- Set in the New York underworld where nothing is as it seems, Lucky Number Slevin is an action-packed, fun-as-hell roller coaster ride (Venice Magazine). When down-on-his-luck Slevin (Josh Hartnett) stumbles into a running feud between the city s most feared crime bosses (Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley), he ignites an all-out war. Tracked by a mysterious assassin (Bruce Willis) and distracted by h
RISE:BLOOD HUNTER - DVD MovieSadie Blake (Lucy Liu) dies and comes backs to life several times in
Riseâ€"Blood Hunter, which gives this revenge tale impetus to continue perhaps longer than it needs to. At over two hours long, this film, written and directed by Sebastian Gutierrez (
Snakes on A Plane), is beautifully filmed and acted at times but drags due to the drawn out story of a LA Weekly reporter who seeks revenge on her murderer, the vampire head of an underground blood-sucking cu! lt. This handsome monster, Bishop (James D'Arcy), charms women, kidnaps them, and slits their throats with his claw-shaped necklace, stumping the entire LAPD minus Clyde Rawline (Michael Chilkis), a hard-drinking policeman who eventually teams up with Blake to hunt and destroy the vampiric ringleader. The scenes depicting initial doses of violence, like when Blake wakes up in a metal casket at the morgue, or when she's originally killed in Bishop's bed, covered in black trash bags to avoid bloodstains, feature crisp film footage awash in blue and red, setting a semi-poetic mood. Mostly,
Riseâ€"Blood Hunter operates on the vampire tales' conflation of sex and death, taking a sexy tone throughout, especially when Sadie or her fellow vampire, Collette (Cameron Richardson), feast on blood then strip off their sullied clothing. Blake's vengeance underpins her rebellious attitude, as she shoots her crossbow at each person she meets on the trail to Bishop. Though
Riseâ€"! Blood Hunter is not a classic in the genre, it is enticing! to add Lucy Liu to the list of gorgeous vampire slayers. â€"
Trinie DaltonFLYPAPER - DVD Movie
Flypaper is a curious name for this shaggy-dog film about characters who continually cross paths as their lives careen out of control. Craig Sheffer is the ostensible lead, though his hotheaded, gun-toting criminal is hardly the picture's hero. He kick-starts the story by kidnapping meth lab chemist Lucy Liu, and then hunts down his junkie girlfriend, Sadie Frost, who is now under the care of her crotchety real estate mogul guardian (Robert Loggia). In the very next room is John C. McGinley, cheating on his jealous future bride, Illeana Douglas, with Talisa Soto, a dominatrix in tight leather. The film plays out these threads as if they are destined to intertwine in some improbable climax, but instead they merely crisscross in passing, finally fraying in a soft, anticlimactic conclusion. The performers try to have some fun with their familiar parts, and writer-direc! tor Klaus Hoch tosses in a few curve balls (my favorite is the knife sticking out of Sheffer's skull like a topknot, turning the homicidal heist man into a punch-drunk pussycat), but for all his offbeat humor and funky twists, nothing in
Flypaper ever sticks.
