfs movie is coming out in theaters this week joining a long line of TV series that were turned into movies (Transformers, The A-Team, Sex and the City) and vice versa (Nikita, Friday Night Lights, Are We There Yet?). So we’ve made a wish list of additional TV series we want to be turned into movies and movies we want to be made into TV series. Studio’s and networks, for your attention (and commission…):

Game of Thrones (2011-?)

As great as the TV series is the books are even better and they portray all the characters we’ve learned to love in much greater detail. The books are so long they give us the opportunity to turn Game of Thrones into a bona-fide movie franchise. Each movie could focus on a different angle of the story. Personally I would love to know more about the complicated family upbringing of Tyrion Lannister, or see how Daenerys and Khal Drogo learned to love each other.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1987)

I’ll be honest, I only chose this one so I could have an excuse to stare at Jessica Rabbit on a weekly basis. But if this doesn’t seem a good enough reason for you, try to remember how much fun this movie was: exciting, humorous, witty and sexy. The world of Toon Town offers a lot of other possible stories (who tried to poison snow white? Who changed the “duck/rabbit season” poster into “human season”? etc.), and the characters promise to be as lovable as ever.

Lost (2004-2010)

Lost is probably the most mind-bending series ever made, and it captivated millions who kept guessing and speculating through its entire six year run. Lost isn’t considered the best TV series ever made mainly because of the way it ended. Many fans felt that the show’s conclusion was very unsatisfying and were left with a sour taste. A Lost movie is a perfect opportunity to make amends. The huge fan base of the series, thirsty for more, will definitely turn the movie into a blockbuster and if the show’s creators are able to create an alternative ending that would satisfy the fans, then Lost will go down in history as a true masterpiece.

Harry Potter Franchise (2001-2011)

After the phenomenal success of the movies, somebody will definitely want to continue milking the cow. The millions of fans who are now suffering from Harry Potter withdrawal (myself included) will be absolutely thrilled once they hear there is a TV series coming up. It could be very family friendly like the first movies, or it could be for a more mature audience like the last three movies (if so, I’m thinking HBO). Once the series airs the two most popular series on TV will be based on fantasy books: Harry Potter and Game of Thrones.

Arrested Development (2003-2006)

Among fans there’s no argument that this amazing series was too short lived. More often than not, American TV series last way after they jumped the shark, but this is definitely not the case for this masterpiece. I need to see one last adventure of this wacky and eccentric family before I’m prepared to let it rest in peace.

High Fidelity (2000)

The plot of the movie is not bad - a romantic dramatic comedy about a vinyl shop owner who grows from adolescence into adulthood, but I’m not interested in that deep stuff. I want to see the everyday life inside the store with Jack Black and Todd Louiso as the main characters. The two of them fighting, insulting customers, etcetera. And the show would be full of cameos from great indie bands of course. That could be a lot of fun, and maybe help a dying industry along the way.

Blackadder (1983)

There is no shortage of medieval action and adventure films, but when it comes to taking a more humorous look at tales of politics and betrayal Rowan Atkinson and Co.’s presence is sorely missed. Having an entire film devoted to the ambitious yet sleazy attempts of Edmund to become king would definitely be fun to watch.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

The film had some funny and exciting fight scenes and some offbeat awkward romantic scenes, but the end result felt a little too condensed. Making it a TV series would give a better look at Scott’s failing music band and much more screen time for the evil ex boyfriends.

The Shadow Line (2011)

It’s regarded as a masterpiece by some (myself included), but not many saw it outside the UK. Its seven episodes aired from May 5th to June 16th this year, and I just couldn’t hold my breath from one episode’s ending to the next episode’s beginning. It stars three excellent actors who all gave fantastic performances: Chiwetel Ejiofor as a detective suffering from a memory loss, Christopher Eccleston as the nicest drug lord you ever saw and Stephen Rea as an ultra professional hitman. It’s an amazingly stylized and complex Neo Noir Crime Thriller that drew comparisons to The Wire and The Killing. I suggest cutting from its total length of 7 hours the “previously on…” and opening theme of each episode and just show the whole series at the movie theaters. Those 6 hours would create the greatest crime trilogy since The Godfather!

