Articles tagged "philip seymour hoffman"

The PopMatters Summer 2009 Movie Preview Feature

Summer of Same: August 2009

by Bill Gibron

[30.Apr.09] :. With names like Tarantino, Lee, and Zombie, the final month of the season pulls out all the film geek stops. Still, the only guarantee is familiarity, not freshness.

The PopMatters Summer 2009 Movie Preview

News

Without a ‘Doubt,’ this is one fine movie

by Bruce Dancis

[6.Apr.09] :. “Doubt,” the excellent movie John Patrick Shanley adapted and directed from his Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning play, works on many levels. Like the play, the film is set in 1964 in a...

PopWire

Decade-Dense: The 60 Most Memorable Films of 1999 Feature

Part 5: Toy Story 2 to Titus (November - December 1999)

by PopMatters Staff

[27.Mar.09] :. On this final day of PopMatters' 1999 overview, awards season hype gives way to pure acting prowess and definitive directorial flair.

Decade-Dense: The 60 Most Memorable Films of 1999

Film DVD Review

Synecdoche New York

by Evan Sawdey

[20.Mar.09] :. Consumed with existential dread, this film captures the feeling of near-death angst remarkably well, enough to the point where it's not Caden that's feeling it -- it's the audience.

Recent DVD reviews

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Five questions with ... Oscar nominee Viola Davis of ‘Doubt’

by John Metz [McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)]

[19.Feb.09] :. Viola Davis seemingly has rocketed onto the scene with her strong performance as Mrs. Miller in “Doubt,” a role that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. But the...

PopWire

News

This year’s Supporting Actor?

by Rafer Guzman [Newsday (MCT)]

[19.Feb.09] :. When it comes to the best supporting actor Oscar, the winning hand could be held by The Joker. That, of course, is the late Heath Ledger, whose eye-popping turn as The Joker in “The Dark...

PopWire

The New Classics - The 30 Best Films of 2008

by PopMatters Staff

[16.Jan.09] :. Unlike previous years, where classics came crawling out of the celluloid woodwork with regular reckless abandon, 2008 was more calm… and considered. That's not to say that choosing 30 top titles was hard. The difficulty in placing them in some manner of rank order suggests the actual depth of quality involved.

Iconic - The Top 20 Male Performances of 2008

by PopMatters Staff

[14.Jan.09] :. Like the gladiators of old, 2008 resembles a battle of formidable acting gods, especially when looking over the 20 choices presented below. Indeed, if anything, choosing a winner requires more of a leap of faith than any amount of critical skill - they all were that good.

Tough and Tender - The Top 20 Female Performances of 2008

by PopMatters Staff

[14.Jan.09] :. Twenty talented ladies, 20 performances worthy of multiple little gold men. Unfortunately, as in all years, someone has to come out on top. But after looking over this impressive list, picking the preeminent turn of 2008 seems almost impossible.

In battle of stage vs. screen, the play wins

by Chris Jones [Chicago Tribune (MCT)]

[8.Jan.09] :. As movie adaptations of stage plays go, the recently released “Frost/Nixon” and “Doubt” are among the best of recent vintage, not least because the writers of the sourcing...

Kaufman’s ‘Synecdoche’ Is Complex, Compelling Quirk

by Bill Gibron

[18.Dec.08] :. Love isn’t easy. Neither is life. Both bring us so much sorrow and pain that it’s weird how obsessive we are over each one. We covet them both, loathe the times when we are without them,...

Doubt

by Cynthia Fuchs

[12.Dec.08] :. Sister James (Amy Adams) embodies her historical moment, yearning to believe, adhering to tradition, and yet also inspired by a changing world.

Shameful Exposure

by Chris Barsanti

[11.Dec.08] :. A fiery Kate Winslet saves morality tale in 'The Reader' while a similarly powerful Meryl Streep can't do the same for the overly certain 'Doubt'.

Film Raises ‘Doubt’ In Audiences As Well

by Bill Gibron

[11.Dec.08] :. Faith is a very tricky thing. Belief without a foundation in fact, or the possibility of proving either, gives religion its raison d’être, and skeptics their fodder for a hundred careful...

Charlie Kaufman as director: On the whole, he’s up to the parts

by Steven Rea [The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)]

[6.Nov.08] :. TORONTO - “I don’t need to be mentored,” says Charlie Kaufman, a touch indignant, when asked if Spike Jonze helped out with advice on “Synecdoche, New York.” The film,...

Synecdoche, New York

by Cynthia Fuchs

[24.Oct.08] :. Much like protagonists in previous Charlie Kaufman scripts, Caden is an artist in search of his art.

Identities in Flux

by Chris Barsanti

[24.Oct.08] :. Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York is performance art as civilization-annihilating Godzilla, whereas Eastwood's Changeling is a film that wins the stranger than fiction category, hands-down.

Cinema Qua Non - Indispensable DVDs: Part 3

by PopMatters Staff

[16.Oct.08] :. Day Three - The final ten, a cross-culture collection teeming with big ideas, larger than life visions, and perhaps the greatest documentary on rugby you've probably never heard of.

Talk, Talk, Talk: December 2008

by Bill Gibron

[12.Sep.08] :. Just like the end of an inspiring speech that may or may not succeed in making its point, these final four weeks before 2009 tend to define or defeat the entire awards season purpose.

Talk, Talk, Talk: October 2008

by Bill Gibron

[10.Sep.08] :. What studio suit thought this was a good idea? With four months to schedule your high priced efforts, you instead unload almost 30 overpriced pictures on an unsuspecting movie audience.

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

by Matthew Sorrento

[5.Jun.08] :. What a quirky pair of brothers do Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke make.

