Let’s get this out of the way right off the top: Phil Alden Robinson’s Sneakers (a previous Best Movie You Never Saw entry) is one of the most criminally under-seen movies from the 90s – maybe of all time. Sporting an airtight plot, a phenomenal cast and splendid direction, it’s been relegated to cult classic status as opposed to just plain old classic status. And while there’s nothing wrong with being a cult classic, it’s just when a movie is this good, it’s always surprising to find there are so many people who’ve never seen it. Well, we’re here to change that the best way we know how, by cracking the code of what makes a great movie so special. So boot up your super-computers and draw down the shades – cuz you never know who might be watching you – and let’s find out Wtf Happened to Sneakers.
- 12/6/2023
- by Eric Walkuski
- JoBlo.com
To mark the release of Sneakers on 5th July, we’ve been given 5 copies to give away on Blu-ray.
Sneakers stars Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier and David Strathairn. Written by Phil Alden Robinson, Lawrence Lasker and War Games scribe Walter F Parkes, it’s also one of the few films Phil Alden Robinson directed, who’s best known for the all-time classic Field Of Dreams.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Sneakers will be available on limited edition Blu-ray from 5th July exclusively on Film Stories
The Small Print
Open to UK residents only The competition will close 15th July 2021 at 23.59 GMT The winner will be picked at random from entries received No cash alternative is available Please note prizes may be delayed due to Covid-19 To coincide with Gdpr regulations, competition entry information will...
Sneakers stars Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier and David Strathairn. Written by Phil Alden Robinson, Lawrence Lasker and War Games scribe Walter F Parkes, it’s also one of the few films Phil Alden Robinson directed, who’s best known for the all-time classic Field Of Dreams.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Sneakers will be available on limited edition Blu-ray from 5th July exclusively on Film Stories
The Small Print
Open to UK residents only The competition will close 15th July 2021 at 23.59 GMT The winner will be picked at random from entries received No cash alternative is available Please note prizes may be delayed due to Covid-19 To coincide with Gdpr regulations, competition entry information will...
- 6/28/2021
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
In 1992, Robert Redford starred in the comedy “Sneakers,” directed by Phil Alden Robinson. The hacker film followed a security pro who finds his past coming back to haunt him, when he and his team are tasked with retrieving a particularly important item for the U.S. government. The comedy featured a star-studded cast including Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, Mary MacDonnell and Timothy Busfield.
Now, NBC has handed out a script order for a TV series adaptation of the film, according to Deadline. Walter Parkes, who wrote the original film with Lawrence Lasker and Robinson, will executive produce the reboot alongside his wife and producing partner Laurie MacDonald. Tom Szentgyorgyi (“The Mentalist”), will also executive produce and pen the script.
The series hails from Universal TV, where Parkes and MacDonald have a first-look deal with production company.
Read More: ‘War of the Worlds’ TV Series in Development at MTV...
Now, NBC has handed out a script order for a TV series adaptation of the film, according to Deadline. Walter Parkes, who wrote the original film with Lawrence Lasker and Robinson, will executive produce the reboot alongside his wife and producing partner Laurie MacDonald. Tom Szentgyorgyi (“The Mentalist”), will also executive produce and pen the script.
The series hails from Universal TV, where Parkes and MacDonald have a first-look deal with production company.
Read More: ‘War of the Worlds’ TV Series in Development at MTV...
- 10/22/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
This story was originally published in the February 21st, 1991 issue of Rolling Stone.
Mr. and Mrs. Robin Williams are slow dancing. The time: a winter afternoon. The place: a photographer's studio in the Chelsea section of New York. The music: high-decibel funk. Everybody else in the studio is abuzz — adjusting lights, fussing with props, running back and forth from the kitchen with sushi. Still, Williams and his wife, Marsha, keep coming together in these quick, sweet tableaux. It's strange to see the thirty-nine-year-old actor and comedian with his guard down...
Mr. and Mrs. Robin Williams are slow dancing. The time: a winter afternoon. The place: a photographer's studio in the Chelsea section of New York. The music: high-decibel funk. Everybody else in the studio is abuzz — adjusting lights, fussing with props, running back and forth from the kitchen with sushi. Still, Williams and his wife, Marsha, keep coming together in these quick, sweet tableaux. It's strange to see the thirty-nine-year-old actor and comedian with his guard down...
