Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” is the essence of crime cinema cool boiled down to its bones, combining the spartan feel of Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Samourai” with the sheen of Michael Mann’s ’80s output like “Thief.” Throw in a protagonist reminiscent of Ryan O’Neill’s strong silent wheelman in Walter Hill’s “The Driver,” and you’ve got a shiny movie buff confection.

Ryan Gosling completely owns the nameless lead role, shiny scorpion jacket and all. The year Gosling had in 2011 effectively silenced his critics who wrote him off as a pretty face in “The Notebook,” with “Drive” standing at the head of the pack. His soft exterior makes his cool-yet-vicious character in “Drive” all the more potent whenever he has to stomp some poor henchman’s head in.

I love grizzled, masculine action heroes like Liam Neeson and Lee Marvin as much as the next red-blooded American, but Gosling steps up to the plate, points to the outfield, and knocks the ball straight into the spark-spewing lights. Don’t let his soft features or feathery surname fool you. Gosling brilliantly channels the brand of cool perfected by Alain Delon in Melville’s quiet heist & hitman sagas.

Another great turn is given by Albert Brooks, normally known for playing lovable characters with low self-esteem in “Broadcast News” and “Defending Your Life.” Any trace of Brooks’s natural likability is nowhere to be found in “Drive.” He completely embodies a truly frightening gangster heavy with a penchant for fileting his enemies with a razor. In a conversation with Gosling, he says, “I used to produce movies, in the eighties. Kinda like action films, sexy stuff. One critic called them European. I thought they were shit.” This makes me wonder if Brooks’s character isn’t a homicidal take on Menahem Golan or Andy Sidaris. Maybe both?

As my co-host on the HomeVideodrome podcast pointed out this week, “Drive” was snubbed at the Oscars this year, garnering only one nomination for Achievement in Sound Editing. There were only nine nominations for Best Picture, as opposed to the ten from last year. So it would seem one of the year’s most acclaimed movies was snubbed in favor of … nothing. Ouch. But “Drive” seems like too much of a weird, arty genre outsider to get a nod from Oscar.

Thankfully, “Drive” doesn’t need the potential for gold statues to boost its cred, as it’s already gained a fanatical following from movie fans (when I stopped by Best Buy to pick it up, the racks containing it were almost empty). Excuse me, but I’ve gotta crank Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx’s “Nightcall” while I write the rest of this article.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

Speaking of Michael Mann, he produced a new flick that’s out this week, and his daughter, Ami Canaan Mann, took up the directing duties.  The title is ridiculous and intriguing all at once: “Texas Killing Fields.” Being a man who has a taste for Texas-fried genre fiction by guys like Joe R. Lansdale, this sounded like a yarn that could be right up my alley. I love sweaty, southwestern noir like “No Country for Old Men” and “The Killer Inside Me,” and “Texas Killing Fields” promised some solid talent, including Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chloe Grace-Moretz, and Jessica Chastain, who had the best year of any actress in 2011 (Sam Worthington’s in there too, but he ain’t really a “draw” for me). Shame what they served up was just a bland, boring mess.

“Texas Killing Fields” is about as dull as murder mysteries get, it’s characters are burdened by cliche, and the story lacks focus, and happens to be devoid of meaning to boot. A hothead small-town cop (Worthington) is paired up with an emotional detective from New York (Morgan) to solve a string of murders, and a bunch of stuff you won’t care about happens in the meantime. You know the drill, crime scenes procedurals, cliched cop dialogue, it all adds up to something you’ve seen done better a gazillion times before elsewhere.

It could only help the film if it could be called “formulaic,” because at least formula means it would at least hit the proper beats. Instead it’s a ball slow, muddy sludge, with fruitless subplots and a boring mystery. The story might not be such a drag if Mann’s direction added any flavor, but it just lies there on the screen like a dead fish. I would say it’s “television quality” direction, but doing so would be unfairly dismissive of the far more satisfying work in the genre that we see on TV every day.

