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'Sex, Thugs, and Rock 'N Roll'
by
Clint O'Connor/Plain Dealer Film Critic
Friday September 05, 2008, 6:23 PM
TORONTO - Hold onto your hats, movie fans, I've found a winner.
The best flick I've seen so far at the TIFF is "RocknRolla." Written and directed by Guy Ritchie, known mostly for being married to what's her name, "RocknRolla" is an adrenaline rush of breathless on-the-run encounters with cock-eyed cockney gangsters.
And before I abuse any other cliches, let me simply serve up the film's tag line, which says it best: "sex, thugs and rock 'n roll."
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Black Keys rock in "Rolla"
by
Clint O'Connor/Plain Dealer Film Critic
Friday September 05, 2008, 7:11 PM
TORONTO - One bonus element to Guy Ritchie's terrific new film, "RocknRolla," is its thumpa-thumpa soundtrack that includes "The Breaks" by our own beloved Black Keys.
The Akron-based The Black Keys - Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney - are a killer-good duo well worth checking out if you haven't had the pleasure. The movie, about gangsters in London chasing big money and trying to find a "deceased" punk rocker, stars Gerard Butler and Tom Wilkinson. It just premiered at the TIFF.
Continue reading "Black Keys rock in "Rolla"" »Leoni a no-show for 'Ghost,' Wiig wings it
by
Clint O'Connor/Plain Dealer Film Critic
Friday September 05, 2008, 1:10 PM
TORONTO - The glittery celebs have landed here for the 33rd TIFF. Tea Leoni, one of my favorite actresses, was scheduled to be here this weekend to help promote her newest film, "Ghost Town."
Needless to say, she's a no-show. Leoni has bigger things on her plate.
Her husband, actor David Duchovny, recently announced he was checking into a rehab center to treat his sex addiction. Coming to Toronto for Leoni would have meant a media barrage of sex-questions.
'Burn,' baby, burn
by
Clint O'Connor/Plain Dealer Film Critic
Friday September 05, 2008, 11:26 AM
TORONTO -- Greetings from the Toronto International Film Festival.
This is such a vibrant city with a great energy. Add oodles of movie stars and 312 films from 64 countries and you have a seriously splendid party.
Just saw the new Coen Brothers comedy-thriller "Burn After Reading." It's a lot of fun. Brad Pitt is absolutely hilarious playing a kind of man-child who works at a fitness club and stumbles upon the secret memoir of a former CIA analyst.
Continue reading "'Burn,' baby, burn" »"Hamlet 2," the centuries-in-the-making sequel
by Clint O'Connor/Plain Dealer Film Critic
Tuesday August 26, 2008, 8:26 AM
Drama teacher Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) leads his students through rehearsals for his new musical: "Hamlet 2." REVIEW
Hamlet 2
Who: With Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, David Arquette. Directed by Andrew Fleming.
Rated: R for language including sexual references, brief nudity and some drug content.
Running time: 92 minutes.
When: Opens Wednesday.
Where: Area theaters.
Grade: C+
And we all thought "Hamlet" was sequel-proof. All those dead characters. All those accolades about the greatest work in the English language. But Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) has a plan. A failed-actor-turned-awful-drama-teacher at West Mesa High School in Tucson, he has been developing a "Hamlet" follow-up for years. All he needed was a device, and now he's got one: a time machine. His machine not only resurrects Shakespeare's crew, but throws in Einstein and Jesus, who prove to be key voices because Marschz's production is also a musical.
"Hamlet 2" is a quirky, cute little lark whose greatest strength is desperation.
Continue reading ""Hamlet 2," the centuries-in-the-making sequel" »Ben Kingsley is unforgettable in 'Elegy'
by Clint O'Connor/Plain Dealer Film Critic
Thursday August 21, 2008, 11:59 PM
Student Consuela (Penelope Cruz) becomes an obsession for her professor (Ben Kingsley).
Ben Kingsley, in an unforgettable performance worthy of an Oscar nomination, is David Kepesh, 60-something literature professor who has carved out a bit of fame from his cultural criticisms on PBS and NPR. He feels old. The world whooshes by. His students get younger. But he can still lay claim to some life-embracing moments through his unending sexual appetite.
Continue reading "Ben Kingsley is unforgettable in 'Elegy'" »'The Rocker': Rainn Wilson mixes deadpan and madman, makes it work
by Clint O'Connor/Plain Dealer Film Critic
Tuesday August 19, 2008, 11:59 PM
A.D.D. greets its public: From left, Curtis (Teddy Geiger), Matt (Josh Gad), Fish (Rainn Wilson) and Amelia (Emma Stone).
You're a washed-up drummer living in your sister's attic in Cleveland. You couldn't even hold your dead-end day job, and now you're a sad, broke, bitter, dreamless 40-something loser. What to do?
For Robert "Fish" Fishman, the key to his new-found hope comes from America's great shared experience: YouTube. A "naked drummer" video leads to fresh musical opportunities, and kick-starts the new comedy, "The Rocker."
Continue reading "'The Rocker': Rainn Wilson mixes deadpan and madman, makes it work" »Rainn Wilson pounds and preens for laughs as 'The Rocker'
by Clint O'Connor/Plain Dealer Film Critic
Friday August 15, 2008, 8:00 AM
Rainn Wilson bangs it out as "Fish" Fishman in the Cleveland-set comedy "The Rocker."As Dwight on "The Office." As the wisecracking convenience store worker in "Juno." And as Robert "Fish" Fishman, the bitter hair-metal-drummer-turned-rockin'-role-model in the new comedy "The Rocker," which opens nationwide Wednesday.
SPECIAL AUDIO: RAINN ON FAME & CLEVELAND
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