--Sean AxmakerSet in glamorous New York City, four women stay close as they strive for success in the business world. Affectionately known as the Cashmere Mafia, they rely on each other for support in both their careers and their often-tumultuous personal relationships. Publisher Mia (Lucky Liu), CEO Juliet (Miranda Otto), top business executive Zoe (Frances O'Connor) and key marketing executive Caitlin (Bonnie Somerville) are bright, driven and dedicated, supporting each other through rocky marriages, rival colleagues, kids' recitals and the hunt for the perfect loft. Their ambition comes with a price - although they consistently outpace their male colleagues and husbands in salary and title, they mu! st watch out for scheming rivals, eager to bring them down. Bu! t how be tter to climb to the top of the corporate ladder than with your buddies at your side?Pitted against
Lipstick Jungle during the 2008 TV season,
Cashmere Mafia holds its own with a familiar but still welcome focus on four powerhouse New York women whose fierce devotion to their jobs is matched only by their unwavering friendship with each other. Helmed by Darren Star (
Sex and the City),
Cashmere Mafia focuses on the lives of magazine publisher Mia Mason (Lucy Liu) and her friends Zoe Burden (Frances O'Connor), Juliet Draper (Miranda Otto), and Caitlin Dowd (Bonnie Somerville). Zoe and Juliet--both married with children--juggle their jobs as high-powered executives with frenzied family lives. While Mia searches for love with a colleague, a brain surgeon, and a manny, cosmetics executive Caitlin questions her sexuality and finds a relatively stable relationship with another women. There are some plot points that go nowhere: a sex tape, a pregnancy, a ! fashion show disaster. But the core group shares wonderful chemistry. While Liu is meant to be the show's star, Otto, with her icy, red-haired good looks and regal voice, has the most compelling scenes. As the cuckolded wife with a n'er-do-well husband, Otto injects depth and emotion to Juliet, who has to work out in her own mind that presenting a happy image is no substitute for actually being happy. Thanks to the 2008 Writers Strike, the series is truncated to just seven episodes. The sad thing is that the show was canceled just as the writers began to develop the characters into interesting women, rather than high-heeled caricatures we've seen before. Often compared to
Sex and the City because of the female cast, the New York setting, and the fashionista wardrobe,
Cashmere Mafia doesn't touch
Sex at its peak. But it hints at enough "what could have beens" to make viewers wistful that the series didn't get a second season.
--Jae-Ha KimFlypap! er is a curious name for this shaggy-dog film about chara! cters wh o continually cross paths as their lives careen out of control. Craig Sheffer is the ostensible lead, though his hotheaded, gun-toting criminal is hardly the picture's hero. He kick-starts the story by kidnapping meth lab chemist Lucy Liu, and then hunts down his junkie girlfriend, Sadie Frost, who is now under the care of her crotchety real estate mogul guardian (Robert Loggia). In the very next room is John C. McGinley, cheating on his jealous future bride, Illeana Douglas, with Talisa Soto, a dominatrix in tight leather. The film plays out these threads as if they are destined to intertwine in some improbable climax, but instead they merely crisscross in passing, finally fraying in a soft, anticlimactic conclusion. The performers try to have some fun with their familiar parts, and writer-director Klaus Hoch tosses in a few curve balls (my favorite is the knife sticking out of Sheffer's skull like a topknot, turning the homicidal heist man into a punch-drunk pu! ssycat), but for all his offbeat humor and funky twists, nothing in
Flypaper ever sticks.
--Sean AxmakerIn the twisted maze of a city teeming with corruption, a seasoned "professional" is going to teach a traitorous rookie a simple lesson: There's nothing more lethal than a man with nothing left to lose. Academy AwardÂ(r) nominee* Harvey Keitel and co-stars Stephen Dorff and OscarÂ(r)winner** Timothy Hutton turn up the heat in this "four-star, edge-of-your-seat crime and revenge story" (Toronto Sun) that strips the mask off L.A.'s shrouded underworld and turns it inside out. In the "business" of armed robbery, Roy Egan (Keitel) is a master who's ready to retire.However, when his brother Lee (Hutton) proposes one last joba slam-dunk, three-million-dollar diamond heist with his two friends (Dorff and Wade Dominguez)Roy can't resist coming out of retirement to cash in on a sure thing. But when one of the "friends" gets greedy and pulls a deadly double-cross,! the stage is set for a pulse-pounding game of cat and mouse a! s Roy re lentlessly tracks him down, hell-bent on revenge. *1991: Supporting Actor, Bugsy **1980: SupportingActor, Ordinary PeopleThis John Irvin film is a small, hard-edged little gem, full of crisp action and tough-minded codes of honor. Harvey Keitel stars as a retired professional criminal whose younger brother (Timothy Hutton) lures him to Los Angeles for a can't-miss heist in Palm Springs. But Hutton hasn't picked his other partners very well, particularly wheelman Stephen Dorff: when it's time to divvy up the spoils, Dorff kills Hutton and a fourth partner and tries to rub out Keitel. Keitel escapes, however, and trails Dorff back to L.A., where he also figures out which Chinese mob he's tied in with. It's strictly revenge time from there on out, with Keitel as the one-man wrecking crew cutting a bloody swath through the L.A. underworld. Keitel is grittily good, a man of few words and many bullets, while Dorff is an enjoyably sleazy psychopath. A violently propulsive little ! noir.