- 8/12/2014
- Rollingstone.com
Simon Brew Sep 11, 2019
While it's over 20 years old, time has been unusually kind to the hacker caper thriller Sneakers...
This article comes from Den of Geek UK.
Proverbial cards on the proverbial table: I love Sneakers. I'm a big fan of caper movies at the best of times, but this one's always been a favorite. There's an easy charm, an absence of nastiness, and a sheer sense of fun in here that's always appealed to me. Plus, it doesn't matter how many times I watch it, it doesn't feel dated, even though it clearly is.
However, I've got to share two problems first. I don't like to start on negatives, but these moments really get me every time, and very slightly sully an otherwise stupendous Sneakers soup. Guttingly, both moments involve Ned Rierson himself, the marvellous Stephen Toblowsky, in a cameo role that pops up towards the end of the film.
While it's over 20 years old, time has been unusually kind to the hacker caper thriller Sneakers...
This article comes from Den of Geek UK.
Proverbial cards on the proverbial table: I love Sneakers. I'm a big fan of caper movies at the best of times, but this one's always been a favorite. There's an easy charm, an absence of nastiness, and a sheer sense of fun in here that's always appealed to me. Plus, it doesn't matter how many times I watch it, it doesn't feel dated, even though it clearly is.
However, I've got to share two problems first. I don't like to start on negatives, but these moments really get me every time, and very slightly sully an otherwise stupendous Sneakers soup. Guttingly, both moments involve Ned Rierson himself, the marvellous Stephen Toblowsky, in a cameo role that pops up towards the end of the film.
- 8/29/2013
- Den of Geek
Simon Brew Jun 20, 2017
More than 20 years old it may be, but time has been unusually kind to the hacker caper thriller Sneakers, Simon writes...
Proverbial cards on the proverbial table: I love Sneakers. I'm a big fan of caper movies at the best of times, but this one's always been a favourite. There's an easy charm, an absence of nastiness, and a sheer sense of fun in here that's always appealed to me. Plus, it doesn't matter how many times I watch it, it doesn't feel dated. Even though it clearly is.
However, I've got to share two bugbears first. I don't like to start on negatives, but these moments really get me every time, and very slightly sully an otherwise stupendous Sneakers soup. Guttingly, both moments unfortunately involve Ned Rierson himself, the marvellous Stephen Toblowsky, in a cameo role that pops up towards the end of the film.
Firstly, straight from the same spellbook that would go on to cast a cougar into the midst of 24 season two, there's the moment where a voice-activated toy animal is accidentally triggered, and walks forward on a table. Then, it knocks Liz's (played by Mary McDonnell) handbag to the floor. There, Toblowsky's nerdy computer expert discovers she's nicked his ID. That's the only point at which an intricate plot - involving Toblowsky's sexiest ever on-screen uttering of the word 'passport' - suddenly starts to unravel. Because of an accidental triggering of a toy animal. Pixar's storytelling rules dictate that you can use coincidence to get into a plot point, but not to get out of it. Sneakers does, and it feels wrong.
Secondly, McDonnell, just as she seems to have got away with her part of the deception, unnecessarily remarks that it's the last time she tries computer dating. This then alerts Cosmo (played by Sir Ben Kingsley, nee Ben Kingsley) to the fact that all isn't well. But why would she say that? I've still no idea, but again, how else was Cosmo going to rumble the intricate ruse? It feels like the last minute suggestion at a script conference. Given how tight the rest of the screenplay feels, these two moments inevitably jar.
The Origins
I mention those two things up front, because most of what you're going to read from this point on is going to be a fawningly upbeat appreciation of a movie that I rank as possibly the finest mainstream caper movie of the 90s. Steven Soderbergh would score a big hit with Ocean's 11 about a decade later, but for an ensemble tackling a daring heist of sorts, Sneakers, I'd argue, is a better place to start. It was brilliant, it's still brilliant.
For a film about then-modern technology, it's perhaps surprising that Sneakers took so long to cook up (certainly technology had progressed some distance while the movie was in gestation). The film emanates from the brains of Lawrence Lasker and Walter F Parkes, and the story goes that they came up with the idea while working on WarGames back at the start of the 80s. It was reportedly one of a pair of ideas that Lasker was working on at the time - the other would become Robin Williams/Robert De Niro drama Awakenings - and it took a good while to pull together.
