One of the most disturbing trends in film over the past 15 years is the sheer abundance of cinematic bilge that has been churned out to cash in on a popular video game. Take for instance House of the Dead, Resident Evil, and Alone in the Dark. These steaming piles of celluloid are from the past few years alone. Such films set the bar so…
“You make me feel like a better person, and I’m… not a better person,” says Martin Tweed (Hugh Grant) to his girlfriend as she announces she’s leaving him. Indifference is a word that requires more effort to type than the emotion that typifies Tweed’s attitude toward her. He’s of course a caricature of Simon Cowell, the garrulous talent judge of the ubiquitous…
Directed by Clark Johnson (“S.W.A.T.”,”Iron Eagle II”) and written by George Nolfi (“Oceans Twelve”), “The Sentinel” is not a thriller, it’s not a drama, it’s not even a decent crime story. It’s a “star” movie. Note that 50 percent of the theatrical poster’s visual space is occupied by the names of the four main cast members, including Michael Douglas who was an actor once upon a time. The movie begins in the fashion of about…