It’s wildly disappointing when such a talented cast and crew cooks up a big fat nothing-burger like “Texas Killing Fields.” Even the most brilliant talents squeeze out the occasional turd, they are human after all. This is one of those movies that you might come across flipping through the NetFlix Instant Queue one night after you’ve had a few too many beers which might arouse your curiosity, but trust me, hombre, just keep flipping until you find something else.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

Other Noteworthy Releases

Transformers – Dark of the Moon 3D: Michael Bay’s celebration of boys & their toys finally comes to 3D home video. I sort of admire Bay for making something as unapologetically vapid as this movie is, it’s pretty much a Bay’s trademarks blasted straight at your face without any hint of pretensions towards character and coherent storytelling. You can also grab the entire series in a deluxe box set, which should make for a remarkable tool if you’re into marathon S&M sessions.

Available on 3D Blu-ray

Star Trek – The Next Generation – The Next Level: I loved the Blu-ray releases that were put together of the original series, and it looks like they’re doing something similar with “The Next Generation”, offering re-created effects for high-definition. This three-episode set is a taste of what the full season sets will offer, serving three episodes that have been given the hi-def treatment: “Encounter at Farpoint,” “Sins of the Father” and “The Inner Light.” The beauty of what they did with the original series was they offered you a choice: you could watch it with the old effects, or the flashy CGI stuff, whatever floats your boat. Hear that, George Lucas? Choice. We like that. This release comes at an affordable price, but it’s a release for the impatient. If you’re gonna buy the whole shebang anyway, save your money and wait for the real deal.

Available on Blu-ray

In Time: Andrew Niccol’s stuff hasn’t ever really scratched my sci-fi itch, though “Gattaca” was pretty sweet. I love how Harlan Ellison sued the makers of this film for ripping off “Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman”, only to drop his lawsuit once he saw the film. I guess he only likes to take credit for stuff that’s good.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

The Thing: Back when I would gobble up any horror film I could get my hands on, curiosity would’ve been a good enough motivator to see this one. It doesn’t seem like it’s sure whether it’s a prequel or a remake, so I’ll just stick with the John Carpenter one, thanks. Also, the Christian Nyby/Howard Hawks classic is pretty swell too.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

The Big Year: A film starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson about bird watching … which bombed badly at the box office. Given that my Father is an avid birder, I’ll be watching this one with him for kicks some day soon.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

Dream House: Another bomb, this Jim Sheridan film starring Daniel Craig looks like a script someone dug out of M. Night Shyamalan’s garbage can. A sure sign a movie needs to make some fast cash after a bad box office draw: it’s available for rental on Amazon Instant the day it comes out, instead of making you purchase it for streaming. Not a rule, but it’s interesting how duds often come out of the gate accepting rentals there.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

The Double: In case you were wondering what Richard Gere is up to.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

Outrage – Way of the Yakuza: A new Takeshi Kitano film?!  Sign me up!  Ever since I saw him terrorize high schoolers in “Battle Royale”, I’ve been a fan.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

The Magnificent Ambersons: Orson Welles’s half-masterpiece finally gets a stand-alone DVD release.

Available on DVD

Blubberella: I just wanted to point out that this exists. Of course, Uwe Boll is involved. Note how the titular character is firing off machine guns while gripping the clips in the cover art. Just sayin’.

Available on DVD

To Kill a Mockingbird: Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve watched this. Time to give it another look now that it’s got a Blu-ray dip coming out.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Amazon Instant

Adaptation: The best Charlie Kaufman creation, “Adaptation” is as brilliantly meta as it gets.  Nic Cage haters need to remember that the man is great when he’s in the right movie.  This one, “Moonstruck,” “Wild at Heart,” “Raising Arizona,” “Leaving Las Vegas”… recognize.

Available on Blu-ray

Shakespeare in Love: It’s Oscar season, so a bunch of movies that got a bunch of wins/nominations are getting Blu-ray dips. I couldn’t ever muster up the will to force myself to watch this movie. Now that it’s on Blu-ray, I’m not shocked I still don’t care.

