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Scenes We Love: 'The Professional'

By Jeffrey M. Anderson (Subscribe to Jeffrey M. Anderson's posts), Posted Apr 5th 2011 3:00PM
Filed under: Columns, Cinematical

Most of the time, child actors are precious and mannered and seem chosen based on their "cute" factor; rarely do they make much of an impact. Occasionally, though, someone comes along who seems wiser than that, sadder perhaps, or with untold depths. These people are full of promise. They are the ones that make us say, "She's going places."

Natalie Portman was one of those.

Her career now 17 years old, with more than 20 major feature films, she has more than lived up to that promise. She's 29 now and an Oscar winner for 'Black Swan,' a polarizing movie of the kind that usually doesn't win Oscars. She has worked with major international directors (Woody Allen, Tim Burton, Amos Gitai, Milos Forman, Wong Kar-Wai, Wes Anderson and others). She has charmed art house crowds and multiplex crowds; she would be welcome at both snooty cocktail parties and at comic book conventions. She has been called this generation's Audrey Hepburn, for her delicate, princess-like manner, but she's also capable of something hilariously vulgar and lowbrow such as her infamous 'SNL' rap; she even managed to make Ashton Kutcher look good earlier this year in 'No Strings Attached.'
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Stars in Rewind: Helen Mirren's First Feature Film Performance

By Jeffrey M. Anderson (Subscribe to Jeffrey M. Anderson's posts), Posted Apr 4th 2011 6:30PM
Filed under: Cinematical


In early 2007, the 60-something Helen Mirren won her first Oscar for her regal portrayal of 'The Queen.' About a year later, she made headlines again by appearing on the beach in a bikini, and looking really, amazingly good. Usually highly acclaimed and respected grand old dames of the British theater, and veterans of many costume movies, aren't supposed to be sexy. But Mirren is and always has been.

'The Queen' will always be the first and foremost item in her bio, but digging a little deeper, we can find a much more interesting, diverse, tough, and sexy career. Some fans know her as Jane Tennison, the troubled but whip-smart police detective on several 'Prime Suspect' BBC miniseries, made between 1991 and 2006. She was unforgettable wearing boots and a dress and shooting bad guys in last year's 'Red,' arguably the biggest financial success of her career. This week she takes over the spiky, deadpan role made famous by John Gielgud in the remake of 'Arthur,' and doubtless she will give co-stars Greta Gerwig and Jennifer Garner a run for their money.

Early in 2009, Michael Powell's 'Age of Consent' (1969) was finally released on DVD, featuring a ripe, 24-year-old Mirren in a bikini and also quite a bit less; this denies any suspicions that she might have been a late bloomer. She was always in bloom.
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Time After Time: Movies from 1933

By Jeffrey M. Anderson (Subscribe to Jeffrey M. Anderson's posts), Posted Mar 11th 2011 6:30PM
Filed under: Columns, Cinematical


We're back in our time machine with the broken dial, and this time we land in 1933.

What Was the Story?

The much-maligned Herbert Hoover left office, replaced by the much-loved Franklin D. Roosevelt, and although the Great Depression was still in full swing, he seemed to give the people a measure of hope. That, plus the movies, which were still the cheapest entertainment in town. Ticket prices were, on average, about 23 cents each, and you also got a cartoon, a newsreel and a comedy short. This was probably cheaper for the first drive-in theater, which opened that year in Camden, New Jersey.

Construction on the Golden Gate Bridge began, and "The Lone Ranger" debuted on radio. If you really paid attention to the news, you might have heard about a guy called Adolf Hitler, who was rising through the ranks in Germany, or a guy named Gandhi, who went on a hunger strike to protest the treatment of the lower class. And, thank heaven, prohibition was repealed.
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Cinematical Seven: Prestige Actors in 'Lowly' Horror Films

By Jeffrey M. Anderson (Subscribe to Jeffrey M. Anderson's posts), Posted Feb 24th 2011 10:00PM
Filed under: Features, Cinematical


The four-time Oscar nominee Julianne Moore stars in a new horror movie, 'Shelter,' which was supposed to open this week, but -- not too surprisingly -- the Weinsteins are playing their usual chess game and have pulled it from release. Goodness knows we love horror movies, but let's face it: as far as prestige is concerned, they're just a step above the Three Stooges and a step below romantic comedies. Regardless, it got me thinking about all the times that high-profile and respectable actors have taken on jobs such as this. And I'm not talking about high-profile movies, either. Were they interested in the movie's themes? Did they need a paycheck? Who knows?

