Visual Arts

By: ROBERT WALDMAN, Vancouver

Sit back and enjoy the ride as first time film director Eric Brevig takes us on an unbelievable trip in Journey to the Center of the Earth. Fun all the awaits onlookers at this treat from Alliance Films now thrilling folks at Scotiabank Theatre, Esplanade 6, Colossus, Empire Studio 12 and Famous Players Silver City cites around B.C.

By ROBERT WALDMAN, Vancouver

Certain actors seem born for a role. Back in the 1960s Sean Connery was saving the world as James Bond, agent 007. Move on to the 70s and we had Clint Eastwood cleaning up those grimy San Francisco streets as Dirty Harry. Sky high fun occurred whenever Christopher Reeves took flight as a superman while closer to home Sylvester Stallone did what John Rambo had to do to wreck havoc on American enemies in South East Asia.   Modern heroes like Indiana Jones and Spider-Man made household names internationally of Harrison Ford and Tobey Maguire. Now we must add Robert Downey Jr to this list of pop icons thanks to his latest work.        

By ROBERT WALDMAN, Vancouver

Words of wisdom are hard to convey when we enter the murky world of the mixed-up/messed-up Wetherhold family. Life on campus takes a back seat to family upheaval as we track an otherwise normal group in Smart People, a savvy undertaking from Miramax Films now setting off debates at Tinseltown (on Pender, free parking). the Fifth Avenue Theatre, Esplanade 6, Empire Studio 12, Colossus and Famous Players Theatres around B.C.. Sure to spark interest come Oscar time this oddball feature marks some notable musings from it’s A list cast of actors.

   By:  Robert Waldman, Vancouver           

                Absence can make the heart grow fonder. For filmmaker Kimberly Peirce an almost ten year hiatus from feature film direction was well worth the wait. Save for directing an episode of the Vancouver shot L-Word Ms. Peirce hasn’t gone behind the camera since Boys Don’t Cry, the knockout drama that made a star out of Hilary Swank. Now Peirce turns her talented lens and pen to the war in Iraq with Stop-Loss, a neat expose from Paramount Films and MTV Studios now enlightening audiences at Tinseltown (on Pender, free parking), Empire Studio 12, Colossus and Famous Players Silver City cites around B.C.

By ROBERT WALDMAN, Vancouver

War can bring out the best in people. Set in the 1930s, The Counterfeiters is a tense tale of struggle and survival from Sony Pictures Classics now shining brightly at Tinseltown (on Pender, free parking). Once again Germany shows its true colours and mettle as a sensational filmmaking center with this movie from writer/director Stefan Ruzowitsky a clear front-runner for best foreign film this year. Right in the tradition of The Lives of Others The Counterfeiters serves to open eyes to the ultimate war machine and human tragedy.

Direct hits don’t come that often in Hollywood.  Score a homer for Columbia Pictures with the release of Vantage Point.  Timely and tense beyond belief, filmdom’s freshest thriller is now firing folks up at Tinseltown (on Pender, free parking), Esplanade 6, Oakridge Cinemas, Empire Studio 12, Colossus and Famous Players Silver City arenas across B.C.

By ROBERT WALDMAN, Vancouver

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Perhaps the most pressing problem in the world today is the ongoing conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours.  If only those entrenched interests could take the time to see The Band’s Visit, a spectacular joint effort between Muslim and Jewish forces, there may yet be hope for peace in our time.

By:  Robert Waldman, Vancouver

Danish folklore explodes on screen in Beowulf, a dynamic tale of revenge and survival from Paramount Studios and Warner Films now blowing people away at Scotiabank Theatre, Colossus, Empire Studio 12 and Famous Players Silver City Theatres around B.C.  To experience the full impact of this scintillating story search out Famous Players Imax Theatres like the Richmond Silver City location where it’s available in 3-D. Said to be the oldest piece of written prose in the English (or any other) language for that matter, director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) delivers a tantalizing tale of blood, guts and eternal hope.

Addicts of crime movies will know that Italians call Mafia heads Dons. News of an upstart businessman’s flair for muscling in on previous Costa Nostra territory sows the seeds for conflict and confrontation in American Gangster. Based on a true story this dynamic tale of an opportunist’s ability for taking on the underworld and making it his own proves to be an unqualified hit for Universal Pictures. Long line-ups are cueing up to witness this modern day Robin Hood type tale at Tinseltown (on Pender, free parking), Oakridge Cinemas, Empire Studio 12, Colossus and Famous Players Silver City cites across B.C.

By ROBERT WALDMAN, Vancouver

Bad things happen to good people. How many times have we heard that saying before? Chances are nothing is really as it appears in Reservation Road, a dynamic thriller from Alliance Atlantis Releasing now giving people pause to think at Tinseltown (on Pender, free parking).

                2007 may yet go down as the year of the vigilante. Kevin Bacon got things going as a dad out for blood in Death Sentence. Next on the list was Jodie Foster with her wronged woman take no prisoners attitude in The Brave One. New kid on the block Joaquin Phoenix bests them all as a man in the wrong place at the wrong time.