The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do (2004) (also known as Once Upon a Time in High School)

If you ignore the longer than long title of this Korean movie, you are looking at potentially the best TV series ever! It combines the best parts from coming of age and high school life titles (Friday Night Lights for example) and the best parts from stylized and rough martial arts titles (Fists of Fury for instance). It will be a TV series that would go from suspenseful and exciting one moment to touching at the other. Until TV execs get there act together and jump at this opportunity, watch the movie, you won’t be disappointed!

Technorati Tags:  The Smurfs, Game of Thrones, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Lost, mind-bending, Blockbuster, Harry Potter, Franchise, series, Arrested Development, eccentric family, High Fidelity, Blackadder, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Shadow Line, masterpiece, The Godfather, The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do

Popularity: 2% [?]

Nelson Mandela celebrated his birthday on July 18th, so I wanted to write something in honor of the great man. Because I felt that so many people have already written stuff about him being an inspiring leader and such, I tried to take a different angle and write something else about him that will be just as interesting and inspiring: He looks just like Morgan Freeman! Coincidently Josh Hartnett (21.7) and Terence Stamp (22.7) are also celebrating their birthdays this week, and they also look a lot like other people: Hartnett looks exactly like Ashton Kutcher and Stamp looks just like Malcolm McDowell. Here is a top 10 list of actors who we all suspect were separated at birth:

10. Tobey Maguire/Elijah Wood/ Jake Gyllenhaal

Is there proof they aren’t the same person? There is proof that Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire aren’t the same person since they were both together in the movie Brothers. You can argue that it’s a stunt in the manner they pulled in The Social Network with the guy who played both of the Winklevoss brothers, but they both also attended events together. There is proof that Elijah Wood and Tobey Maguire aren’t the same person since they were both in The Ice Storm. No proof exists to show us that Jake Gyllenhaal and Elijah Wood aren’t the same person…

What is similar between them? All three are in their early 30s and have a slight tendency towards geekiness. They all have blue eyes, brown hair and a white, pale skin.

What makes them different? Jake Gyllenhaal is a bit taller than the other two; he also looks a bit tougher than Maguire and Wood that are almost synonyms to the term nerd.

9. Bradley Cooper/Josh Lucas/ Matthew Mcconaughey/ Patrick Wilson

Is there proof they aren’t the same person? McConaughey and Cooper were both in the movie Failure To Launch, McConaughey and Lucas were together in The Lincoln Lawyer, Cooper and Wilson were together in The A-Team. That leaves us with the possibilities that Matthew McConaughey and Patrick Wilson/Bradley Cooper and Josh Lucas/Josh Lucas and Patrick Wilson are in fact the same person.

What is similar between them? All are in their late 30’s/early 40’s, all probably go to a tanning salon and visit the gym regularly. All four have blue eyes and brown hair. The most amazing fact is that the four of them are almost exactly the same height: all range between 1.83 and 1.85 meters (just over 6 feet)!

What makes them different? The main thing that differentiates between them is their level of seriousness: Bradley Cooper is the least serious among the four, and then comes McConaughey, Patrick Wilson and finally the most serious one – Josh Lucas.

8. Amy Adams/ Isla Fisher/Jenna Fischer

Is there proof they aren’t the same person? The three of them never appeared in the same movie together, but after comprehensive research I found out that Amy Adams was in three episodes of The Office alongside Jenna Fischer so that rules out the possibility that they are the same person.

What is similar between them? Pale skin, hair color that’s somewhere between red and brown, all range in height from 1.60 to 1.65 (5″3- 5″5). All three are good comic actresses but can also play in dramatic roles as well, and all are in about the same age (35-37). Notice that two of them share almost the same last name…

What makes them different? You can tell the difference between them by the redness of their hair: Amy Adams has the reddest hair, then Isla Fischer and finally Jenna Fischer with her slightly reddish hair which is more brown than it is red.

7. Shia LeBeouf/Michael Angarano

Is there proof they aren’t the same person? No such proof exists.

