Movies starring John Hurt

There are times when A Man for All Seasons seems like an older, gentler uncle to George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. (Martin was in part inspired by some of the more salacious and bloody episodes of English history, particularly during th...

Films based on historical events come in all shades and colors. On one end of the spectrum are those like Gettysburg, with a meticulous attention to detail and adherence to the written record. Then there are movies like The Journey, which use...

Feature film biographies like Jackie inhabit difficult terrain. They are servants to two masters: the historical record and the needs of artistry. From time-to-time, a great one like Patton or Lincoln comes along but most are run-of-the-mill affairs ...

These days, it seems damn near everything is based on a comic book, and not all the resultant cinematic material is worth the effort taken to adapt it. Certainly, Hercules is a big-budget misfire of a sizeable order, a visually busy but emotionall...

For decades, the spy thriller has been dominated by one name: Bond. 007's trappings, which include pyrotechnics, high-octane chases, death-defying stunts, gorgeous women, and the like, have come to define the genre. While it's unquestionable that I...

Immortals plays like the illegitimate offspring of 300 and Clash of the Titans, but while it represents a substantial improvement over the latter, it falls short of the former. As is typical of films directed by Tarsem Singh (The Cell), a weak narr...

No one could ever accuse Lars von Trier of being uninteresting. Even his most maddening, inaccessible films are compulsively watchable, if only to see what will happen next. Melancholia represents von Trier at his best and worst. Visually and thema...

The Limits of Control is a modern fable set within the approximation of a thriller. The slow, repetitious nature of the film, as well as the lack of a strong narrative, limits the level of suspense writer/director Jim Jarmusch is capable of genera...

V for Vendetta represents 2006's first memorable motion picture - a visually sumptuous concoction that combines political allegory, bloody action, and a few stunning cinematic moments into a solid piece of entertainment. While it's true that the f...

Contact is likely to change a lot of perceptions -- not only about the role of humankind in the universe, but about what special effects can do for a movie when they're used in the service of a story, rather than the other way around. Contact...