Quills

Pros: Beautiful costuming, brilliant acting, well-written film
Cons: People may mistake that it's real-life stuff

I'd been waiting for this film to come out on DVD for ages, and it still doesn't officially until May 15, but I managed to get an early review copy. It's every bit as incredible as I thought it would be and Geoffrey Rush has once again proven himself to...

Pros: Acting, Plot, Characters. Very sexual but not trashy.
Cons: Can't think of any.

If you’re looking for a movie rental and haven’t yet checked out this movie, I would recommend it. It hit theaters back in November but I just saw it last week for the first time.

This movie really sucked me in. During the last half-hour,...

Pros: Strong performances by actors, witty dialogue, compelling story.
Cons: Trite in places, languishes at the end.

What would you do if you could no longer write, if all means to do so were wrested from you, leaving you alone and naked in an empty room? If the only outlet for your madness were suddenly blocked, with no avenue of escape in sight? For a writer, this is...

Pros: Incredible performances from a fearless cast. Beautifully shot and directed.
Cons: Will be much too lewd and brutal for some. An ending which is too clever and conventionally wraps things up in too tidy a manner.

It should come as no surprise that Quills is one of the best films of the year. It's adapted by Doug Wright from his Obie Award winning play and directed by Phillip (Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Right Stuff, Invasion of the Body Snatchers)...

Pros: Rush, Phoenix, gorgeous production values
Cons: A little heavy-handed, ..but it still works

Did you ever get that not-so-fresh feeling?


...After "Quills", my girlfriend and I were obliged to watch the Marx Brothers' "A Day At the Races" just to clear our mental colons after this movie.

Don't get me wrong. Jeffrey...

Pros: Excellent performances by Gefforey Rush, Joaquin Phoenix, Kate Winslet
Cons: scenes of violence, sexual content, and two rape scenes

I just saw a movie about a man who will do anything for his art. He will do it even when people tell him: "You can't do that!" He will do it even when the powers that be tells him he can't. He will do it at risk of his own health. No, I'm not...

Pros: Clever, witty and insightful.
Cons: A bit too melodramatic towards the end.

It's late 18th century, and blood runs red in the market places, where guillotines chop the lives of nobles short to the perverse delight of the poverty-stricken crowds. And there, from the window of his asylum cell, the infamous Marquis de Sade looks...

Pros: Intriguing concept, brilliantly acted by Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix
Cons: So much depravity is, ultimately, repugnant.

If you had any doubts about what you're in for, the grotesque opening shot of an orgasmic beheading in post-revolutionary France should make the allegorical intentions of director Philip Kaufman ("Henry & June," "The Unbearable...

Pros: Well scripted screenplay; Acting by Winslet, Rush, Phoenix, and Caine; Beautiful cinematography and production design; Thought provoking.
Cons: Subject matter not for everyone

I'm not sure what kind of person can honestly say that they enjoy Quills though I find it one of the better films of the year and one that certainly stimulates and challenges your intellectual faculties. And that I find refreshing after...

Pros: Geoffrey Rush's performance
Cons: weak, predictable ending

If you stick around all through the final credits of Quills, you'll see a notice to the effec ...

Pros: fantastic acting, well-told story, sets and costumes
Cons: may be offensive to some

Phallus, orifice, sodomy, fellatio. If your integrity is in any way offended, do not go see director Phillip Kaufman's latest offering, Quills. Nor should you waste your time reading this review. Best to click away now and save your time. If your...

Pros: The melding of dialogue and image make this movie extraordinary.
Cons: What the devil is a pikestaff, anyway?

The intended tone of Quills is edification, a sort of macabre Chariots of Fire, an elevated, ultra-didactic Hallmark card as daubed by Gary Larson in one of his more morbid moods. The whole movie plays out as a sort of John Carpenter...

Pros: Handsome, competently mounted adaptation of stage play; quartet of fine performances
Cons: Theatrical roots hard to hide; story gets a bit disorganized at points

One of the chief virtues of the new Philip Kaufman film, Quills, is that although its subject matter is strictly art-house stuff, its approach is middle-brow, and even dimwits like myself -- with only a very vague idea of who the Marquis de Sade...

Pros: A superb script, and wonderful performances
Cons: Loses some of the flavors that the play had

Can there be a more deliciously sinister, thematically rich historical figure than the Marquis de Sade? The notoriously erotic author, playwright, and 18th century social gadfly has been the inspiration for dozens of books, biographies, and plays, each...

Pros: Excellent production values, acting, scenery, etc.
Cons: This isn't what really happened. Not for the squeamish.

I usually get cranky about movies that distort history but I'll make allowances for QUILLS only because of the very high production values and at least part of the theme, even though the storyline contradicts the few facts that are known to history....