What is similar between them? They are both almost the same age, have black hair and brown eyes. They both usually play in humorous and exciting movies that are intended for a family outing. In 2009 they were both in movies that the critics loved to hate – LeBeouf in Transformers 2 and Angarano in Gentlemen Broncos.

What makes them different? The main difference between them is probably the balance in their bank account – LeBeouf made a ton of money from The Transformers movies and from Indiana Jones 4, Angarano is also very rich of course, but far from being filthy rich like LeBeouf. Angarano also looks like a much nicer person, but that will probably change once he’s cast as LeBeouf’s replacement in The Transformers franchise.

6. John Lithgow/Terence Stamp/Malcolm McDowell

Is there proof they aren’t the same person? No, and this time I’m dead serious – I am almost certain that Terence Stamp and Malcolm McDowell are the same person. Lithgow might be his/their brother.

What is similar between them? All had grey hair since they were about 18; they have blue eyes with a crazed look and they have a smile that says: I can either be a nice grandfather figure for you, or I can kill you, it’s up to you.

What makes them different? Stamp and McDowell are British, Lithgow is American, and they also have different levels of toughness: Stamp is the toughest, McDowell is second and Lithgow third.

5. Geoffrey Rush/Stephen Rea

Is there proof they aren’t the same person? Not really.

What is similar between them? Apart from bad eye sight and a fondness for hats, they are both in their sixties; they are about the same height 1.81 meters (just under 6 feet), and most important of all, they both share almost the same label of quality.

What makes them different? Stephen Rea is Irish, Geoffrey Rush is Australian, Rush won an Oscar for his role in Shine (and deserved it for his role in The King’s Speech), Rea was just nominated for his role in The Crying Game (you can tell right away on an actor’s face whether he ever won an Oscar or not so it’s a good way to tell the difference between them).

4. Christopher Plummer/Michael Gambon/Ian McKellen

Is there proof they aren’t the same person? Plummer and Gambon were together in The Insider so they can’t be the same person, and if I try and use my logic I guess that that proves they all can’t really be the same person (I didn’t do very well in my Math classes and I wasn’t exactly an honor student in Philosophy, so it is possible that I’m wrong and they could actually be the same person).

What is similar between them? They are all over the age of seventy, all never won an Oscar despite being remarkable and praiseworthy actors, and as you can see all three had experience with roles that require very impressive beards.

What makes them different? McKellen and Gambon are British, Plummer is Canadian, Gambon and McKellen are about 10 years younger than Plummer, and the two Brits were both in highly successful fantasy franchises (McKellen in Lord of the Rings and Gambon in Harry Potter) while Plummer wasn’t. The difference between Gambon and McKellen is probably their attitude towards sex with men :).

3. Michael Madsen/Tom Sizemore

Is there proof they aren’t the same person? Yes, plenty. They worked together in the Western Wyatt Earp, and also in the quite unknown movies The Florentine and Welcome to America and in the upcoming movie Black Gold.

What is similar between them? First and foremost – toughness! They are two of the toughest American actors in existence. Both are also over 1.80 meters (5″10), around the age of 50, have black hair and blue eyes, and they both also carry a few extra pounds (but I would never dare say that to their faces).

What makes them different? Although Michael Madsen is remembered most of all as the psychopathic killer Mr. blonde from the movie Reservoir Dogs, it is actually Tom Sizemore who has had many more entanglements with the law. Madsen is not only the more well behaved one, he is also the harder working one: Madsen has 195 movie credits (!), while Sizemore has “only” 119.

2. Frances McDormand/Felicity Huffman

Is there proof they aren’t the same person? No, it was easy for Huffman to hide her true identity in the movie Transamerica because in real life she always has to hide her true identity (which is Frances McDormand).

What is similar between them? Both are 1.65 meters (5″4), blonde, have blue eyes and their first name starts with the letter F. Also, both are married to famous Hollywood nerds (McDormand to Joel Coen and Huffman to William H. Macy).

What makes them different? Felicity Huffman is five years younger, but the different birth year on her driver’s license doesn’t really convince me. It’s not really a problem to fake the birth year on official ID (just ask African soccer players).

