Recommended TheShow: In Japan, the government funded Young Animator Training Project grantsmoney to companies for the express purpose of passing on animationexpertise to the next generation through on-the-job training withnovice animators working with more experienced talent.
Recommended The Movie: As far as all-black musicals are concerned, 20th Century Fox’s 1954 production Carmen Jones is a towering achievement.
Rent It As evidenced by its title, Touchy Feely aims for emotion on an intimate level. The healing touch (or lack of it) is the name’s basic pun, but this drama / comedy focuses on a cast of characters who are holding their feelings back, afraid of the emotional contact two people can share. It sounds like prime material for director / writer Lynn Shelton: her last film, Your Sister’s Sister …
Highly Recommended THE FILM: It is difficult to objectively review Fast & Furious 6 since its star, Paul Walker, died so suddenly on November 30. I grew up with these films. I was the target audience for The Fast and the Furious back in 2001, and I remain a fan of the franchise.
Rent It The Movie: At this point, the Jerry Bruckheimer/Gore Verbinski adaptation of the old radio and TV series The Lone Ranger has been a huge box office disappointment, a critical failure, and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, one of Quentin Tarantino’s ten favorite films of 2013.
Recommended The Vivien Leigh Anniversary Collection is a mostly worthwhile set of the four of the five British films actress Leigh appeared in just prior to leaving for America to star in Gone with the Wind (1939). For those, like this reviewer, who know Leigh primarily for that film, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Ship of Fools (1965) and one or two others, the set is an intriguing one.
Recommended THE FILMS: With Paramount’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit on the horizon, it is appropriate to revisit the four older Ryan thrillers. Culled from Tom Clancy’s novels, each film has its merits and all are worth watching. The series has thus far had three leading men – Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck – and Chris Pine is set to play the sometimes CIA agent Ryan in Shadow Recruit …
Skip It THE FILM: Click an image to view Blu-ray screenshot with 1080p resolution. By all accounts, the late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs was a complicated man.
Skip It THE FILM: Click an image to view Blu-ray screenshot with 1080p resolution. I may not be the target audience for young adult film adaptation The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones but I was willing to give it a fair shake.
Rent It Please Note: The stills used here are taken from promotional materials and other sources, not the Blu-ray edition under review. The TV Series: Time for more cha-cha music, manly men, swanky dames, and Rat Pack-era swellegance. In an unfortunate coincidence, we happened to watch the second and final season of the Starz “mobsters and mayhem in 1959 Miami” drama Magic City at the same time …