Parkers and Lasker worked on a screenplay, but the catalyst for the film moving forward was when Robert Redford agreed to take on the central role of Martin Bishop. At that stage, a once-reluctant Phil Alden Robinson suddenly became a lot more interested in the film (if Redford wasn't on board, it's doubtful Alden Robinson would have been). His movie Field Of Dreams would go on to win much acclaim, but Robinson's directorial output has always been sporadic (his writing is a lot more prolific). He ultimately signed up to direct Sneakers though, and reworked the screenplay as well.
That all makes it sounds a lot quicker than it was, though. The notoriously diligent Phil Alden Robinson spent just shy of ten years himself getting Sneakers into shape and onto cinema screens. It would be some time before his next directorial feature too, the hugely underrated Jack Ryan flick, The Sum Of All Fears. That would follow a decade later.
Personnel
Back to Sneakers though, and the involvement of brilliant people attracted even more. Much of the fun with Sneakers is the brilliant combination of acting talent that seemed to jigsaw together quite wonderfully. Just take a look at Sidney Poiter here; as former CIA agent Crease, he gets to be the voice of reason, but he's clearly very much in on the fun (he plays particularly well against Redford, and it's a pity we've not seen this pairing on screen together more often).
Dan Aykroyd, too, has rarely been better (perhaps outside of Gross Pointe Blank) as Whistler, whose paranoid theories get wilder and wilder - and more fun - as the film progresses. David Strathairn, meanwhile, may not always come across as the world's most convincing blind man, but he wears a suitably impressive pair of reflective glasses, and turns in his usual excellent work.
Perhaps River Phoenix is the one ever so slightly short-changed by the script, with his character one of the very few not to have the same deep interesting reason for being there (although he does get a really sweet moment at the end). After all, Sneakers is a film that treats each of its characters with respect, and endeavours to give each of them a suitable moment in the spotlight. Even Mary McDonnell, as Liz, is fleshed out more than you originally suspect she might be. She can't half dance, too.
There's also the small matter of Sir Ben Kingsley, who doesn't appear - at least out of lots of make-up - until the back part of the film. But the fact that Redford and Kingsley are friends who circumstances pulled apart is established well, properly and diligently. It might not be a surprise when Kingsley's involvement is revealed later in the film, but - and how often do we say this in mainstream films? - it feels plausible and believable. You can understand why both Redford and Kingsley's characters choose to do what they do in the film. Someone, basically, bothered to get the details right.
And details are to be found throughout Sneakers. Just look at a few of the references that the film is buzzing with, some more overt than others. If you go through Redford's back catalogue alone, you'll find nods to the likes of The Natural and Three Days Of The Condor in here, and for the ultra-nerdy, the infamous Cap'n Crunch free whistle, a catalyst in phone phreaking, is also referenced. There are lots more if you're happy to go digging.
Ultimately, though, it's Robert Redford that grounds the ensemble. There's a generosity to his performance, and an easy, warm charm to a slightly more complex character than first appears. He may be the big movie star here, but his willingness to share the screen, and surrender the better moments to his colleagues, is both to Redford's credit and the film's ultimate benefit. Seriously: who else could you imagine in such a starring role, underplaying the star factor quite so well?
Technology
There's inevitably a danger in portraying any kind of cutting edge technology on screen, but here again, Sneakers prevails.
Arguably the most dated film of the 90s is Disclosure, which we looked at in more detail here.
The problem with Disclosure was that it wrapped then-contemporary technology around pretty much everything that it did. As such, when Michael Douglas gets an e-mail, it stops just short of sending a marching band through his living room to tell him.
Sneakers' technology looks and feels just as dated. And yet, paradoxically, it doesn't. By using the technology it needs to tell its story, and not over-egging it, Sneakers feels far more current than it should, even though the screens looks old and the modems take ages to do anything. It's a film about characters first, gadgets second.
That said, the sequence where the group follow a potential trace as they try and negotiate on the phone remains extremely tense, and very well done. Computer graphics, along with some excellent James Horner music, manage to up the tension several notches. Interestingly, Sneakers was one of the very first films - if not the first - to send an electronic press kit to journalists ahead of the release of the film, with movie hacks getting the film's key information on a floppy disk. Remember them?
