Joel Silver
A movie buff practically since infancy, American producer Joel Silver attended the film school at New York University. After graduation Silver quickly worked his way up to an assistant producer post u...
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BirthDate BirthPlace |
07/13/1952
South Orange NJ |
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Ritchie Putting Down 'Lobo' In Favor of 'Holmes' Sequel
January 27, 2010 5:05am EST'Sherlock Holmes' director Guy Ritchie has set aside the planned 'Lobo' in order to clear his schedule for a fast-tracked 'Holmes' sequel, according to producer Joel Silver.
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Sherlock Holmes Review
December 24, 2009 5:13pm ESTHolmes and Watson are reinvented as action-movie stars in this infectiously entertaining, rollicking good yarn.
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Downey Jr. lands top Hollywood honour
December 03, 2009 4:00am ESTRobert Downey Jr. is to become part of Hollywood royalty on Monday (07Dec09) when his hand and footprints are added to the cement outside Tinseltown landmark Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
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Ninja Assassin Review
November 25, 2009 7:55am ESTThis hyperkinetic gorefest should have remained in the shadows.
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Should Steven Spielberg Produce the Oscars?
September 24, 2009 4:28am ESTThe Envelope's Pete Hammond today wonders who will produce the Oscars and has some suggestions in that regard.
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'Holmes' Sequel Already in the Works?
September 22, 2009 4:48am ESTThree months ahead of the release of Guy Ritchie's 'Sherlock Holmes,' Warner Bros. is developing a new installment.
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Terminator Salvation Review
May 20, 2009 7:56am ESTPacked with two hours of non-stop action, 'Terminator Salvation' delivers everything you could want from a 'Terminator' film and more.
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Gossip Review
March 05, 2009 8:35pm ESTDespite its title, "Gossip" won't be able to count on good word of mouth, for loose lips will surely sink this silly, shallow melodrama that turns upon the havoc wreaked by rumor. It's a total waste of time and the talent of such proven film craftsmen as cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak and composer Graeme Revell, who strive mightily to create mood and suspense not provided in Gregory Poirier and Theresa Rebeck's heavily contrived script and Davis Guggenheim's flashy direction. The key setting is a vast, ultra-luxe high-tech loft in Toronto (but the filmmakers surely wouldn't mind if you took it to be Manhattan). It belongs to smirky rich college kid Derrick Webb (James Marsden), who shares his trendy digs with fellow students Cathy (Lena Headey) and Travis (Norman Reedus). * * *They have nothing to recommend them beyond youthful good looks. They seem to party most all the time, and neither they nor anyone else is shown to be so vulgar as to be actually cracking a book. The only class they're seen attending is a communications course conducted by Eric Bogosian's gadfly professor, a character with possibilities--in another, hopefully better movie. One day Derrick speaks up in defense of gossip, which is the trio's favorite pastime, and one night at a drunken party he spies a young man on a bed with a girl who has passed out. They decide to spread the rumor that the couple have had sex--and pretty soon the girl (Kate Hudson) is screaming rape without any basis whatsoever. The plot cannot be said truly to thicken but rather merely to become increasingly farfetched and attenuated. It's tough to get involved in a picture in which its principals are nasty or dumb or both, and this bleak film does nothing to advance its young stars while giving little opportunity for such established performers as Bogosian and Edward James Olmos (as a cop). Worst of all, the film merely exploits rather than develops its serious theme of the malicious rumor that leaps beyond the control of its perpetrator and threatens to backfire. * MPAA rating: R, for sexual content, including language, and for brief violence. Times guidelines: highly inappropriate for children. 'Gossip' James Marsden: Derrick Webb Lena Headey: Cathy Jones Norman Reedus: Travis Kate Hudson: Naomi A Warner Bros. presentation in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment of an Outlaw production. Director Davis Guggenheim. Executive producers Joel Schumacher and Bruce Berman. Producers Jeffrey Silver, Bobby Newmyer. Screenplay by Gregory Poirier and Theresa Rebeck; from a story by Poirier. Cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak. Editor Jay Cassidy. Music Graeme Revell. Costumes Louise Mingenbach. Production designer David Nichols. Art director Vlasta Svoboda. Set decorators Michelle Convey, Enrico A. Campana. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