Charlie Wilson’s War

by Christian Toto

[24.Apr.08] :. Sorkin's signature dialogue -- smart, rapid fire chatter that packs a punch -- makes this the most engaging poli-sci class you'll ever attend.

The Savages

by Kate Williams

[22.Apr.08] :. Sometimes the simplest stories about the most ordinary of people can be the most engaging, rewarding and entertaining.

The Savages

by Christian Toto

[22.Apr.08] :. The flawless performances and bracing humor enliven this film's grim subject matter.

A Gallery of Good Works: The Best Films of 2007

by PopMatters Staff

[11.Jan.08] :. From Julian Schnabel's artsy The Diving Bell and the Butterfly to the legendary Coen Brothers splendid adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, PopMatters counts down the 30 best films of 2007.

Performance Art: The Best Acting of 2007 - Male

by PopMatters Staff

[9.Jan.08] :. From the tender and eerie precision of Sam Riley's depiction of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis in Control to yet another superlative performance by Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, PopMatters highlights the best male actors of 2007.

Charlie Wilson’s War

by Cynthia Fuchs

[21.Dec.07] :. Like The West Wing, Charlie Wilson's War is leftish and glib, entertaining and exasperating, and written by Aaron Sorkin.

Brothers and sisters bare their fangs on the big screen

by Chris Vognar [The Dallas Morning News (MCT)]

[5.Dec.07] :. It’s that time of year when intimate strangers come over to eat large birds and drain your liquor cabinet. You know these people from childhood, but your lives have diverged since then. They...

The Savages

by Matt Mazur

[29.Nov.07] :. Jenkins and her gifted cast have put together an insular film that subtly examines and questions the state of elder care in the United States.

The Savages

by Cynthia Fuchs

[28.Nov.07] :. Tamara Jenkins' movie mixes bleak humor and acute insight, familiar and strange at the same time.

Sidney Lumet knows how to get some satisfaction

by Steven Rea [The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)]

[9.Nov.07] :. “It’s not one of your average feel-good movies,” says Sidney Lumet with a satisfied grin, speaking of his latest—the ferociously dark, wildly entertaining, “Before the...

The many faces of Philip Seymour Hoffman

by John Anderson [Newsday (MCT)]

[1.Nov.07] :. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the finest three-named actor of his generation, if you don’t count (and even if you do) Hoffman’s oft-cited idol, Daniel Day-Lewis. But Hoffman is even more of...

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

by Cynthia Fuchs

[26.Oct.07] :. Family tensions run high throughout Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

Mission Impossible III (2006)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[5.May.06] :. A movie titled M:I:III can't lean too hard on verbal wit, and so it quickly leaves Laurence Fishburne behind to head out into the actionated field.

Capote (2005)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[4.Apr.06] :. As Miller and Kimmel finish one another's sentences and demonstrate a charming sort of sync, the artists here suggest how Capote came to be such a tight, complex, and elegant film.

Capote (2005)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[25.Oct.05] :. Capote reveals the dangers of journalism in search of authenticity and based in intimacy. It also reveals the monster Capote sees in himself -- or more accurately, the monster the movie sees him seeing.

Cold Mountain: Collector’s Edition (2003)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[12.Jul.04] :. Anthony Minghella's image of the birds in snow articulates Cold Mountain's aesthetic and themes, its interest in collision and reverie, in nostalgia and resistance.

Along Came Polly (2004)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[15.Jan.04] :. Though plainly Ben Stiller's vehicle, Along Came Polly features an endearing, oddly delicate performance by Jennifer Aniston.

Cold Mountain (2003)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[23.Dec.03] :. The first scene in Cold Mountain is sensational and sickening, an apt introduction to what will be a Civil War saga.

Love Liza (2002)

by Terry Sawyer

[30.Jun.03] :. Phillip Seymour Hoffman defies the shallow gravity of Hollywood logic.

Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[23.Jun.03] :. Deftly rearranges any number of generic conventions, from romantic comedies, musicals, and melodramas with happy endings that can't make sense but seem inevitable and necessary.

Love Liza (2002)

by Nicholas Schager

[9.Jan.03] :. Love Liza wallows in grief and asks its audience to do likewise.

The 25th Hour (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[19.Dec.02] :. The 25th Hour opens with huge, hard-hitting shots of the March 2002 tribute to the Twin Towers, the towers of light.

Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[18.Oct.02] :. Deftly rearranges any number of generic conventions, from romantic comedies, musicals, and melodramas with happy endings that can't make sense but seem inevitable and necessary.

Red Dragon (2002)

by Todd R. Ramlow

[3.Oct.02] :. What is most politically problematic about Red Dragon is how it furthers the relationship between physical disability and psychopathology.

Flawless (1999)

by Rhonda Baughman

These are the first of many derogatory adjectives that come to my mind when trying to describe writer-director Joel Schumacher's new film, Flawless, which stars Robert DeNiro and Philip Seymour Hoffman (the latter being one of my favorite character actors, who has, sadly, two recent misses with Flawless and The Talented Mr. Ripley).

Almost Famous (2000)

by Ben Varkentine

And yet, for a rock 'n' roll film set in the '70s, Almost Famous has surprisingly little sex and drugs on screen (though both are much discussed). Even when two or three of the 'band-aids' decide to deflower William, mainly to alleviate their boredom, it comes off more like a slumber party game than an act of real sexuality.

Almost Famous (2000)

by Mike Ward

Maybe in the deceptive world of fame (or almost-fame), this is the best version of intimacy available, although it's easier to attribute it to the characters' superficiality, and maybe a certain starry-eyed idealism on Cameron Crowe's part.