Action And Humour
Sneakers also has one of the slowest yet exciting action sequences of the decade. Unable to move beyond the pace of a snail else alarms will go off, Robert Redford has to cross a room as people close in from the outside. Contrasted with the fast, zooming action sequences of modern cinema, Sneakers feels like a breath of fresh air here. It's no less exciting, yet you can see and follow absolutely everything that's going on. An action sequence that's extra exciting because it's so slow? It'll never catch on. Oh, hang on, it didn't.
Back to the film though, and there's a playful sense of fun to it right the way through, and Alden Robinson balances the tone so that harsh edges never really, if you will, sneak in. Instead, he lashes the film with light humour, not least when Stephen Toblowsky turns up in his excellent, scene-steaing cameo (not for nothing has the actor described it as one of the most fun movie sets he's ever been on).
That said, the sparks between the talented and generous ensemble generate no shortage of fun. While it's Redford's name at the top of the tin, it's by no means his film alone, and even the smaller roles feel like they have substance to them,
Hacking
The aforementioned disciplined approach to technology also helps Sneakers get away with its approach to hacking. This is, inevitably, where the film does feel dated. Nothing that the team attempt in the film couldn't be done, at least in theory, from a cheap laptop now. Heck, you might even find the parts for the mysterious black box that's pivotal to the film in PC World. Not that the bloody thing would work.
But still: it's hard to think of a film since Sneakers that's done hacking anywhere near as well. The likes of Hackers got distracted by visual pizzazz, while Swordfish - a film that gets worse with every viewing - does anything to avoid having to hammer in on a half decent story. Sneakers, though, feels bizarrely timeless. It's not about the hacking again, it's about the people doing it. The methodology is secondary.
To its credit, the film also ends on a high. It's a brilliant, light denouement. The moment where Redford's crew individually come up with their wishlist for James Earl Jones (in a cameo, having previously appeared in Field Of Dreams; you'll probably recognise Timothy Busfield from) was aped to an extent in Armageddon, but Sneakers got its towel on the sun lounger first.
There's no radical reason why Sneakers worked, and continues to work. It's a well written, well directed and well played film that, with the exception of the two moments at the top, feels like it makes sense. It doesn't bother me that it does or doesn't when you look close up, because I never doubt it while I'm watching it. Also: more action thrillers should have a Scrabble board as an integral plot device. Just saying.
Standing tall at over 21 years old, Sneakers is a real treat, one that proves that old fashioned values can form a delightful contemporary film. It's almost a shame that we never got to meet up with the crew again for another sneak...
Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
More than 20 years old it may be, but time has been unusually kind to the hacker caper thriller Sneakers, Simon writes...
Proverbial cards on the proverbial table: I love Sneakers. I'm a big fan of caper movies at the best of times, but this one's always been a favourite. There's an easy charm, an absence of nastiness, and a sheer sense of fun in here that's always appealed to me. Plus, it doesn't matter how many times I watch it, it doesn't feel dated. Even though it clearly is.
However, I've got to share two bugbears first. I don't like to start on negatives, but these moments really get me every time, and very slightly sully an otherwise stupendous Sneakers soup. Guttingly, both moments unfortunately involve Ned Rierson himself, the marvellous Stephen Toblowsky, in a cameo role that pops up towards the end of the film.
Firstly, straight from the same spellbook that would go on to cast a cougar into the midst of 24 season two, there's the moment where a voice-activated toy animal is accidentally triggered, and walks forward on a table. Then, it knocks Liz's (played by Mary McDonnell) handbag to the floor. There, Toblowsky's nerdy computer expert discovers she's nicked his ID. That's the only point at which an intricate plot - involving Toblowsky's sexiest ever on-screen uttering of the word 'passport' - suddenly starts to unravel. Because of an accidental triggering of a toy animal. Pixar's storytelling rules dictate that you can use coincidence to get into a plot point, but not to get out of it. Sneakers does, and it feels wrong.
Secondly, McDonnell, just as she seems to have got away with her part of the deception, unnecessarily remarks that it's the last time she tries computer dating. This then alerts Cosmo (played by Sir Ben Kingsley, nee Ben Kingsley) to the fact that all isn't well. But why would she say that? I've still no idea, but again, how else was Cosmo going to rumble the intricate ruse? It feels like the last minute suggestion at a script conference. Given how tight the rest of the screenplay feels, these two moments inevitably jar.
