Classic Movie Review Intersection

Intersection (1994) 

Directed by Mark Rydell 

Written by David Rayfiel, Marshall Brickman 

Starring Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Lolita Davidovich, Martin Landau 

Release Date January 21st, 1994 

Published January 21st, 1994 

Intersection stars Richard Gere as architect Vincent Eastman. Having recently left his wife for another woman, we meet Vincent just waking up from a night of passion with Olivia (Lolita Davidovich). The two talk about building a new home and Vincent cautions Olivia not to push things too quickly as he still has a daughter with his ex-wife, Sally (Sharon Stone), who is also his business partner. To say that Vincent's life is complicated is an understatement. At work, he and Sally have a chilly relationship where she tries to stay focused on tasks and schedules and he tries and fails to be remote. 

And that's where the story begins. From there, Vincent will wrestle with the idea of fully committing to Olivia, building their dream home on cliff side property he purchased for them, and building a family. But, there is also the pull of a full life he once had with Sally, a history that is still remarkably present due to their business entanglements. And then there is Vincent's daughter, Meagan (future House star Jennifer Morrison), a 14 year old who is struggling with her parents being apart. It's implied that she may have an eating disorder but like the two lead actresses in Intersection, we won't learn much about her that isn't about her feelings for Vincent. 

Do you know what I find impossible to care about or invest in? Whether a rich, handsome, wishy-wash ass man like Vincent ends up with either Sharon Stone or Lolita Davidovich. Truly, do you root for him to win the lottery or win the lottery. He may be conflicted here but that conflict fails to translate beyond the character. None of the three main characters are very interesting. Vincent is a cypher, he's an empty suit. He's a blank behind the eyes guy whose allegiance to one woman or another is based on a whim or which way the wind is blowing. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Classic Movie Review Sliver

Sliver (1993) 

Directed by Phillip Noyce 

Written by Joe Esterhas

Starring Sharon Stone, Billy Baldwin, Tom Berenger

Release Date May 21st, 1993 

Published June 8th, 2023 

Why is the movie Sliver called Sliver? I believe it's the name of the building where the movie is set but that is such a tossed off mention that I am genuinely uncertain. I can extrapolate that it is a loose metaphor for the films central relationship between Sharon Stone and Billy Baldwin. By that I mean, he is someone who can painfully get under her skin, like a sliver. Get it? That's not explicit in the text of Sliver, but it's the best that I have been able to come up with. I spent a lot of time thinking about the title, Sliver, while watching the movie Sliver, because thinking about the title was more entertaining. 

Sliver is a softcore thriller with the pretense of being a high minded drama. Director Phillip Noyce and writer Joe Esterhas seem to think they have something to say about voyeurism and sexuality but it is clear where their prurient interests truly lie. They want to watch very attractive people have sex and they've made a movie to cover for their fetish. This was not an uncommon thing among male filmmakers at the time. In fact, movie covering for my fetish could be its very own sub-genre of 1990s cinema. 

Sliver stars Sharon Stone as Carly Norris, a rich book editor living in New York City. She jumps at the chance to move into a new apartment despite the apartment having a haunting past. A woman, who looks a lot like Carly, may or may not have been murdered in this very apartment by having been thrown off of the balcony. Oh well, look at all that natural light. New York real estate, am I right. If New Yorkers rejected every apartment where a murder occurred, there'd be few places to live. 

Carly moves in and it is zero minutes before creeps are breathing down her neck. First up is a famous author of 'erotic' thrillers, Jack Landsford (Tom Berenger). He's a former cop who uses his cases as inspiration for his creepy fantasies. So, he's a fan insert for Noyce and Esterhas. Perhaps its a case of Berenger being the stand in for who they really are while the other love interest, Billy Baldwin, is the fantasy of who the writer and director wish they were, a handsome and smooth talking ladies man who's still a major creep at heart. 

The central portion of Sliver is devoted to figuring out who killed that woman who lived in Carly's apartment. But that doesn't actually matter in the end. There are two major crimes happening and no one in Sliver is free from being implicated, aside from the beautiful, innocent, naive character played by Sharon Stone. You can see the flaws inherent in that right? Sharon Stone's talent is not necessarily playing either innocent or naive. That's no shade to Stone, she's just way too elegant and intelligent for the movie and character she's trapped within. 