Available on Blu-ray

The English Patient: Anthony Minghella’s middle name was “Oscar” during his career. Another one of his movies, “Cold Mountain,” also comes to Blu-ray this week.

Available on Blu-ray

The Piano: When I think of tortured female-driven dramas, I think of Jane Campion’s “The Piano” starring Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel’s penis.

Available on Blu-ray

Frida: Being an admirer of Diego Rivera’s murals, I really enjoyed Julie Taymor’s biopic on his wife, Frida Kahlo, which covers her career, and their tempestuous relationship. Taymor’s such a visually-driven director that this Blu-ray release should look fantastic.

Available on Blu-ray

Malcolm X: He may have blocked my mouthy self on Twitter (hey, shameless plug time, follow me because you love me), but I do enjoy me some Spike Lee movies when he hits the right notes. “Malcolm X” is one of those times where he knocked it out of the park.

Available on Blu-ray

This article originally appeared over at Parcbench

The Irish actor sports a disheveled nose and an accent that sounds like it belongs in a pub where the bar stools date back to the Second World War. And when Neeson puts up his dukes on screen, there’s no “Matrix”-style effects to give him cover. It’s all loping jabs and hay makers.

It’s why audiences are responding to his latest action film, “The Grey.” The film came in first over the just-wrapped weekend, earning $20 million without any big stars beyond Neeson and no existing brand to bank on. Neeson stars as a depressed sharpshooter who must survive the elements, and a hungry pack of nearby wolves, when his plane goes down in freezing terrain.

Compare the box office results for “The Grey” to the opening weekend haul of Taylor Lautner’s “Abduction” from late last year:

“The Grey” – $20 million

“Abduction” – $10.9 million

Lautner’s got Neeson by 40-odd years, and you just know Neeson doesn’t have six-pack abs like Mr. “Twilight.” Audiences didn’t care. They responded to the way Neeson goes about his business on screen. It’s never smooth or calculated, but Neeson’s characters settle scores and survive in a way that hearkens back to how male movie stars used to behave on screen.

He’s a man’s man, and that makes him a rarity in today’s Hollywood.

Neeson rejuvenated his career with “Taken,” the 2008 surprise smash that cast him as an older spy who could still crush anyone who gets in his way. Even “Unknown,” a deeply silly action film, earned a respectable sum with Neeson going through the motions.

Actors typically don’t reinvent themselves as action heroes later in life. The elder statesmen of the action genre – think Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris and Harrison Ford – are simply giving audiences more of what they’ve come to expect from them.

What middle-aged actor would turn to his agent and say, after years of playing serious roles, that he wants to be the next Steven Seagal?

The soon to be 60-year-old Neeson matters because he’s bringing something fresh to theaters, the sense of a fully capable alpha male who doesn’t regret taking decisive action. And assuming a bum knee doesn’t force his exit from the action genre, who’s to say we won’t be watching Neeson wrecking havoc on his cinematic foes well into his 60s.

Over the past ten years, the young actor has played supporting roles in several major films and starred in one of the most acclaimed mini-series of the past decade. One of his first juicy roles occurred in 2003 when he played Chase Edmunds, a CTU agent working under the tutelage of Jack Bauer on “24.”

In 2010, Dale played a lead in the HBO mini-series, “The Pacific.” Since then, he has acted in “The Conspirator,” headlined a television program called “Rubicon” and starred alongside Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan in the critically-acclaimed film “Shame.”

His latest project, “The Grey,” finds Dale facing his own mortality alongside Oscar-nominee Liam Neeson. I recently had a chance to talk to Dale about his emotional scene in the new thriller, his work on “The Pacific” and the Oscar nomination that never arrived for Fassbender.

“The Grey,” which is based on Ian MacKenzie Jeffers’ short story “Ghost Walker,” focuses on a group of plane crash survivors who are stranded in the Alaskan wilderness and must face off against a group of ravaging wolves. The story shows these men facing their own mortality as both the wolves and the cold temperatures attack them mercilessly.