1. (tie) Bette Davis in 'Wicked Stepmother' (1989) and Joan Crawford in 'Trog' (1970)
Bette Davis was a two-time Oscar winner and Joan Crawford was a one-time winner, and they both went down this sad track, winding up their respective careers with these two movies, the final theatrical film for each. The road to horror started when they made the huge hit 'What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?' (1962) together, and audiences presumably demanded more, but how much more was up for debate. 'Trog' is from Hammer alumnus Freddie Francis, and it's as bad as it sounds. 'Wicked Stepmother' (1989) is by Larry Cohen, one of the most prolific of "B" movie makers, and it's worse than it sounds.
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Actors We Miss: Lee Marvin

By Jeffrey M. Anderson (Subscribe to Jeffrey M. Anderson's posts), Posted Feb 18th 2011 8:30PM
Filed under: Features, Cinematical


"I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan!" taunts one reservoir dog to another in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 movie, thereby bestowing an aura of cool on the famous white-haired, rock-jawed, gravel-voiced actor, who had died five years earlier. Not that he needed it. Lee Marvin was one of the great cinema badasses, and barely needed to lift a finger to exude cool, or at least become the one in the room that everyone looks at, or looks out for. It didn't even matter about his prematurely white hair; he never looked like he was ready for a rocking chair.

Actors today spend a great deal of time thinking about their images before they take on good guy or bad guy roles. Or, if they somehow transition from one to the other, it can feel like a sellout. Marvin played bad guys for a number of years before his star rose and he began to get hero roles, but he brought the same kind of swagger to both types, and the transition felt right. He was a tough guy, but he was a tough guy that could handle a wide range of roles. He was not just an action star for his fans; the critics loved him too. He could handle drama, action, comedy and even (arguably) a musical. He could handle 'The Iceman Cometh' as well as he could handle 'The Dirty Dozen.'
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Time After Time: Movies from 1993

By Jeffrey M. Anderson (Subscribe to Jeffrey M. Anderson's posts), Posted Feb 9th 2011 8:00PM
Filed under: Features, Columns, Cinematical


We're back in our time machine with the broken dial, and this time we land in 1993.

What Was the Story?

Bill Clinton began his presidency, and Monica Lewinsky had yet to be hired as a White House intern. The internet was just a few years away, and things were looking pretty good... mostly. Janet Reno was selected as Attorney General, thereby insuring many hours of spoofing on 'Saturday Night Live' (the cast of which included Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, David Spade and Chris Rock). Hellboy made his comics debut, and people were reading "The Client," by John Grisham, "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" by Stephen King, "Vanished" by Danielle Steele, "Trainspotting" by Irvine Welsh, and -- heaven help us -- "Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend" by Robert James Waller. On TV, there was a new show called 'The X-Files' and Conan O'Brien started his "Late Night" stint.
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Time After Time: Movies from 1971

By Jeffrey M. Anderson (Subscribe to Jeffrey M. Anderson's posts), Posted Jan 27th 2011 7:00PM
Filed under: Best Movies Ever, Columns, Cinematical


We're back in our time machine with the broken dial, and this time we land in 1971.

What Was the Story?

Good old Richard Nixon was in the White House at the time, and his Watergate scandal was still a ways off. Hippie culture was everywhere, including long hair, bell-bottom jeans, flip-flops, huge sunglasses (wait... that sounds a bit like 2009). If you walked into a record store, you could buy -- on vinyl -- such gems as Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," Led Zeppelin's fourth album, Joni Mitchell's "Blue," The Who's "Who's Next," John Lennon's "Imagine," Sly and the Family Stone's "There's a Riot Goin' On" and the Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers." And a young kid called Elton John released his first single, "Your Song," thus ensuring himself a future recording bland songs for movies in 2011.
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