The murder is just a red herring, a hook to draw you toward what is far more interesting and fetishistic for the writer and director, voyeurism. Billy Baldwin's creep character, Zeke Hawkins, is a secret billionaire who owns the building in which he, Carly and Berenger's creep writer lives. Zeke has installed cameras everywhere in the building, every apartment, every room, especially in the bathrooms. He spends his days sitting in his command center penthouse watching everyone all the time. 

Find my full length review at Filthy.Media 

Movie Review: Catwoman

Catwoman (2004) 

Directed by Pitof 

Written by John Brancato, Roger Ferris, John Rogers 

Starring Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Benjamin Bratt 

Release Date July 23rd, 2004 

Published July 23rd, 2004 

I don’t know what your opinion is, but for my money Michele Pfeiffer’s Catwoman in Batman Returns rocked. She was sexy, she was funny, and she and Michael Keaton’s Batman had a fiery chemistry. If ever there was a chance for Catwoman to be made into a stand-alone film character, it was with Pfeiffer and director Tim Burton about 12 years ago.

Of course, timing and good buzz do not mean much to dunderheaded studio execs whose arrogance tells them they can sell anything at any time. That arrogance is what gives us this new Catwoman movie without Pfeiffer and Burton and without any connection to Batman. Halle Berry and someone called Pitof are behind this Catwoman and while Berry fits the costume that is about all that fits in this lame repackaged comic book misfire.

Patience Phillips (Berry) is a mousy wannabe artist who works in advertising because she’s too scared to be a real artist. While working on a big project for a new cosmetics line, Patience comes across a chilling secret; the company’s newest product is an addictive face-destroying disaster. Before she can do anything about it she is found by the evil cosmetic company henchman and killed.

Yes indeed, Patience died, but is reborn when a gaggle of Cat’s discovers her body and one special cat delivers some kitty CPR. The strange cat called Midnight is owned by an even stranger woman, a crazy cat lady played by Six Feet Under star Frances Conroy. The crazy cat lady explains how Patience was brought back to life as a Catwoman and that she will now have all sorts of new powers and odd cravings.

Before Patience became Catwoman she met a guy, a cop named Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt). Tom happens to be the cop on the case when Catwoman is accused of robbing a jewelry store and eventually multiple homicides. The idea that Tom doesn’t recognize Patience is Catwoman is suspension of disbelief stretched to its breaking point. Catwoman must prove her innocence and stop the evil cosmetics company led by Laurel Hedare (Sharon Stone). If your thinking catfight, well duh.

Here is the amazing thing. Most, if not all of this mindblowingly-ridiculous plot is played straight. Anyone with half a brain could sense the camp potential of this material. Anyone that is, except for director Pitof who thinks he’s making a straight action movie. Pitof also convinced his star Halle Berry to play this material with a straight face which sinks any chance she had of succeeding in this role.

Halle’s Patience is a female Steve Urkel who, when she becomes Catwoman, is never believable. Delivering awful cat puns and mimicking cat behaviors, Berry comes off as something akin to a furry, minus the proper furry costume. She's got the cat cosplay down but any trace of anti-hero turned superhero is distinctly lacking. Part of the joy of Catwoman is her villainous side that softens ever so slightly via the tempting attraction to Batman. Since there is no Batman in this universe, Catwoman is forced to rely entirely on a badly contrived plot and the aforementioned and awful cat puns. 

There is the romance aspect, yeesh! Halle Berry and Benjamin Bratt spark the chemistry of two good friends or perhaps cousins who are a bit too close for comfort. But they never connect as potential bedmates. Benjamin Bratt has never been this bland on screen even on TV's Law & Order which didn't require much personality to begin with. Bratt is almost catatonic in Catwoman, his expressions rarely change. It doesn’t help that he’s saddled with a detective character more clueless than Clouseau.

The only member of the cast with any awareness of the camp material they’ve been given is Frances Conroy who tosses her dignity to the wind as the crazy cat lady. Conroy has to deliver the films most laughable dialogue as she explains what a Catwoman is and how it came to be. She deserves some kind of award for delivering her monologue with a straight face, though it likely took a few takes.

Pitof a former visual effects supervisor on films like Alien Resurrection and Luc Besson’s Joan Of Arc flick Messenger, he learned a little on those films as he does show some visual flare. However as a novice director he also has an unhealthy obsession with closeups and flashy unnecessary camera movement. The guy has some talent and with time he could round into a pretty good director but he is very raw and much too raw for such a high-profile project.