Dale told me that “fell in love with [the script] right away” and thought it was a “very strong piece of writing.” He added that he made director Joe Carnahan an audition tape and put down every character in the film because he was so intent on being in this film.

His biggest scene in the thriller is an emotional one where he faces Neeson after their plane has crashed. But Dale joked that the intense scene was easier to film with Neeson there. “You just stare into Liam’s big baby blues and everything blows away,” he said.

To prepare for the scene and at Dale’s request, Carnahan—who enjoys playing music on set—played the song “Simple Are the Ways We Say Goodbye” from the musical “Nine.” “That song was a big part of my life growing up from watching my mother onstage,” the actor said. “It was also the song we played at my mother’s funeral.” He added that the “song is a goodbye song to me” and “helped set the tone” for the scene.

Dale also spoke to me about his role as Pfc. Robert Lackie in the Emmy-winning “The Pacific.”

“No job will ever be like that again,” he said, adding that “nothing could prepare us for what we were thrown into on that job.” The cast, he noted, are still close and are planning to meet for a reunion in a couple of weeks.

I also spoke to Dale about his role in last year’s critically-acclaimed film “Shame,” which co-starred Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. I asked the young actor what he thought about Fassbender—who many critics believed gave one of the performances of the year—being denied an Oscar nomination for his performance.

“I was shocked. I was surprised,” he noted as if he had just heard the news. “Michael Fassbender is one of the most concentrated specific actors I’ve ever worked with, and he can tell a story with a look,” Dale said. But Dale thinks that Fassbender has a long career ahead of him. It’s “definitely not the only performance people are going to be talking about in his career.”

The same can be said for Dale, who may not be a household name yet but who—if he continues choosing his roles carefully—could be one soon enough.

“The Grey” arrives in theaters nationwide today.

The best thing about this movie is its shivery hypothermic vérité, a credit to the skill of cinematographer Masanobu Takanayagi, working under what must have been very trying conditions.

The story is set in the snow-blown wastes of Arctic Alaska, and the brutally frigid environment, with its attendant sub-zero temperatures, is vividly depicted—the actors, haloed in clouds of breath condensation, really appear to be freezing. (The picture was actually shot in northern Canada—not a tropical getaway in any event.)

The main characters are part of a group of oilfield roughnecks who were en route from their remote worksite for two weeks of R&R elsewhere when their shuttle plane took a dive into the icy tundra, leaving them suddenly either stranded or dead. Only eight men have survived. Fortunately, one of them is Liam Neeson, whose warm, hefty presence would be reassuring in any predicament. His fellow survivors are a traditionally mixed bunch: a couple of nice guys (Dermot Mulroney and Dallas Roberts), one wiseass (Frank Grillo), and one gentle fellow (Nonso Anozie) who clearly shouldn’t be making any long-range life plans.

Read the full review at Reason.com

Neeson, the 50-something action hero behind “Taken” and the upcoming thriller “The Grey,” will be appearing on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” Jan. 16 to talk up his newest film.

He’ll also use his time in New York City to meet with two lucky fans, or at least folks lucky enough to win the eBay auction surrounding his “Late Night” appearance.

The studio behind the film is auctioning off a celebrity meet and greet with Neeson in association with “The Grey,” which opens Jan. 27. According to eBay, the winner will get two greenroom guest passes plus seats at “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and be able to snap pictures with the burly Neeson.

As of 2 p.m. PST Tuesday, the bidding stands at $811.77, but who knows how high it will go from there?

The auction page includes the standard information, but you’ll also see a trailer for the film, its poster and other pertinent information. That makes it a savvy way for Neeson and co. to spread the word about their project in an unconventional fashion.

The stunt will make two film buffs happy, spread the word about the film and help fill the coffers at UNICEF Ireland, the recipients of the winning bid money.

In a recent New York Times article, journalist David Itzkoff praises the Writers Guild for posthumously recognizing Trumbo as the true author of the screenplay for “Roman Holiday.” Both Itzkoff and the Guild saw this belated screen credit as a blow against censorship.

