Aladdin, Review: Aladdindeed Believe it or not, Aladdin is a one-in-a-thousand-and-one story, part of The Thousand and One Nights (also called The Arabian Nights), stories narrated by a queen called Scheherazade, at bedtime, without revealing the end, to save herself from being killed by her husband, the murderous sadist who kills all his wives the day after he marries each one of them. Disney made an animated version in 1992, and here comes their live action CGI, musical avatar, directed and...

The Wife, Review: The Bitter Half It is easy to get swayed emotionally and empathise with the apparent underdog in this simple tale of a complex relationship. Only when you distance yourself, get down to analysing the issues and assessing the narrative, do you realise that the film did not have too much to say, and that the vulnerabilities of the characters cover a convenient screenplay. Performances, undeniably, are above par, and the film may also be seen for its intensity, focus and ably m...

Jumanji-Welcome to the Jungle, Review: You only live thrice If you happen to get your hands on a board-game called Jumanji, you and all within range will be transported to a virtual jungle, where virtually all imaginable forms of carnivorous animals will vie with each other to gobble you up. But even if they do, do not worry, you will still live, to die another day, by falling off a cliff, perhaps. Now that you have used up two of your allotted three lives (nine are for cats only), you better...

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Review: Lancelot, Camelot, Huge Ackman and Amen! In this year’s Hollywood Christmas release, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, 'Santa Claus' is symbolically replaced by a whole team of entertainers, “eleven”, at director Shawn Levy’s last count. The star-cast includes two veterans who are no more—Robin Williams and Mickey Rooney—and inanimate objects and creatures by the dozen, who make-up for Rudolph,...

Thatman Robin joins Dead Poets’ Society Comedy is heart wrenching, and can be fatal. For the comedian, that is. As it was, for Robin, the genius, who ended his 37-year career, and his 63-year life, by apparently killing himself, on 11 August 2014, at his home. What really killed him? Cocaine? Alcohol? Depression? Parkinson's? Maybe a combination of all. But cinema lost one of its most versatile, innovative actors, who was also incomparable in his wit, mimicry and motor-mouth reparte...

Lois Lowry's science fiction novel The Giver, like the movie adaptation with Jeff Bridges in the title role, imagines a futuristic community bereft of memory and emotion. True to his character as the comrade charged with preserving human experience, Bridges mounted an impassioned remembrance of his fellow actor Robin Williams at the August 12th press conference for The Giver at New York's JW Marriott Essex House. The previous evening, Bridges had learned of the 63-year-old ac...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent Traditional obituaries are hard to write for comedians, especially legends like Robin Williams (July 21, 1951 - Aug. 11, 2014) who died today, because they have all died so many times. First they all die, then, if they are lucky like the late great fast-talker Robin Williams, they learn to “kill.”    But today 8/11 the giant killer, the phenomenon who was the heir to all the gifts of Lenny Bruce, Jonathan Winters, George ...

Not since Joseph interpreted a dream of Pharaoh's shaqahhas a butler been mythologized like the hero of Lee Daniels' The Butler. Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), who worked for eight presidents from 1957 to 1986, takes his cue from the the true story of White House butler Eugene Allen. Yet this epic drama has its own master to serve, and both Daniels and screenwriter Danny Strong pledge allegiance to educating viewers about history rather than to dramatizing one man's bio. At t...

By Liza Foreman Robin Williams is set to star in Dito Montiel’s (“A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”) “Boulevard,” the producers announced on Wednesday. Camellia Entertainment is in pre-production on the feature film, which is an intimate drama about marriage and lies. Williams will play Nolan Mack, a devoted husband in a marriage of convenience until a run-in with a guarded young man forces Nolan to come to terms with his own secrets. Up-and-coming actor...

I was a guest on the set of The Wedding yesterday which is shooting in Connecticut. It stars Robert De Niro, Robin Williams and Amanda Seyfried to mention just a few of the great cast. Some of the people that were there included Amanda Seyfried, Robin Williams, Ben Barnes and, of course, Justin Zackham, the writer and director.It was a beautiful day which is worthy of mention due to all the hot and rainy days we've had lately. The house used for the set was fantastic. There are people that actu...

Bobcat Goldthwait is funny. As with any entertainer, people may differ on their assessment of his comedic persona. In person, however - whether one-on-one or in front of a Q&A crowd - he has this natural, relaxed comedic pattern to his speech that can make even what should be a sad, dark story draw random chuckles and occasional outright laughter. This is a laughter born not from watching a clown perform, but from an appreciation for an experience shared with another human being. ...

Wednesday, March 21----- The San Francisco Film Society announced today that Robin Williams will be the recipient of the Peter J. Owens Award to be presented at the San Francisco International Film Festival (April 26–May 10, 2007), which is celebrating its landmark 50th anniversary this year, making it the oldest film festival event in the Americas. The Owens Award, named after local cultural benefactor and longtime Film Society board member Peter J. Owens, honors an actor whose work exemplif...