The Origins
I mention those two things up front, because most of what you're going to read from this point on is going to be a fawningly upbeat appreciation of a movie that I rank as possibly the finest mainstream caper movie of the 90s. Steven Soderbergh would score a big hit with Ocean's 11 about a decade later, but for an ensemble tackling a daring heist of sorts, Sneakers, I'd argue, is a better place to start. It was brilliant, it's still brilliant.
For a film about then-modern technology, it's perhaps surprising that Sneakers took so long to cook up (certainly technology had progressed some distance while the movie was in gestation). The film emanates from the brains of Lawrence Lasker and Walter F Parkes, and the story goes that they came up with the idea while working on WarGames back at the start of the 80s. It was reportedly one of a pair of ideas that Lasker was working on at the time - the other would become Robin Williams/Robert De Niro drama Awakenings - and it took a good while to pull together.
Parkers and Lasker worked on a screenplay, but the catalyst for the film moving forward was when Robert Redford agreed to take on the central role of Martin Bishop. At that stage, a once-reluctant Phil Alden Robinson suddenly became a lot more interested in the film (if Redford wasn't on board, it's doubtful Alden Robinson would have been). His movie Field Of Dreams would go on to win much acclaim, but Robinson's directorial output has always been sporadic (his writing is a lot more prolific). He ultimately signed up to direct Sneakers though, and reworked the screenplay as well.
That all makes it sounds a lot quicker than it was, though. The notoriously diligent Phil Alden Robinson spent just shy of ten years himself getting Sneakers into shape and onto cinema screens. It would be some time before his next directorial feature too, the hugely underrated Jack Ryan flick, The Sum Of All Fears. That would follow a decade later.
Personnel
Back to Sneakers though, and the involvement of brilliant people attracted even more. Much of the fun with Sneakers is the brilliant combination of acting talent that seemed to jigsaw together quite wonderfully. Just take a look at Sidney Poiter here; as former CIA agent Crease, he gets to be the voice of reason, but he's clearly very much in on the fun (he plays particularly well against Redford, and it's a pity we've not seen this pairing on screen together more often).
Dan Aykroyd, too, has rarely been better (perhaps outside of Gross Pointe Blank) as Whistler, whose paranoid theories get wilder and wilder - and more fun - as the film progresses. David Strathairn, meanwhile, may not always come across as the world's most convincing blind man, but he wears a suitably impressive pair of reflective glasses, and turns in his usual excellent work.
Perhaps River Phoenix is the one ever so slightly short-changed by the script, with his character one of the very few not to have the same deep interesting reason for being there (although he does get a really sweet moment at the end). After all, Sneakers is a film that treats each of its characters with respect, and endeavours to give each of them a suitable moment in the spotlight. Even Mary McDonnell, as Liz, is fleshed out more than you originally suspect she might be. She can't half dance, too.
There's also the small matter of Sir Ben Kingsley, who doesn't appear - at least out of lots of make-up - until the back part of the film. But the fact that Redford and Kingsley are friends who circumstances pulled apart is established well, properly and diligently. It might not be a surprise when Kingsley's involvement is revealed later in the film, but - and how often do we say this in mainstream films? - it feels plausible and believable. You can understand why both Redford and Kingsley's characters choose to do what they do in the film. Someone, basically, bothered to get the details right.
And details are to be found throughout Sneakers. Just look at a few of the references that the film is buzzing with, some more overt than others. If you go through Redford's back catalogue alone, you'll find nods to the likes of The Natural and Three Days Of The Condor in here, and for the ultra-nerdy, the infamous Cap'n Crunch free whistle, a catalyst in phone phreaking, is also referenced. There are lots more if you're happy to go digging.
Ultimately, though, it's Robert Redford that grounds the ensemble. There's a generosity to his performance, and an easy, warm charm to a slightly more complex character than first appears. He may be the big movie star here, but his willingness to share the screen, and surrender the better moments to his colleagues, is both to Redford's credit and the film's ultimate benefit. Seriously: who else could you imagine in such a starring role, underplaying the star factor quite so well?
Technology
There's inevitably a danger in portraying any kind of cutting edge technology on screen, but here again, Sneakers prevails.
Arguably the most dated film of the 90s is Disclosure, which we looked at in more detail here.