But missing from the award and the article is Trumbo’s own censorship efforts while a member of the American Communist Party.

In a 1943 letter, Trumbo bragged about how he and his comrades were able to keep such “untrue and reactionary” works such as “Trotsky’s so-called biography of Stalin,” Arthur Koestler’s anti-communist “Yogi and the Commissar” and John Dos Passos’ attacks on Stalinist duplicity in the Spanish Civil War novel, “The Adventures of a Young Man,” from being made into films.

The next year Trumbo attempted to get the FBI to investigate correspondents who wanted his anti-war “Johnny Got His Gun” (1939) brought back into circulation in order to end American participation against the Axis. When the tide turned and it was the American Communist Party who others urged the FBI to investigate, Trumbo attacked the bureau as fascist.

As the editor of The Screen Writer magazine, Trumbo rejected the submission of an anti-communist writer on the following grounds:

“It is difficult to support your belief in the inalienable right of man’s mind to be exposed to any thought whatever, however intolerable that thought might be to anyone else. Frequently such a right encroaches upon the right of others to their lives. It was this “inalienable right in Fascist countries which directly resulted in the slaughter of five million Jews.”

Thus, the free speech Trumbo would be honored for led, in his estimation, to the gas chamber if practiced by those he disagreed with.

A mark of a true anti-censorship proponent is defending the free speech of all, especially in times when opponents are in the minority. During the war, the tide was on Trumbo’s side. His fellow comrades such as John Howard Lawson were writing the Democratic Party platform for California. Trumbo himself authored UN speeches for State Department official Edward Stettinius. But in the same favorable position that his adversaries would be in after the war, Trumbo censored with impunity.

Trumbo certainly deserves his screen credit, but not the characterizations of him as a free speech avatar

The 59-year-old actor has found himself in an unlikely position – the world-weary action hero. It started with the blistering thriller ‘Taken’ and continued with the far less effective ‘Unknown.’ Both films hit theaters in January, a relatively soft spot in the movie release schedule.

The Hollywood suits hope Jan. 2012 will find audiences eager for more Neeson mayhem. His upcoming thriller ‘The Grey’ doesn’t include sleazy slave traders or mistaken identities. Instead, it’s Neeson vs. Nature, a grudge match just right for the coldest days of the calendar year.

The Irish actor has slipped into the same spot Harrison Ford assumed during his 50s. He’s an older man, but someone not to be messed with. Neeson plays both a convincing victim as well as a counter puncher of consequence. He doesn’t want to fight, but he will if pushed. And how.

Coming Soon:

[Filmmaker Luc] Besson told us that Colombiana director Olivier Megaton has been using his time in Los Angeles to scout locations for the sequel to Taken, which will shoot there for a little bit, and the film itself will start production in October. He said that everyone is back for the sequel including Famke Janssen, who had a small role as Liam Neeson’s ex-wife in the first movie.

My only concern is that we might get “Taken 2: The Apology,” where what made the original such a surprise hit might be apologized for in part two. A pure revenge thriller with Islamists as the bad guys is what made the first such an unexpected smash. There are literally dozens of B-level action movies made each year with, so you have to ask yourself what set this one apart. Yes, the story was very well executed and written, but in a cinematic world of moral equivalency and joy-killing political correctness, for once we were allowed to watch good fight evil with a vengeance and without even a moment of hand-wringing.

Let’s hope the follow-up doesn’t find our hero living alone and with a tortured soul over “what he’s done.”

A simple story with hateful bad guys, a good guy who dispatches them with extreme prejudice, and an innocent civilian shot in the leg to get her corrupt husband to talk – will do me just fine, thank you very much.

—–

In “Unknown,” the original Dr. Harris (Neeson) is flying to the conference with his wife. Upon arrival, the couple accidentally leave a piece of luggage at the airport. When they arrive at their hotel, Dr. Harris realizes that his luggage is missing and returns to the airport. Before he gets there, his taxi crashes leaving Harris in a coma for several days.

