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Entries Tagged as 'John Sayles'

In the Electric Mist (2008, Bertrand Tavernier)

January 7th, 2009 · 2 Comments

In the Electric Mist is a perfect example of how not to adapt a novel into a film. The source novel is the sixth novel in a series and the film–in a seemingly bold but utterly misguided move (much of it would be incoherent if I hadn’t once read the novel)–assumes the viewer is going […]

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Tagged: Bernard Tavernier· Image Entertainment· James Lee Burke· Jerzy Kromolowski· John Sayles· Mary Olson-Kromolowski· Ned Beatty· Tommy Lee Jones· ★½

The Howling (1981, Joe Dante)

November 27th, 2008 · 2 Comments

All due respect to Rick Baker, but Rob Bottin’s werewolf transformation in The Howling is superior. The transformation lasts so long it’s no longer shocking, just interesting. It’s so deliberate, it got me wondering what the werewolf would do if he needed to change in a pinch… if he didn’t have three or four minutes […]

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Tagged: Embassy Pictures· Gary Brandner· Joe Dante· John Carradine· John Sayles· Kevin McCarthy· Noble Willingham· Terence H. Winkless· ★★½

Baby It’s You (1983, John Sayles)

October 30th, 2008 · No Comments

Baby It’s You is a John Sayles film I never expected to see… it’s John Sayles for hire. Sayles has had a lucrative career as a ghostwriter of blockbusters (Apollo 13 famously had his name on one poster… but not after the WGA got done). But Baby It’s You is the first of his films […]

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Tagged: Amy Robinson· John Sayles· Matthew Modine· Paramount Pictures· ★½

Piranha (1978, Joe Dante)

October 22nd, 2008 · No Comments

More than anything else, I think Pino Donaggio’s score sets Piranha apart. Initially, anyway. The film’s a very self-aware Roger Corman Jaws “homage,” but Donaggio’s score very quickly establishes it on firm ground. The score’s delicate, without any spoof-related cynicism (there’s no attempt to mimic the famous Jaws theme, Donaggio has some piranha attack music, […]

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Tagged: Joe Dante· John Sayles· Kevin McCarthy· New World Pictures· Richard Robinson· ★★★

City of Hope (1991, John Sayles)

May 24th, 2007 · No Comments

City of Hope is a raw John Sayles John Sayles movie. The camera follows the characters until it bumps into other characters, which is a simple, straightforward method, both a little more honest but also a little more amateurish. It introduces a gimmick into the film, which rarely does anything any good. It isn’t always […]

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Tagged: Chris Cooper· David Strathairn· Joe Morton· John Sayles· The Samuel Goldwyn Company· ★★★★

Men of War (1994, Perry Lang)

August 1st, 2006 · 1 Comment

Given Men of War’s blind earnestness, the daddy issues, and John Sayles being one of the credited screenwriters, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out it was going to be Steven Spielberg’s first war movie. I first read about Men of War when IMDb came around and I looked up Sayles. A John Sayles written […]

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Tagged: Cyrus Voris· Dimension Films· Ethan Reiff· John Sayles· Perry Lang· Stan Rogow· ⓏⒺⓇⓄ

Matewan (1987, John Sayles)

August 22nd, 2005 · 2 Comments

What was that? Did anyone else see that? (Probably not, I’m watching the Canadian widescreen DVD).
Sayles actually ripped off the looking at the camera bit from The 400 Blows. He actually did it–while having the characters future self narrate the epilogue. I’ve been dreading watching Matewan for over a year, since April 2004 in fact. […]

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Tagged: Chris Cooper· Cinecom Pictures· David Strathairn· James Earl Jones· John Sayles· Mary McDonnell· ★½

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