Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley’s script radar is far from perfect. If it was, would he have signed on to appear in “The Love Guru,”"BloodRayne” or “A Sound of Thunder?”

But Kingsley is dead on when he describes how Hollywood has lost its way.

The actor, out on the promotional circuit to talk up his latest film, “Hugo,” told an interviewer at The Huffington Post what he really fears about the changing face of Hollywood – and the movies the industry cranks out.

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Moses was screwed! There is no other way to put it.

At sundown April 18th, Jews all across the world will begin the celebration of the holiday of Passover. Outside of Israel, the first two days of the holiday begin with a Seder (Jewish holidays begin in the evening) a family ritual  based on the Biblical verse commanding:

“You shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’” (Exodus 13:8)

Notice it says what the Lord did for me?  Because of that line God gets all the credit (which he deserves) but only God.

The “instructions manual”  for the Seder is called the Haggadah, a book that contains the narrative of the Israelite exodus from Egypt, special blessings and rituals, commentaries from the Sages, and special Passover songs. Seder customs include drinking four cups of wine, eating matza, partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder Plate (bitter herbs, hard boiled eggs, etc), and reclining while we eat to act as free people. In my house that is supplemented with song parodies, stupid parlor tricks (like changing water into blood) and family discussion about the meaning of the freedoms given to us by God.

One key player in the exodus story is missing from the entire Haggadah…Moses; Prophet, miracle maker, former prince of Egypt, and tennis player (the Bible says Moses served in the courts of Pharaoh). Can you believe it, the guy who put his arse online, confronted the most powerful king on earth before and after each plague, split the Reed Sea doesn’t get a mention in the official explaining the exodus script? (Reed Sea no typo in Hebrew its Yam Suf, Sea of Reeds).

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Big movie twists are fine. I appreciate them when they work and sometimes even when they don’t. There’s all kinds of gimmickry in storytelling and The Twist has always been one of my favorites. Regardless, we all love a movie twist that knocks us out; a “Sixth Sense” kind of twist where (with the help of the filmmaker) you rerun the story in your mind and feel a great amount of satisfaction as the pieces all come together. Even less successful movie twists work on some level. The last reveal in “Unbreakable” might not have been a “Sixth Sense” wowser but is arguably successful within the context of its own world and without the specter of its predecessor might have received the respect it deserved.

In order for this kind of twist to work, however, a film must accomplish two things. First, the story shouldn’t require the twist in order for it to be successful. What precedes the twist should be stand-alone compelling – a good movie all on its own.  Second, the twist should make you want to see the film again, and as soon as possible, because now what came before takes on an entirely new dimension that requires another viewing to truly savor.

And this is where “Shutter Island” fails. *SPOILERS COMING*

The two hours or so to director Martin Scorsese’s Big Reveal is a long haul, especially after you lose all interest after the first thirty-minutes due to a narrative that never gels or grabs hold. The acting is fine and the look of the atmospheric production is top-notch in that foreboding kind of way (aided by Bernard Hermann-esque flourishes in the score). But the mystery of an escaped patient on a big spooky island simply isn’t all that compelling. Nothing makes much sense once the second act really gets going, and while the Big Twist does work in explaining what came before, the thought of reliving two muddled unfocused hours was the furthest thing from my mind. (more…)

Teddy Daniels is a U.S. Marshal who’s having a really tough week. He’s incredibly seasick, yet has to ride a rickety boat across choppy waters to a place called Shutter Island. Worse, the foreboding location isn’t just a misbegotten piece of land; it’s actually the most unique prison on the planet – a place that houses the most criminally insane people imaginable, yet tries to do so with dignity rather than the physical and psychological abuse that was a hallmark of institutional attitudes of the time, 1954.

Daniels is heading over with his new partner Chuck Aule, to investigate the mysterious and seemingly impossible disappearance of a female murderer from her locked room in the dead of night at the island’s maximum-security Ashecliffe Hospital. Once there, the duo find that the hospital staff, led by the psychiatrists Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow), seem to be throwing up one obstruction after another, and a vicious hurricane is on its way in the dead of night. (more…)

The Academy Awards for 2008 have been handed out, and the “popular kids” have Oscars on their mantles, but the dirty little secret about winning awards is that you’ve gotta campaign for them. Thousands of dollars were spent by the distributors and filmmakers behind Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), Milk (Focus Features), The Reader (Weinstein) and other assorted winners and nominees, but not all performances received that sort of big money backing.

I am an unabashed lover of the acting craft. I see virtually every movie, large and small, that passes through the US marketplace, and, taking nothing away from Sean Penn, Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz and Heath Ledger, not all of 2008’s best performances have been recognized. I’m not going to be obvious here. Clint Eastwood was snubbed for Gran Torino, but he received lots of acclaim for the role including being named Best Actor by the National Board of Review. My goal is to highlight 10 performances from last year that have received virtually no acclaim in the US. Many of these roles can be found in hardly-seen, under-appreciated movies that came and went without much notice. Each and every one of these movies deserve a spot in your Netflix (or Blockbuster) cue. (more…)