An effective farce is a comic contraption that largely runs on its own crude mechanics. The surprises and sight gags, however they are discharged, are more important than the actors and the direction. Casting is a matter of filling in blanks. Some comedians, when they slip on a banana peel, look more...

The 2007 writers’ strike derailed Neil Jordan’s plans for a Hollywood movie, but as he’s not one to sit idle he returned to Ireland to write a story set in his own backyard. Filmed near the director’s home in Castletownbere, on the Emerald Isle’s gorgeous southwest coast, Ondine...

Like many a romance with a twist, this one suffers mainly from a deficiency of fleshed-out material to stretch the on-again, off-again relationship much past an hour. In The Back-up Plan, Jennifer Lopez plays Zoe, a New York pet-shop owner who can’t find the right guy but decides to go ahead with...

“The Godfather Part III” isn’t really a necessary sequel, and to be truthful it’s not really one of the best sequels in recent memory, but is it a bad film? No. In fact, had it not been for the extraordinary first two films, I firmly believe this movie would have been hailed as...

Making a sequel to a monster hit and an excellent movie like the Godfather is a real challenge. Sure, there have been many that had tried but many have failed (The Sting, The Hustler, Caddyshack, Death Wish, etc.), but only few have succeeded (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and this little nugget). Arguably,...

“The Godfather” is told entirely within a closed world. That’s why we sympathize with characters who are essentially evil. The story by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola is a brilliant conjuring act, inviting us to consider the Mafia entirely on its own terms. Don Vito Corleone (Marlon...

 A marginal improvement over its 1981 inspiration, Clash of the Titans follows rugged demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington) as he embarks on a campaign of revenge after his family is murdered by Hades (Ralph Fiennes) – with Perseus’ quest inevitably bringing him face to face with all manner...