Though his background is reportedly in special effects, director Pitof comes off like an amateur when it comes to CGI. The Computer Generated Images in Catwoman are absolutely abysmal. Part of the problem could be that many of us have recently seen great CGI work in Spider-Man 2 and or I, Robot, two tremendously accomplished special effects spectaculars. But, the real problem is the seeming lack of care and ability behind the CGI in Catwoman. Just look at the way Halle Berry's Catwoman glistens when she becomes a special effect. She becomes shiny and rubbery and obviously not a person. She could be a character in a Pixar movie, that's how damningly obvious the special effects of Catwoman are, it's as if a Toy Story character emerged in real life but remained animated. 

The problem with Catwoman is the fact that it was made at all. There was a clamor for a female Superhero franchise but not this one. Wonder Woman has been gestating for awhile with a number of actresses and directors attached and unattached at various times. Catwoman had its moment in time back in the nineties on the heels of the success of Batman but that time has passed,

This Catwoman was doomed from the moment it was greenlighted. Doomed by executive overkill, businessmen whose only concern is printing money off of well-known properties. They put this film on the fast track, rushed the production, went cheap on a young, inexperienced director and maybe thought casting one of Hollywood’s hottest actresses would guarantee box office even if the quality film wasn’t there.

They were wrong. Very, Very Wrong!

Movie Review: Cold Creek Manor

Cold Creek Manor (2003) 

Directed by Mike Figgis 

Written by Richard Jeffries 

Starring Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Kristen Stewart, Stephen Dorff

Release Date September 19th, 2003 

Published September 18th, 2003 

Why does Hollywood seem to dislike anyone who lives outside of New York or Los Angeles? A number of recent releases show big city folk wandering off to the sticks to get away from it all and finding themselves terrorized by small town folk who don't take kindly to strangers (pause to spit tobacco). The horror films Wrong Turn and Cabin Fever both featured the scary backwoods redneck types, and the new Mike Figgis film, Cold Creek Manor, also recycles the cliché of the whacked-out redneck. That all three of these most recent examples are also less-than-stellar films should tell you something.

Dennis Quaid stars in Cold Creek Manor as Cooper Tilson, a documentary filmmaker and stay-at-home dad to two precocious kids (Kristen Stewart and Ryan Wilson). Cooper's wife, Leah Tilson (Sharon Stone), is some sort of executive, constantly jetting off to important meetings and missing her family. When their son is nearly killed by an angry New York driver, mom and dad decide that it's time to give up city life and live the ultimate yuppie fantasy of a beautiful country home.

In true money pit fashion, however, the couple chooses the absolute wrong house, a place called Cold Creek Manor. It's the kind of place that, when it's name is spoken, people look away in horror. Of course, the city folk are dense enough not to notice the many warning signs. One thing they can't avoid noticing however is the manor's former owner Dale Massie (Stephen Dorff), who, upon leaving prison, promptly breaks into the home and joins the family for dinner. As a courtesy for having sold off all of Dale's belongings, they hire him on to help rehab the rundown house.

Needless to say, Dale has some bad intentions toward his home’s new occupants and it's not long before the crazed redneck is terrorizing the family. Call it Cape Fear-light; we have definitely seen this whole thing before. The odd thing is, the trailer and commercials seemed to play up a supernatural element to the story. It's an element that is not in the actual film, where the melodrama is all too human.

Sharon Stone makes an obvious attempt to soften her image in Cold Creek Manor, playing a loving mother as opposed to her typecast sexpot roles. Unfortunately, Stone's performance in Cold Creek Manor only serves to highlight exactly why she has been typecast. Stone radiates the warmth of an icy river. Writer Richard Jeffries doesn't help much by giving her a weepy victim role instead of a fully fleshed out character.

Dennis Quaid is only slightly more effective as the father character but much of that is based on his cultivated career playing a wide range of likable good guys. Also playing opposite Stephen Dorff's well-played psycho gives Quaid the opportunity to bounce off of some good character work. Indeed, Stephen Dorff is the film’s true star. Though his character is not very well written, he infuses it with the necessary menace and smarminess to make it as believable as it can be within the ridiculously over the top story.

It might have seemed confusing to see such a mercurial director as Mike Figgis directing such a conventional thriller. The only reason I can see why he made Cold Creek Manor was to indulge his love of architecture. As he did in his little seen but well respected film Liebestraum, Figgis directs his sets better than his actors. You can see where this script would appeal to Figgis because it allows him to film a house of exquisite design. The house in Cold Creek Manor is in fact at times better shot than its stars, Ms. Stone in particular.

But great architecture does not make a great movie. Cold Creek Manor is too conventional, stereotypical and languidly paced to be a great movie, or even a good movie for that matter.