The problem with Disclosure was that it wrapped then-contemporary technology around pretty much everything that it did. As such, when Michael Douglas gets an e-mail, it stops just short of sending a marching band through his living room to tell him.
Sneakers' technology looks and feels just as dated. And yet, paradoxically, it doesn't. By using the technology it needs to tell its story, and not over-egging it, Sneakers feels far more current than it should, even though the screens looks old and the modems take ages to do anything. It's a film about characters first, gadgets second.
That said, the sequence where the group follow a potential trace as they try and negotiate on the phone remains extremely tense, and very well done. Computer graphics, along with some excellent James Horner music, manage to up the tension several notches. Interestingly, Sneakers was one of the very first films - if not the first - to send an electronic press kit to journalists ahead of the release of the film, with movie hacks getting the film's key information on a floppy disk. Remember them?
Action And Humour
Sneakers also has one of the slowest yet exciting action sequences of the decade. Unable to move beyond the pace of a snail else alarms will go off, Robert Redford has to cross a room as people close in from the outside. Contrasted with the fast, zooming action sequences of modern cinema, Sneakers feels like a breath of fresh air here. It's no less exciting, yet you can see and follow absolutely everything that's going on. An action sequence that's extra exciting because it's so slow? It'll never catch on. Oh, hang on, it didn't.
Back to the film though, and there's a playful sense of fun to it right the way through, and Alden Robinson balances the tone so that harsh edges never really, if you will, sneak in. Instead, he lashes the film with light humour, not least when Stephen Toblowsky turns up in his excellent, scene-steaing cameo (not for nothing has the actor described it as one of the most fun movie sets he's ever been on).
That said, the sparks between the talented and generous ensemble generate no shortage of fun. While it's Redford's name at the top of the tin, it's by no means his film alone, and even the smaller roles feel like they have substance to them,
Hacking
The aforementioned disciplined approach to technology also helps Sneakers get away with its approach to hacking. This is, inevitably, where the film does feel dated. Nothing that the team attempt in the film couldn't be done, at least in theory, from a cheap laptop now. Heck, you might even find the parts for the mysterious black box that's pivotal to the film in PC World. Not that the bloody thing would work.
But still: it's hard to think of a film since Sneakers that's done hacking anywhere near as well. The likes of Hackers got distracted by visual pizzazz, while Swordfish - a film that gets worse with every viewing - does anything to avoid having to hammer in on a half decent story. Sneakers, though, feels bizarrely timeless. It's not about the hacking again, it's about the people doing it. The methodology is secondary.
To its credit, the film also ends on a high. It's a brilliant, light denouement. The moment where Redford's crew individually come up with their wishlist for James Earl Jones (in a cameo, having previously appeared in Field Of Dreams; you'll probably recognise Timothy Busfield from) was aped to an extent in Armageddon, but Sneakers got its towel on the sun lounger first.
There's no radical reason why Sneakers worked, and continues to work. It's a well written, well directed and well played film that, with the exception of the two moments at the top, feels like it makes sense. It doesn't bother me that it does or doesn't when you look close up, because I never doubt it while I'm watching it. Also: more action thrillers should have a Scrabble board as an integral plot device. Just saying.
Standing tall at over 21 years old, Sneakers is a real treat, one that proves that old fashioned values can form a delightful contemporary film. It's almost a shame that we never got to meet up with the crew again for another sneak...
Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
- 8/27/2013
- Den of Geek
Feature Simon Brew 28 Aug 2013 - 05:51
More than 20 years old it may be, but time has been unusually kind to the hacker caper thriller Sneakers, Simon writes...
Proverbial cards on the proverbial table: I love Sneakers. I'm a big fan of caper movies at the best of times, but this one's always been a favourite. There's an easy charm, an absence of nastiness, and a sheer sense of fun in here that's always appealed to me. Plus, it doesn't matter how many times I watch it, it doesn't feel dated. Even though it clearly is.
However, I've got to share two bugbears first. I don't like to start on negatives, but these moments really get me every time, and very slightly sully an otherwise stupendous Sneakers soup. Guttingly, both moments unfortunately involve Ned Rierson himself, the marvellous Stephen Toblowsky, in a cameo role that pops up towards the end of the film.
More than 20 years old it may be, but time has been unusually kind to the hacker caper thriller Sneakers, Simon writes...
