Film & TV

It’s a lesson Markowitz now knows well after years of working with directors including Thornton, Robert Duvall and Nicholas Cage on Southern films such as Sling Blade, The Apostle and Sonny. He also served as director of photography for Thornton’s latest, Jayne Mansfield’s Car. So how did this New Yorker who earned a degree in Jewish history from Israel’s Hebrew University become the go-to cinematographer for Southern films for these Oscar-winning directors and actors? Markowitz is a self-professed stranger in a strange land populated – at least in films – by pickup trucks, hunting dogs and humidity levels higher than hell's. 

Time-travel films are fraught with complexities that leave thoughtful moviegoers debating merits and flaws long after the credits roll; and “Looper,” written and directed by Rian Johnson, is one of the strongest entries we’ve seen in years. The movie is set in the United States in the year 2044. Time travel has not yet been invented, but a select group of criminals know the technology will arrive in just three decades. 

Perhaps the greatest compliment one can bestow on a thriller is to call it Hitchcockian, and “Arbitrage” – written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki – would fit nicely in the Alfred Hitchcock catalogue. The movie’s power comes not only from the fact that it keeps viewers in suspense but from its carefully drawn lead character, Robert Miller (Richard Gere). Robert is a powerful hedge fund manager with an aura of complete confidence, yet viewers sense his vulnerability when he’s alone. 

Special effect (SFX) techniques have undergone momentous transformations throughout the past century of the medium’s history. Even SFX’ anatomical obsessions have developed (as it were): from early cinema’s in-camera techniques that never tired of limb dismemberment tricks to the 21st Century race to shatter “the uncanny valley” and use computer imagery to simulate human likeness. Film producers like Méliès and Edison ejaculated limbs from all sides of the frame using stop-start substitution tricks (the trick splice). 

Director Len Wiseman adds nice touches to this new version of “Recall,” including a darker tone, improved special effects and a superior cast. Whether you like Arnold Schwarzenegger or not, Colin Farrell is a better actor, and he is joined by Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel and Bill Nighy, all of whom are terrific. Wiseman and his team of screenwriters allow their movie to stray from the original “Recall,” particularly in terms of setting. 

Below are ten actors and actresses -- some more recognizable than others -- who represent the best and brightest currently working in film. Their differences are vast: they are men and women of various ages, representing many different backgrounds. So what do they all have in common? For starters, none of them have ever won an Academy Award, though several have been nominated at least once. Further, when it comes to the mainstream Hollywood career path, each one has diverged in slightly left-of-center directions.

The three Jason Bourne films starring Matt Damon are exciting espionage efforts that have a near-ideal balance of plot and action. “The Bourne Legacy” is a sequel to those movies and, although it does a fine job with the stunts, the plotting isn’t nearly as inspiring, in large part because it’s redundant. This time, the focus shifts from Jason Bourne to a U.S. intelligence operative named Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner). 

The color and visual spendor of India tends to overwhelm any film that is set in India. And Life of Pi is no exception. Ang Lee pretty much admits as much to DNA when he says “the country overwhelms you, with the warmth, the culture and its beauty”. Even in the hands of a director as astute as him, India feels over saturated, wide-eyed and eye-popping, prone to fortune cookie maxim. It’s a striking contrast to the richly detailed but so much more atmospheric Shanghai he created for Lust, Caution. That felt epic and intimate at the same time. This India feels Amar Chitra Katha – bold colors without much shading.