Kellcath

I rented this film because there was a lot of buzz about it a few years back. It was shot in my hometown (Winnipeg, Canada).

Unfortunately, the makers of this film clearly ripped off the main characters and most of the plot points from the classic French caper "Bob le flambeur". "Bob le flambeur" is a classic and a much better film. The producers should be making royalty payments to the Jean-Pierre Melville estate.

"Seven Times Lucky" is a mediocre film, and has some obvious weaknesses, mainly being a miscast lead Kevin Pollack. I cannot see Pollack in a million years in a relationship with the twenty-three years younger Liane Balaban. Balaban has a solid performance in this film, but I can not recommend renting it.

I attended the premiere at the Winnipeg International Film Festival and was very surprised. I had read that Smoluk pulled the film together with a budget and volunteer crew. Low budget or not, "Horse Thieves" catches the audience with a lot of originality. It never lets down for more than a few minutes.

The film is not perfect, but on sheer get-up-and-go alone it will entertain you more than most big budget films.

"Horse Thieves" is similar to "Drug Store Cowboy" or "Crash" and the cast are convincing in their roles. Smoluk, Malloy, Keenan, and Kippen nail their characters dead on.

My first question is, who rated this a 10???? "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" is a stinker. I read that this was the debut feature for Zach Helm (the screenwriter of "Stranger Then Fiction") so I took a chance and took my kids to see it. Too bad the the costumes and makeup were as cheap as the jokes. The producers were hoping to get a "Willy Wonka" type film (so was I). However, they got Dustin Hoffman running around with a goofy lisp(which got annoying very, very quickly).

This is a film for kids, but most filmmaker now understand that it's the parents (me) that are paying. We want to enjoy the film too.

Why are talented actors like Natalie Portman, Hoffman and Jason Bateman signing on for this???? Why? Why? Why?

Kidman really knocks the ball out of the park with her turn as ruthless wannabe reporter.

The actors are all very well cast in this film, which was way ahead of its time back in '95. No question that if this film came out now, it would sweep every major award out there. I still can't believe it got zero Oscar nods back in the day.

Van Sant is a much unrated director, and Illeana Douglas is always so cool. I loved seeing Cronenberg pop up at the end, although there may have been a few too many cameos. Still, "To Die For" is a fantastic film. Go rent it!!!

The pointless opening scene took me out of the film and I didn't come back for a while. It really should have been left on the cutting room floor. The filmmakers wanted the audience to know they were in for a wild ride but there were so many better choices to get there.

Hoffman, Hawk, Finney, and the talented Michael Shannon all do a very fine job in this seedy crime caper about a crime gone wrong. I also liked that not all the loose ends were tied up.

Lumet is one of the finest directors of all time. Do not expect a "Dog Day Afternoon" or "Network" type outing here, and you may enjoy this gritty little film.