Proverbial cards on the proverbial table: I love Sneakers. I'm a big fan of caper movies at the best of times, but this one's always been a favourite. There's an easy charm, an absence of nastiness, and a sheer sense of fun in here that's always appealed to me. Plus, it doesn't matter how many times I watch it, it doesn't feel dated. Even though it clearly is.
However, I've got to share two bugbears first. I don't like to start on negatives, but these moments really get me every time, and very slightly sully an otherwise stupendous Sneakers soup. Guttingly, both moments unfortunately involve Ned Rierson himself, the marvellous Stephen Toblowsky, in a cameo role that pops up towards the end of the film.
- 8/27/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
(c) MGM/courtesy Everett Collection Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy, 1983, in “WarGames.”
“WarGames,” a 1983 movie about a young hacker who nearly starts World War III by playing what he thinks is a computer game, is as relevant today as when it was released, according to speakers on a panel this weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Ally Sheedy, one of the two young stars of the film, said its message—that a global nuclear war is unwinnable—is still true.
“WarGames,” a 1983 movie about a young hacker who nearly starts World War III by playing what he thinks is a computer game, is as relevant today as when it was released, according to speakers on a panel this weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Ally Sheedy, one of the two young stars of the film, said its message—that a global nuclear war is unwinnable—is still true.
- 4/30/2012
- by Kathy Shwiff
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Director Jonathan Kaplan's 1987 science fiction comedy, "Project X", starring Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt, will be re-released by Anchor Bay on DVD.
Produced by Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, "Project X" makes a political commentary on the ethics of animal research :
"...grad student 'Teri MacDonald' (Hunt) trains a chimp named 'Virgil' to use 'American Sign Language'. When her research grant is not renewed, Virgil is taken away. Teri is told that Virgil will be sent to a zoo. Instead, he is taken to an Air Force base to be used in a top-secret research project involving platforms designed to simulate the operation of aircraft.
"Meanwhile, 'Airman Jimmy Garrett' (Broderick), as punishment for misconduct involving a romantic interlude in an aircraft cockpit, is assigned to the same chimp project to which Virgil was sent. Jimmy begins to bond with Virgil and they become attached to one another.
Produced by Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, "Project X" makes a political commentary on the ethics of animal research :
"...grad student 'Teri MacDonald' (Hunt) trains a chimp named 'Virgil' to use 'American Sign Language'. When her research grant is not renewed, Virgil is taken away. Teri is told that Virgil will be sent to a zoo. Instead, he is taken to an Air Force base to be used in a top-secret research project involving platforms designed to simulate the operation of aircraft.
"Meanwhile, 'Airman Jimmy Garrett' (Broderick), as punishment for misconduct involving a romantic interlude in an aircraft cockpit, is assigned to the same chimp project to which Virgil was sent. Jimmy begins to bond with Virgil and they become attached to one another.
- 11/13/2011
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Noah Oppenheim will write the script for MGM's remake of their 1983 hit thriller "War Games."According to Variety, Seth Gordon ("Horrible Bosses," "Four Christmases") is attached to direct. Oppenheim is a former television producer who co-created CNBC's "Mad Money With Jim Cramer" and executive produced "Scarborough Country." The 1983 original was written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham.The cast included Matthew Broderick (in the role that launched his career), Ally Sheedy, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Barry Corbin.The film centers on David Lightman (Broderick), a young computer hacker who unknowingly breaks into the Wopr, a United States military supercomputer designed to play a series of games that can predict possible outcomes of nuclear war.
- 8/23/2011
- by Adnan Tezer
- Monsters and Critics
That remake of the 1983 gaming geek classic WarGames Hollywood have been trying to crack for the past few years is getting a new make over in the form of script writer Noah Oppenheim. The Hollywood Reporter says Oppenheim will write the movie that Horrible Bosses helmer Seth Gordon was assigned to in June.
Not much is known about Oppenheim as yet and without a finished production credit to his name he is one of the most untested screenwriters in Hollywood. He’s currently working on two films, The Maze Runner, and another called The Secret Life of Houdini, but they won’t be hitting the screen until 2013 and 2014, respectively, at least according to IMDb.
In particular his Houdini movie must now be in question as Water For Elephants director Francis Lawrence is working with Rise of the Planet of the Apes writer Scott Frank on their own Houdini movie which...