1. Javier Bardem/Jeffrey Dean Morgan (sorry, I got confused; it’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan on the left and Javier Bardem on the right. I think)

Is there proof they aren’t the same person? Of course not, look at them, they are the same person.

What is similar between them? Everything is similar between them more or less, apart from the name. They share the same face, and almost the same age and height.

What makes them different? The nationality – Morgan is American, Bardem is Spanish, and the success – While Bardem won an Oscar and more than 70 other awards, Morgan didn’t really win anything except the reward of being in this post.

Popularity: 4% [?]

This week brings the premier of Larry Crowne to the big screen, and with it this decade’s first collaboration between two of the 90s quintessential stars - Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts (they worked together in the witty Charlie Wilson’s War four years ago).

Being busy in the 90s also meant being diverse, as this list will attest to. So Here’s a breakdown of the movie subjects each actor crossed off their acting list in that crazy decade that closed the 20th century.

Historical

Neither Hanks nor Roberts shied away from taking parts in less than feel good stories from the first half of the 20th century.

While Hanks starred as the leader of a heroic mission in worn torn Europe in the rough World War 2 epic Saving Private Ryan

Roberts took the lead female role in the controversial Venice festival winning tale about political unrest in early 20th century Ireland, Michael Collins

Artists and Showbiz

Probably a subject both Roberts and Hanks are well acquainted with, they chose to approach it from different angles.

She didn’t stray too far, playing a Hollywood star falling in love with a London book store owner in Roger Michell’s Modern Classic Notting Hill

He, on the other hand wrote, directed and played a supporting role in the sentimental period drama about a rock band’s rise to stardom in That Thing You Do!

Fantasy

Although usually well grounded in the realistic attitude, this pair also wandered into fantastic realms during the 90s.

Maybe Julia Roberts is not the first name one would associate with an exciting pirate adventure, but I guess when Steven Spielberg offers you a role to play a fairy you can’t really refuse.

It took Tom Hanks most of the decade until he found his role in a fantasy film, but when he finally did it, it was well worth the wait. Injecting prison life with the supernatural may sound like an offbeat premise, but The Green Mile proved itself both commercially and critically.

Legal Denzel in 1993

The stars must’ve aligned weirdly in 1993, as both Hanks and Roberts shared the screen with Denzel Washington as they struggled with legal issues.

Julia Roberts plays a brilliant law student who stumbles upon a political conspiracy and finds herself on the run. Luckily a young journalist by the name of Denzel Washington (ok that’s not his name in the movie but Denzel is Denzel) aids her in her legal investigation throughout The Pelican Brief.

Tom Hanks in Philadelphia on the other hand was in a whole different kind of trouble playing a man suffering from a terminal illness who takes legal action against his former employers.
Not unlike Julia Roberts, he calls upon the aid of Denzel Washington this time portraying a dedicated lawyer.

Romantic Comedies

A forte for the pair, the 90s saw them both star in numerous entries in this genre, but sadly never together. (I wouldn’t bet on a film uniting Meg Ryan and Richard Gere as their scorned spouses anytime soon either)

In Larry Crowne their first ever rom-com cooperation, Hanks plays a middle aged man hoping to restart his life by going to college, while Roberts is the worn out teacher he falls in love with. Although from the trailer the film looks a bit dated, let’s hope the two can recapture the charm of their best decade.

Technorati Tags: Larry Crowne, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, witty, Charlie Wilson’s War, Historical, feel good, heroic mission, rough, World War 2 epic, Saving Private Ryan, controversial, Venice festival winning, political unrest, Ireland, Michael Collins, Artists and Showbiz, London, Modern Classic, Notting Hill, music band’s rise to stardom, That Thing You Do, sentimental, period drama, Fantasy, realistic, exciting pirate adventure, Steven Spielberg, prison life, supernatural, offbeat, The Green Mile, Denzel Washington, political conspiracy, on the run, The Pelican Brief, Philadelphia, legal action, terminal illness, dedicated lawyer, Romantic Comedies, Meg Ryan, Richard Gere, Larry Crowne, start over

Popularity: 2% [?]