Because the first “Sex and the City” movie turned out to be a boxoffice bonanza two years ago, there are a lot of women panting for the sequel, already planning their wardrobe for a girls’ night out.
So even if “Sex and the City 2” consisted of nothing but a two-hour fashion show, it would draw crowds. But it also has the returning cast members in fine comic form, and it has more cutting-edge humor than …
The turmoil at Walt Disney Studios during the past two decades is a great subject for a documentary, and though a movie made by outsiders might have been more scathing than “Waking Sleeping Beauty,” this movie made by insiders Don Hahn and Peter Schneider is surprisingly hard-hitting and revealing. The topic is a bit specialized to draw a wide audience, but those who see the movie will definitely enjoy the intrigue depicted.
In the early 1980s, …
Since “Extraordinary Measures,” a tremulous medical drama about a father trying to save the lives of his children, is the first feature released by the newly constituted CBS Films, it’s all too tempting to describe the piece as a TV movie, reminiscent of those disease-of-the-week affairs that used to clog the tube.
That might be a cheap shot, but unfortunately, it’s pretty close to the mark. The movie works on an unsubtle level; you’d have to …
Bottom Line: Grab-bag of disaster movie cliches will thrill less demanding audiences.
If you rolled every disaster movie into one spectacular package, you would wind up with something close to “2012,” Roland Emmerich’s latest apocalyptic fantasy.
This time Emmerich and co-writer Harald Kloser use the Mayan calendar and other end-of-days prophecies for their doomsday scenario, which imagines the world coming to an end in 2012. Eye-popping special effects ensure that this movie will be a smash hit, …
Bottom Line: “Masterpiece Theatre”-style drama soars beyond the trappings of the genre.
Telluride Film Festival
TELLURIDE, Colo. — With awards season looking a little thin this year, a savvy distributor should snap up Michael Hoffman’s “The Last Station,” which had its world premiere screenings during the weekend at Telluride. Three superb performances by Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer and James McAvoy should have Oscar handicappers drooling. Although this story of the last days of Leo Tolstoy is specialized …
