Thriller about a dying assassin's last-minute plan to seek redemption. With Helen Mirren, Cuba G... More movie reviews...
Thriller about a dying assassin's last-minute plan to seek redemption. With Helen Mirren, Cuba Gooding Jr. Directed by Lee Daniels (1:33). At the Empire 25, Village 7 and Magic Johnson Harlem. R: Nudity, sexuality, violence, language, drug use.
If he earns no other accolades for his directorial debut - a distinct likelihood - Lee Daniels deserves some kind of award just for assembling the most bizarrely random cast of this young century.
First, try to get your head around the concept of Helen Mirren as stepmother, mentor and lover to fellow hit man Cuba Gooding Jr. Now add a buck-naked Stephen Dorff as a flamboyant mobster, baby-faced Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing a shifty doctor, and comedian Mo'Nique as his vengeful girlfriend.
The preposterous plot kicks off when Mirren - who is dying of cancer - secretly saves Dorff's pregnant wife from assassination because she want to set Gooding up with a new family after she is gone.
With a zebra wandering around aimlessly, pool cues used for decidedly inappropriate action, and a death scene destined to become a camp classic, "Shadowboxer" is certainly entertaining - just not in the way Daniels intended.
Though the stripped-down style of Heather Lyn MacDonald's documentary doesn't quite do justice to her fabulous heroines, the extraordinary energy of the five former chorus girls she profiles provides plenty of fuel.
Celebrated show girls in 1930s Harlem, MacDonald's inspiring subjects - now in their 80s and 90s - are still performing, as the Silver Belles. Onstage, they charm audiences at the Apollo or Carnegie Hall, but when the lights dim, each faces the deep struggles of old age.
In the bittersweet present, most refuse to dwell on bygone hardships, leaving us to wish we knew more about their pasts - which are, after all, an invaluable chapter in the story of our city.
Compilation of six wide-ranging international short films. At Cinema Village (1:35). Not rated. In Spanish, Norwegian, Polish and Portuguese with subtitles.
The perfect antidote for anyone sick of overlong blockbusters, this diverse selection packs six films into just 95 minutes. Among the best is "La Perra," a sharp little satire about a bored Chilean couple with odd fantasies concerning their housekeeper. Also worthwhile is the serio-comic "United We Stand," in which several Norwegian men find that no good deed goes unpunished when they rescue a woman from a swamp.
The best of the bunch, however, is the palpably authentic "The Old Woman's Step," in which an elderly Brazilian makes a simple, and unforgettable, gesture of love toward her grandson.
Looking for all the world like a graphic novel come to life, Ryuhei Kitamura's blood-soaked martial arts movie is indeed based on a popular Japanese manga (comic strip). Plot and character development are quickly sacrificed to over-the-top action, but with a miniskirted menace in the lead, it's safe to say that fans, at least, will love it.
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