Smith | Chris Weitz | American Pie | Ford | Vincent Price
Related Topics
Related Articles
Leader Of The Pack
by American Way Staff
Worth Your Money
New DVDs and movies you should check out. By John
Ross
GOLDEN TOUCH:
This one time, in a parallel universe … Chris Weitz directed
American Pie. So don't go holding that
against him when you hear that Weitz also directed
The Golden Compass, a new
special-effects-filled fantasy flick based on the fi rst tome
of author Phillip Pullman's Harry
Potter-ish book trilogy called His Dark Materials .
Sure, Compass stars the chiseled Daniel Craig and the
chilling Nicole Kidman, whereas American
Pie starred Seann William Scott and Tara Reid, but
wouldn't you say that Craig's character is sort of the Steve
Stifler of James Bond movies ? No? That's just us,
then.
FORD MOTORS ON: Given that
John Ford is so copied today, it's easy to forget what a singular
fi lmmaker he was. He managed to capture the Wild West, showing
solitary and sweeping images of the open plains in long shots that
often overwhelmed the cowboys and pioneers who populated his epics.
He did the lush hills of Ireland justice, too, in more than a few
movies. But even if his Westerns and other films had been terrible
and not inventively dramatic, they'd still be worth watching, if
only for the titles. To name just a few included on this massive
24-film DVD set that comprises 32 years' worth of Ford's movies for
Fox: 3 Bad Men, Hangman's House, Born Reckless,
Doctor Bull, and Judge Priest. Oh,
and also Wee Willie Winkie. Just wait until
you see the saloon shoot-out with Shirley Temple in that
one.
WILLIAM: If Will Smith,
Vincent Price, and Charlton Heston were the last men on earth and
everyone else on the planet was a zombie, vampire, or mutant, who
would survive? We're about to find out. In this month's biggest
big-screen blockbuster, I Am Legend, Smith
breathes new life into a role played by Price in 1964's
The Last Man on Earth and by Heston
in 1971's The Omega Man. Don't expect
Smith to put his mark on the part by busting out a lot of
cutesy, Men in Black-style one-liners, though. For most of
the movie, Smith has no dialogue.
Share Your Comments