Not much is known about Oppenheim as yet and without a finished production credit to his name he is one of the most untested screenwriters in Hollywood. He’s currently working on two films, The Maze Runner, and another called The Secret Life of Houdini, but they won’t be hitting the screen until 2013 and 2014, respectively, at least according to IMDb.
In particular his Houdini movie must now be in question as Water For Elephants director Francis Lawrence is working with Rise of the Planet of the Apes writer Scott Frank on their own Houdini movie which...
- 8/22/2011
- by Fay Brennan
- Obsessed with Film
The suspense/science-fiction classic notable for inventing the term ‘firewall’ in reference to computer network security is going to be remade — MGM has hired Noah Oppenheim to write the script for War Games reboot, with Horrible Bosses helmer Seth Gordon previously attached to direct. Cold War metaphor written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes [...]
Continue reading MGM Hires Oppenheim for War Games Remake on FilmoFilia
Related posts:Noah Oppenheim to Write The Secret Life of Houdini Noah Oppenheim to Write Catherine Hardwicke’s The Maze Runner The Secret Life of Houdini Movie Adaptation...
Continue reading MGM Hires Oppenheim for War Games Remake on FilmoFilia
Related posts:Noah Oppenheim to Write The Secret Life of Houdini Noah Oppenheim to Write Catherine Hardwicke’s The Maze Runner The Secret Life of Houdini Movie Adaptation...
- 8/20/2011
- by Nick Martin
- Filmofilia
MGM is moving forward with a remake of their 1983 hit thriller "War Games."According to Variety, Seth Gordon ("Horrible Bosses," "Four Christmases") is attached to direct. No actors or writers have been mentioned.The 1983 original was written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham.The cast included Matthew Broderick (in the role that launched his career), Ally Sheedy, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Barry Corbin.The film centers on David Lightman (Broderick), a young computer hacker who unknowingly breaks into the Wopr, a United States military supercomputer designed to play a series of games that can predict possible outcomes of nuclear war. Lightman, thinking that it's just a video game, gets the Wopr to run a nuclear...
- 6/27/2011
- by Adnan Tezer
- Monsters and Critics
If you have read the site, you have likely noticed our reports about the delays and scripting issues surrounding Men In Black III. The production is currently on hiatus until March 28 and David Koepp is hard at work fixing complex script issues. These delays are costing Sony millions of dollars, but those cost are reportedly more than offset because the studio started shooting early enough in 2010 in order to save millions for New York tax breaks, according to THR.
The decision to delay the production has caused fans and Hollywood insiders to question what Sony is thinking! A top executive at one production company said that "the tax break is covering the chaos cost," adding, "There isn't any tax break that would convince me to do [what Sony did] -- ever!" Wha
According to Steve Elzer, Sony's Mib spokesman, the studio decided to shoot the film to gain the tax break and added...
The decision to delay the production has caused fans and Hollywood insiders to question what Sony is thinking! A top executive at one production company said that "the tax break is covering the chaos cost," adding, "There isn't any tax break that would convince me to do [what Sony did] -- ever!" Wha
According to Steve Elzer, Sony's Mib spokesman, the studio decided to shoot the film to gain the tax break and added...
- 3/11/2011
- by Tiberius
- GeekTyrant
Production Weekly has come out with an interesting tidbit about "WarGames". Through its Twitter feed, the trade breaks out that Leonardo DiCaprio is looking forward to work with MGM in producing a remake to the John Badham-directed 1983 sci-fi hacker film.
Aside from the possibility of the 34-year-old actor producing the reboot with MGM, no other detail about the proposed feature film project has been shared by Production Weekly. Meanwhile, both MGM and DiCaprio have yet to release any statement regarding this report.
The original "WarGames" is written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes. Starring Matthew Broderick as the lead actor, it tells the story of a young hacker and his effort to prevent a super intelligent military computer from causing World War III. Collecting over $74 million after five months in the U.S., the film also received three Oscars nominations.
Its sequel, "Wargames: The Dead Code", was released...
Aside from the possibility of the 34-year-old actor producing the reboot with MGM, no other detail about the proposed feature film project has been shared by Production Weekly. Meanwhile, both MGM and DiCaprio have yet to release any statement regarding this report.
The original "WarGames" is written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes. