By Rex Reed 11/06/12 4:46pm

movies

Craig and Bardem in Skyfall.

Director Mendes Revives 007 with Skyfall, Stripping Excessive Novelties from Tired Franchise

The big question the pessimists are asking about Skyfall, the 23rd entry in the James Bond franchise: Does 007 still have a license to keep an audience alert? The answer: And how! Some of the exhilaration faded when Sean Connery lost his hair and took a powder, but 50 years after Ian Fleming’s super-cool agent from Her Majesty’s Secret Service was shot from a cannon into movie history, Bond is back, and so is high-octane entertainment.

Skyfall may not reach the sophisticated heights of Casino Royale, but it’s better than the lollygagging Quantum of Solace.With buff, camera-ready Daniel Craig lending fresh fisticuffs to the role, and acclaimed director Sam Mendes adding more realism and fewer jokes than in most Bond pictures, it’s a satisfying entertainment that delivers a kangaroo kick from start to finish. Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 1/31/11 8:44pm

movies

Is Javier Bardem Bound for Bond?

Javier Bardem, new father and Oscar nominee, may just have gotten even busier. Deadline reports that Bardem has been offered the villain role in next year’s James Bond movie, a spot most recently occupied by French actor Mathieu Amalric. Evidently, post-Heath Ledger Oscar and after long budgetary delays, Bond’s producers have decided that a Read More

By Nate Freeman 8/11/10 2:07pm

Eat, Pray, Promote… Hey, Julia, Where's the Love?

“I don’t have as much estrogen as this storyline does,” David Lyons, the Australian actor who plays Ian in the Eat Pray Love adaptation, said last night on the red carpet of the film’s premiere at the Ziegfeld.

Then Lyons backtracked for a second. “And that’s not a bad thing-it’s about rediscovering yourself.”

The celluloid Read More

By Christopher Rosen 7/06/10 12:58pm

Javier Bardem to Appear on Glee?

The list of Hollywood stars that have either appeared on Glee (Neil Patrick Harris, Kristin Chenowith) or are rumored to appear on Glee (Katy Perry, Katie Holmes, anyone else named Katie/Katy, Britney Spears) are pretty much exactly who you would expect — some mix of singers, dancers, actors and people just famous enough to give Read More

By Andrew Sarris 8/12/08 4:20pm

Woody’s Busty Muses Make Sweet Spanish Love

VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Running time 96 minutes
Written and directed by Woody Allen
Starring Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem

Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, from his own screenplay, is close to his 40th feature film in an almost 40-year career that began in earnest in 1969 with Take Read More

By Staff 8/21/07 1:05pm

Screen Version of Broadway’s Nine Could Get Zeta-Jones, Cruz, Loren

The Weinstein Bros. are in talks with a slate of Hollywood song-and-dance types to star in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Nine.

According to Variety, The Weinstein Company is negotiating with Penelope Cruz, Catherine Zeta Jones, Sophia Loren, Javier Bardem and newcomer Marion Cotillard (who recently played Edith Piaf in the highly-praised biopic, Read More

By Andrew Sarris 1/17/05 12:00am

Why Clint Eastwood’s Baby Knocked Me Down, Not Out

If you haven’t yet seen Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby and have every intention of doing so, I respectfully advise you to read no further. Just save this column for after you’ve seen it, because I intend to explain why-unlike my esteemed colleagues-I don’t share their enthusiasm for this film. So I’m going to have Read More

By Andrew Sarris 12/24/01 12:00am

A Patented Directorial Dexterity Shapes Altman’s New Whodunit

Robert Altman’s Gosford Park , from a screenplay by Julian Fellowes, based upon an idea by Mr. Altman and Bob Balaban, manages to be derivative and original at the same time through Mr. Altman’s patented polyphonic virtuosity with intermingling ensembles in an ever-fluidly-shifting mise en scène . Hence, Gosford Park may remind you at times Read More