--Marshall FineA pulse-pounding cyber thriller starring Jeremy Northam (GOSFORD PARK, EMMA) and Lucy Liu (KILL BILL VOLUME 1, CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE), CYPHER is sure to entertain you! When computer expert Morgan Sullivan (Northam) joins a huge multinational company, he assumes a new identity and is sent undercover to investigate corporate espionage. Before long, he finds himself caught up in a vicious cycle of paranoia and mistrust. Then along comes Rita (Liu), a sexy and smart secret agent who informs Sullivan that he's being brainwashed and that she is the only one who can help him! Loaded with riveting twists and amazing special effects ... you're sure to applaud this fast-paced thriller!RISE:BLOOD HUNTER - DVD MovieSadie Blake (Lucy Liu) dies and comes backs to life several times in
Riseâ€"Blood Hunter, which gives this revenge tale impetus to continue perhaps longer than it needs to. At over two hours long, this film, written and directed b! y Sebastian Gutierrez (
Snakes on A Plane), is beautiful! ly filme d and acted at times but drags due to the drawn out story of a LA Weekly reporter who seeks revenge on her murderer, the vampire head of an underground blood-sucking cult. This handsome monster, Bishop (James D'Arcy), charms women, kidnaps them, and slits their throats with his claw-shaped necklace, stumping the entire LAPD minus Clyde Rawline (Michael Chilkis), a hard-drinking policeman who eventually teams up with Blake to hunt and destroy the vampiric ringleader. The scenes depicting initial doses of violence, like when Blake wakes up in a metal casket at the morgue, or when she's originally killed in Bishop's bed, covered in black trash bags to avoid bloodstains, feature crisp film footage awash in blue and red, setting a semi-poetic mood. Mostly,
Riseâ€"Blood Hunter operates on the vampire tales' conflation of sex and death, taking a sexy tone throughout, especially when Sadie or her fellow vampire, Collette (Cameron Richardson), feast on blood then strip off the! ir sullied clothing. Blake's vengeance underpins her rebellious attitude, as she shoots her crossbow at each person she meets on the trail to Bishop. Though
Riseâ€"Blood Hunter is not a classic in the genre, it is enticing to add Lucy Liu to the list of gorgeous vampire slayers. â€"
Trinie DaltonDown-on-his-luck Slevin stumbles into a running feud between two New York gangsters, The Boss and The Rabbi. Tracked by the mysterious assassin Goodkat and distracted by his flirtatious neighbor, Slevin must use his wits to cheat death.How boring it is to label a movie Tarantino-esque anymore. The thing is, when it comes to an offering like
Lucky Number Slevin, the shoe fits, and the result is anything but boring. Gruesome killings, arid wit, self-reflexive pop culture references, an A-list cast, and style-heavy production values abound, which gives the proceedings an epoxy bond that seals the Q.T. homage factor. Josh Hartnett--who spends a lot of buffed-up time! with his shirt off--is Slevin Kelevra, a hapless fellow visit! ing his New York friend Nick. But Nick has disappeared, which sets off a mistaken-identity thrill ride when two goons grab Slevin (he's in Nick's apartment so he must be Nick) and take him to their crime lord boss, the Boss (Morgan Freeman). The Boss doesn't care about Slevin's wrong-man protests; he just wants the $96,000 Nick owes him. In one of many offers he can't refuse, Slevin has to agree to murder the son of the Boss's felonious arch rival, the Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) or take the bullet himself. But Slevin turns out to be no ordinary patsy. Thrown into the ingeniously designed production, clever plot twists, and academic nods to Bond, Hitchcock, and obscure old cartoons are Lucy Liu as a sexy coroner, Stanley Tucci as an obsessed cop, and Bruce Willis as a wily hit man with his finger in many pots. With so much visual and narrative trickery, there's almost too much to absorb in one viewing of this convoluted jigsaw puzzle of revenge and entertaining mayhem.
Lucky Number Slev! in isn't quite up to par with similarly brainy thrillers like
Memento and
The Usual Suspects, but the prospect of seeing it again in order to get your bearings is just as appealing.
--Ted Fry