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Romeo Must Die Review
March 05, 2009 8:35pm EST"Romeo Must Die" may take its inspiration from Shakespeare, but in a Jet Li martial-arts action thriller it's more likely that Li, as the hero, will be the last man standing. So don't take that title too seriously, though certainly there are plenty of characters who are most eager to see Li removed from the scene, permanently. The scene happens to be the Oakland waterfront, four choice acres controlled by Delroy Lindo's Isaak O'Day and Henry O's Ch'u Sing. The African American and the Hong Kong emigre are intense rivals but have much in common, as both are rich businessmen whose fortunes have been built ruthlessly on criminal activities. O'Day, hungering to go legit, wants to grab all that land, a site for a proposed stadium demanded by an NFL team, but needs Ch'u to help him deliver it. The truce between the underworld titans, both living in elegant suburban mansions, is so tense that when Ch'u's younger, spoiled-playboy son defies orders to leave a black club, it sets off a chain reaction that threatens to bring down Ch'u's dynasty as well as O'Day's. When Ch'u's older son Han (Li), in a Hong Kong prison, hears his brother has been killed, he goes berserk and breaks out of maximum security in a flurry of martial artistry. It seems that he is actually a cop who had promised his late mother he would always look after his brother and has taken a fall for his gangster father, who had fled the former British crown colony. Landing in the Bay Area to avenge his brother's death, he swiftly--and amusingly--crosses paths with Trish (Aaliyah), Isaak's lovely young daughter who has turned her back on her father and lives on her own in a modest apartment while running a gift shop. The attraction between Han and Trish is instant and develops into a relationship their respective fathers are less than thrilled about. Body counts run high in this genre, but "Romeo Must Die," which marks Li's first English-language starring role, tries for some depth and sophistication. The fathers, especially Lindo's Isaak, possess intelligence and dimension, and O and Lindo both capably evoke pathos. The film is a new step for both Li, who hopes to break out with it, and for recording star Aaliyah, in an accomplished film debut. Han and Trish are appealing and attractive. However, the couple's fathers are both lamentably unperceptive about their second-in-commands. From the get-go it's obvious that Kai (Russell Wong), Ch'u's handsome, cocky enforcer, and Mac (Isaiah Washington), Isaak's nakedly ambitious protege, are not guys long on loyalty and are swift to resort to violence to get their way. Although you can almost immediately tell that the film was shot in Vancouver rather than Oakland, "Romeo Must Die" has a great look and an edgy feel, along with some broad swaths of humor, most of it supplied by Isaak's thickheaded strong-arm, Maurice (Anthony Anderson), who is on hand purely for comic relief. This Warners release marks a confident directorial debut for noted cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak, working from a shrewd Eric Bernt-John Jarrell script, adapted from a Mitchell Kapner story. Glen MacPherson's cinematography is sleek and jazzy, and J. Michael Riva, no less, has served as visual consultant. The film's kinetic energy is well-matched by Stanley Clarke and Timbaland's terrific score, which incorporates lots of hip-hop numbers. * MPAA rating: R, for violence, some language and brief nudity. Times guidelines: The violence is strong, typical of the genre. 'Romeo Must Die' Jet Li: Han Aaliyah: Trish O'Day Isaiah Washington: Mac Russell Wong: Kai Delroy Lindo: Isaak O'Day Henry O: Ch'u Sing A Warner Bros. presentation of a Silver Pictures production. Director Andrzej Bartkowiak. Producers Joel Silver and Jim Van Wyck. Executive producer Dan Cracchiolo. Screenplay by Eric Bernt and John Jarrell, from a story by Mitchell Kapner. Cinematographer Glen MacPherson. Editor Derek G. Brechin. Music Stanley Clarke and Timbaland. Costume design Sandra J. Blackie. Production designer Michael Bolton. Art director Jim Steuart. Set designer Jay Mitchell. Set decorator Rose Marie McSherry. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes. es: Brockovich is a torrent of profanity.
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Newbie Director Lands 'He-Man' Gig
January 29, 2009 8:25pm ESTHe-Man is one step closer to the big screen today. Variety reports that Warner Brothers and producer Joel Silver named John Stevenson as the director of the Masters of the Universe film they’ve been working on since 2007.