When he wakes up, he returns to the hotel to find his wife. When he sees her in a crowd, she claims that she doesn’t know him. She points to another man (Aidan Quinn) and states that he is her husband. He’s the “real” Dr. Harris.  At this point, the camera closes in on Neeson’s face as the background spins behind him showing his state of disbelief. Who is the real Dr. Harris?  Who is this man posing as his replacement? Why is his wife pretending that this impostor is her real husband? The answers to these questions are slowly revealed in this taut thriller.

Even when the original Dr. Harris figures out ways to expose the man pretending to be him, he is constantly outsmarted. The “fake” Dr. Harris has identification. He has pictures with Elizabeth. He knows what Dr. Harris has told some of his colleagues. The fake Dr. Harris seems to know everything about Dr. Harris that the real Dr. Harris knows. You following that?

In a thriller such as this, action sequences go a long way and this one has several of them that will bring audiences to the edge of their seats. After Neeson enlists the help of a local taxi driver (Diane Kruger), the two of them are constantly being chased by mysterious hit men who are trying to kill them both. The chase scenes are well-done and genuinely suspenseful.

The story is also full of surprises. Even if you think you have it figured out, events veer into new directions leading audiences on a fun thrill ride.

The weakest element is the logic behind the whole thing. If you are coming into this movie ready to analyze it to make sure the whole story stands on its own, you might as well buy a ticket for the new Justin Bieber movie. “Unknown” is fun and action-packed but it has some plot holes and a few lazy twists that occur because the plot requires them to.

Aside from that, I highly recommend “Unknown.” It has a few great twists, several strong action sequences and strong performances from Neeson and Frank Langella (who shows up for a few brief but important scenes). Even though this movie isn’t great, it’s an interesting story that will lead audiences to enjoy the “unknown.”

But what if that sense of security suddenly disappears? And even worse, what if you can’t remember all the things that are important to you, and those around you are claiming they don’t know you either?

—–

That is the harrowing dilemma at the heart of the terrific new thriller “Unknown,” a film that updates classic Hitchcock thrillers like “The Man Who Knew Too Much” to the modern world but still relies on timeless foundations of solid performances, inventive writing, perfectly moody atmosphere and a reality-based sense of location that makes every moment feel all too real. And at its core is the essential idea of an Everyman who is thrust into a terrible situation and must find the inner strength and cleverness to find his way back out.

Following Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife Elizabeth (January Jones) as they go to Berlin for an important botany conference, Martin quickly finds he has to race back to the airport after forgetting a vital briefcase with classified information. He goes back so quickly that even his wife doesn’t know where he went, and when he suffers a four-day coma after a taxi accident, Martin finds that his wife claims she doesn’t know him, another man (Aidan Quinn) is claiming to be him, and that he can’t even remember what secrets he was bringing to the conference himself. He turns to his cab driver (Diane Kruger) and a former East German secret policeman to help him figure out the mystery, one that spirals ever more complexly through a series of shocking twists.

“Unknown” marks the second foray into action-hero status for Neeson after the slam-bang thriller “Taken” in 2009, and he again fits the role well. “Unknown” is an even better – if less wildly entertaining – film because its more complex story stays mostly in the realm of plausibility, and because the performances and writing of the characters across the board are three-dimensional.

Director Juame Collet-Sera does a superb job building a low-boil tension to heightened levels at key moments in the film, while he and screenwriters Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell masterfully use amnesia and the stranger-in-a-strange-land motif to keep both Martin and the audience on their toes for the entire running time. Their vision of Berlin as cold, grey and utterly baffling to an American man with no knowledge of German sets the film in a netherworld that has a constant sense of dread, and their detailed side story of Kruger’s plight and hope for a better life is uncommonly affecting for a thriller.

All told, “Unknown” is a rare modern thriller that takes its time to unspool its story and keeps viewers hanging on for the ride right alongside their hero. Let it be known that this is one film well worth seeing.