If you find yourself driven to distraction waiting for new Viggo Mortensen movies to come out, watch Fresh Horses. If you’ve ever cursed Hollywood for not recognizing Viggo’s talent and good looks until he was in his late 30’s, watch Fresh Horses. If you’ve ever spent an entire afternoon lamenting Molly Ringwald’s lackluster career, and …
I know I said I would watch Viggo Mortensen muck out stalls in my Hidalgo review, but I never quite factored Sandra Bullock into the deal. It’s like being duped by a tricky genie who grants your wish, but throws in a surprise—”Ha-ha! You forgot to say that Sandra couldn’t be there, smartypants!” Okay, okay, …
The Reflecting Skin is one of the most peculiar, striking films I have ever seen, and a week after watching it, I still can’t shake the story of little Seth Dove or find words to describe it. Everybody and their brother (i.e. the three other people who saw this movie) compared it to a David …
My favorite thing about Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is that I finally figured out that R. Wynn and A.O. Wynn are not related. During the first two movies, I kept thinking they must both be members of the legendary House of Wynn—though for the life of me I couldn’t figure out …
Just when you think director Peter Jackson is in over his head with the extravagant special effects, numerous characters, and the large scope of J.R.R. Tolkein’s book, he proves you wrong. Every moment is more fantastic than the next, culminating to a point near the end of the film where I actually stopped breathing. Always …
I’ve been reminded of Titanic several times over the last few years while picking up stories here and there about the production of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. One factoid in particular gave me a lot of hope that The Fellowship of the Ring was going to kick butt. At first I was frightened …
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Viggo Mortensen has talked about having taken certain roles just to pay the bills, and it’s usually not hard to tell which ones they are. They’re generally in movies you’ve never heard of, like American Yakuza or The Young Americans. With this in mind, I did not have high expectations for The Young Americans. In …
The Road is easily the bleakest, most nightmarish movie I’ve seen in a long time, but it’s also the most touching. As readers of the Cormac McCarthy novel know, we are dropped without explanation into a post-apocalyptic world where a Man (Viggo Mortensen) and his Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) are struggling to survive. Food is beyond scarce, some have …
A Walk on the Moon is in many ways the ultimate Viggo Mortensen movie. It takes place during the summer 1969, and focuses on the changing dynamics of the Kantrowitz family. While Marty (Liev Schrieber) works to maintain life as they know it, his wife, Pearl (Diane Lane), longs for change and finds excitement in …
In the opening scene of A History of Violence, the Stall family is awakened by the screams of young Sarah. Tom (Viggo Mortensen) reaches her first, and as he scoops her up, she explains that she saw a monster. Tom pets her hair and tells her it was just a dream. Her brother pops in …