Reviews

Johnny Depp is better in this than " Mortdecai" , but no one drinks coffee like John Shea in " Southie". Where were the Boston actors? Kevin Bacon is miscast. So is Dakota Fanning. If John Shea had a crack at this, it would have been different and probably shot on Nantucket. I remember the old days in Southie when you couldn't even get a good slice of pizza. You had to go see Billy Demarco down on Hanover Street. But watch out for his dog. It's not that Whitey was a good guy, but where is the scene where he took LSD in prison. Did he ever race Star yachts with Joe Duplin? I remember the old days and Nantucket is where John Shea belongs.

If you are attempting to bastardize "Jaws", one must film it on Nantucket and give John Shea a major part. Because the story demands it and shark adventures are more North Atlantic than anywhere else. I yearned for what should have been. CG sharks don't cut it,either.

What is the Matrix? A cash cow for Village Roadshow. Neo is angry because he didn't get a piece of the gross. Carrie Anne is like a desperate housewife from an exoplanet in the Trappist-1 solar system.

If you want to see a real Matrix sequel disguised as something else( which is it's brilliance), rent John Shea's " Grey Lady". Nantucket is the Matrix . The lead, played by Eric Dane, is Neo. The police chief, portrayed by John Shea, is Morpheus. When its over....its over. Or is it? How can one keep one's eye on the prize if the prize....isn't real? See for yourself. You'll see.

In " Grey Lady", a detective visits a bleak Nantucket in the off season to mourn the loss of his wife and partner. In " Land" , Robin Wright is kinda mourning the shock of being dumped for Jewel and Scarlett Johansen. The bear that tears through her house is a metaphor for Sean Penn. In " Grey Lady", the trail of mayhem and death is caused by a villan with a Sean Penn like pathos. At the end of both, the sun comes out and its back to ....wherever. Just remember....life can always get more savage.

This movie killed me. I felt like I was in an Alien egg biomorphing into something hideous Ripley would not hesitate to put down. Remember " The Counselor" and " The Mexican"? Since when did films of this ilk become brill cream smirkfests? In John Shea's " Grey Lady", a cop is chasing killers and is morose about it. Here, killers are chasing killers and are morose about it. My point ? The pesto smoothies these guys were downing between takes were probably more interesting than the final cut.

De Niro has long been the master of the pregnant pause scowl as a means to telegraph an insightful comment. It is overdone here. In " Grey Lady", Eric Dane walks through the Hellscape of his own traumatized psyche while trying make sense of his life on Nantucket. Is Serbia much different ? Is anywhere when memories of human cruelty do not dissipate over time? John Shea should have had the Travolta role.

The narco-haze premise of " Inherent Vice" is a whacked and fractured investigator looking for the perpetrators of disturbing crimes. Same as in " Grey Lady". Gordita Beach is the hypnotic Ying to Nantucket's Yang....or Fang...if you will. John Shea could have used Joaquin in his film. John could have used alot of things PTA thinks of.

Andre......you've lost another submarine? The main problem with " Altar Rock" seems to be everyone wants to be somewhere else. Like doing "Auntie Mame" on Zoom with the Sconset Actors Colony or " Yentl" at the Auschwitz Arts Festival in Ozwiecim. I liked this film for everything it wasn't but strives to be. Under dog films work for me, even without Season Hubley in the cast.

"Grey Lady" proves the late,great Boston theater critic, Elliot Norton, correct on this one salient point: every moment of suspended disbelief takes you on a journey you cannot turn down.

This film has a choppy syntax in the storied tradition of Norwegian films, designed to induce psychological hiccups before setting up the next trauma. The untrained American viewer won't overtly notice this manipulation of emotion, but it will keep you watching until the end. And that pretty much is what we all collectively fear, isn't it......the end?

Every generation has the killer blonde with a cold heart, from Jean Harlowe to Lana Turner to Sharon Stone and now....Rosamund Pike. She wears the crown well. She even looks like Sharon from some angles. This film was good until the too cutesy 3rd act. It goes from dark and edgy, like " Uncut Gems", to something campy like " Knives Out". Bad idea. Peter Dinklage in top form, though. A true actor. A great premise squandered.

This film has shocking moments the viewer doesn't see coming. The Old West here is not romanticized or sanitized. In fact, it appears to be nothing short of Hell on earth, so brutally cruel it drives people mad. But the story is solid, the dialogue rings true, the acting first rate. It is a crime it didn't do better box office.But bravo, Tommy Lee Jones. This is outstanding.

If you have seen the trailers, you have seen the movie. Yes, there are more scenes and David Strathairn shows up doing his usual humble,sensitive, beta male routine....and people drive around and share stories.....and...so what? As pointed out earlier, France McDormand's character chooses to live this way. She is depressed, morose,unavailable and happy swimming along in her perpetual melancholia. Its just not very....interesting. Or compelling.

This movie was thoughtful,still gritty, but with a humanity more touching than expected. After all, " Deadwood" isn't exactly "Gunsmoke". It was so good I could not help but wonder why there were only 3 seasons. But then, we may have never had " Justified". David Milch did it right. Thanks for the memories...both tragic and sweet.

Stilted, poorly written, not scary and over before you know it. I bumped into Owen Wilson in 2000 and said it looked like no one in the film wanted to be there. Owen said no one did.

"The Little Things" is almost exactly the story line of John Shea's " Grey Lady" for the first hour until it morphs into " The Pledge", the underrated Nicholson film directed by Sean Penn. What lifts this film above " Grey Lady" is Denzel Washington understands his character,while Eric Dane as the lead cop in a similar circumstance in "Grey Lady", clearly did not. Is " The Little Things" a great film? Almost. Its an adult film which reinforces life is messy and happy outcomes are often quite subjective. Its a smart film. " Grey Lady" was not. I watched this and thought, " John Shea could have been the lead in this" . As he should have been in " Grey Lady". Little things matter. So do the big ones. Which is why " The Little Things" is better.

If only. Halfway through,I don't care about anyone in this picture. Dafoe looks like he is auditioning for " The Lighthouse". What is this about...corrupt urban planners in the 1950s? So? I got my own problems.

This was well done, but it felt like Deja Vu all over again. Poirot, Dame Agatha, Hardy Boys, Murder She Wrote with a splash of Matlock and Clouseau. Toni Collette was wasted...probably burnt out on family issues after "Hereditary". Don Johnson was probably lusting after Ana de Armas,confusing her with Jodi Lynne. Craig was badly miscast. Mickey Rourke would have been more captivating. Jamie Lee Curtis seems always happy if you give her free yogurt. I thought Christopher Plummer died in a suicide pact with Christopher Lee. I want to see Chris Evans in a film where he is taken out by murder hornets. But rent " Knives Out". Its better than " Herbie goes to Monte Carlo".