http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson RSS Feed for DN Col Gary Thompson en-us Fri, 25 May 2012 04:40:05 GMT 2012-05-25T04:40:05Z en-us http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120525_Will_Smith_goes__lsquo_Black_rsquo__to_the_past.html THE TIME TRAVEL romp "Men In Black 3" returns us to a previous century, all the way back to that bygone era when Will Smith had yet to make a sequel. The year was 1997, Smith was coming off the cheese ball hit "Independence Day" and about to make what seemed like just another alien invasion movie, adapted from Lowell Cunningham’s Men in Black comic books/graphic novels. Fri, 25 May 2012 04:40:05 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120525_Will_Smith_goes__lsquo_Black_rsquo__to_the_past.html 2012-05-25T04:40:05Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120518__lsquo_Battleship_rsquo__is_silly__but_it_doesn_rsquo_t_sink.html IN “BATTLE LOS ANGELES,” we learned what happens to aliens stupid enough to invade a city where Michelle Rodriquez is stationed. I can see how an alien might have missed “Machete,” but have they really seen NONE of the “Fast and Furious” movies? There are five of them, and she’s in three. Mon, 21 May 2012 14:35:08 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120518__lsquo_Battleship_rsquo__is_silly__but_it_doesn_rsquo_t_sink.html 2012-05-21T14:35:08Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120518__lsquo_Crooked_Arrows_rsquo__plays_sports_genre_straight.html We call it corn, the Native Americans call it maize. Whatever you call it, there’s a ton of it the screenplay of “Crooked Arrows.” It’ s billed as the first movie about lacrosse, the country’s fastest growing sport and also the continent’s oldest, played by the six nations of the Iroquois confederacy going back a thousand years or more — a heritage reflected in the underdog scenario that drives “Crooked Arrows.” Mon, 21 May 2012 14:45:02 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120518__lsquo_Crooked_Arrows_rsquo__plays_sports_genre_straight.html 2012-05-21T14:45:02Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120518__lsquo_Mansome_rsquo___No_hair_to_the_throne_of__lsquo_Super-Size_Me_rsquo_.html Years from now, children of documentary filmmakers will be diagnosed with a condition called documentia. Mon, 21 May 2012 14:40:02 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120518__lsquo_Mansome_rsquo___No_hair_to_the_throne_of__lsquo_Super-Size_Me_rsquo_.html 2012-05-21T14:40:02Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120511__lsquo_Changing_the_Game_rsquo__filmed_in_Philadelphia.html “CHANGING THE GAME,” the second feature from Philadelphia independent filmmaker Rel Dowdell, surely cannot be faulted for its scope or ambition. The movie is a literary, sprawling, age-of-globalization story about a North Philadelphia guy with a genius I.Q. who goes to Penn and then to high finance, and learns that Wall Street (surprise!) is no less treacherous than the mean streets he knew as a youth. Fri, 11 May 2012 12:47:39 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120511__lsquo_Changing_the_Game_rsquo__filmed_in_Philadelphia.html 2012-05-11T12:47:39Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120511_Local_filmmaker_finds_satisfaction_in_release.html PHILADELPHIA NATIVE Rel Dowdell had a fairy-tale baptism in the world of independent film. While at film school at Boston University, Dowdell pitched his idea for a student short film to Esther Rolle, expanded that to a feature called “Train Ride,” released it on DVD and saw it heralded as one of the top 10 titles of the year for 2000. Fri, 11 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120511_Local_filmmaker_finds_satisfaction_in_release.html 2012-05-11T07:00:00Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120511_This__lsquo_God_rsquo__is_strictly_Old_Testament.html IN THE OPENING moments of “God Bless America” somebody shotguns an infant and the baby’s guts end up all over the screaming parents. It’s an obvious “fantasy” sequence, so I guess it’s a case of no harm, no foul. Just a joke, ha-ha. Still, the takeaway from the scene is that “God Bless America” is a transgressive, edgy movie that doesn’t mind offending you in order to make its point. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:00:56 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120511_This__lsquo_God_rsquo__is_strictly_Old_Testament.html 2012-05-11T13:00:56Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120504_Summer_rsquo_s_Must-See_Movies.html THE SUMMER movie season commences today with “The Avengers,” a giant Thor-gasm of Marvel superheroes wrapped in one package. It has the star attractions — Iron Man, Thor, Captain America — from previous summer hits, and magnanimously gives The Hulk yet another chance to make his blockbuster bones. For good measure, it also offers Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury, a night-of-a-thousand-stars cast, a $220 million budget, and geek-guru director Joss Whedon. Fri, 04 May 2012 18:58:50 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120504_Summer_rsquo_s_Must-See_Movies.html 2012-05-04T18:58:50Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120427_Hugh_Grant_does_pirate_voice.html THE KIDDIE audience might not recognize the voice of the Pirate Captain in “Pirates: Band of Misfits!” but it belongs to Hugh Grant. Older viewers might not recognize it either — it’s been three years since Grant has made a movie. His last was “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” Grant’s one-billionth romantic comedy, and a project apparently so awful it soured him on movies completely. Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:00:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120427_Hugh_Grant_does_pirate_voice.html 2012-04-27T07:00:00Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120427_He_rsquo_s_just_a_Poe_boy_nobody_loves_him.html THE BEST THING about the new thriller “The Raven” is John Cusack’s amped-up performance as Edgar Allan Poe. Cusack lost 30 pounds and pushed himself to the point of exhaustion to play Poe, a sometime action figure in “The Raven” who gallops on horseback through the fog and shoots guns. Cusack, however, said the really taxing aspect of the role was trying to achieve Poe’s famously agitated mental state. Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:00:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/gary_thompson/20120427_He_rsquo_s_just_a_Poe_boy_nobody_loves_him.html 2012-04-27T07:00:00Z