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David Jason and John Lyons - David Jason at a signing of his autobiography "My Life" at Waterstone's, Piccadilly - London, United Kingdom - Thursday 10th October 2013

John Lyons Friday 7th October 2011 Crime Thriller Awards at the Grosvenor Hotel London, England

The Opportunists Review

By Robert Marley

Good

Christopher Walken is a great choice to work with any first-time director/screenwriter, as he can "sell" any character put in front of him. From a sword-swinging headless horseman in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow to a wristwatch smuggling Air Force Captain in Tarentino's Pulp Fiction, Walken breathes an air of believability into any persona, which is hardly something that every actor can do. Because of this, the films he is in always seem to be at the very least entertaining, and The Opportunists is no exception to the rule. Set against the backdrop of the Sunnyside, Queens neighborhood of New York, The Opportunists is the story of a man who can't seem to do the right thing, no matter how hard he tries.

Walken plays Victor Kelly, an ex-con turned auto mechanic struggling to be a responsible man, earning an honest living in the hopes of redeeming himself for the lifetime of trouble he has brought down on his small, fractured family. Add to the mix a young man named Michael (Peter McDonald) who appears at his doorstep, claiming to be a cousin from Ireland. Ironically, Michael has come to America to learn from the man he believes is a successful mobster - as legend back home tells it. What he actually finds in Vic is completely different. Vic is a proud man with some heavy financial headaches. Too bullheaded to accept help from his girlfriend (Cyndi Lauper). Vic soon realizes his skills as a mechanic are not nearly as marketable as his safe-cracking skills, and he reluctantly finds himself risking everything for one last shot to save his business and his family.

Continue reading: The Opportunists Review

Boogie Nights Review

By Christopher Null

Extraordinary

Now this is some production. I'm lucky enough to live in one of the "selected cities" for Boogie Nights's limited opening (it goes wide on Oct. 31), and in all my years as a moviegoer, I think this is the first time I've seen a mirrorball in the theater put to use during a film. Outside of that, Boogie Nights may have generated the most enthusiastic audience response I've heard in ages.

The premise is simple and well-known. Young "Dirk Diggler" ("Marky" Mark Wahlberg) is a busboy discovered in a Receda nightclub by a big-time porn flick producer (Burt Reynolds, in perhaps his best role ever). Mingling with the likes of Amber Waves (Julianne Moore, my fave actress), the innocent Rollergirl (Heather Graham, who doesn't have nearly enough screen time), and other bigshots of the biz, Diggler rises (so to speak) and falls as the porn industry ruptures during the dawn of the 1980s.

Continue reading: Boogie Nights Review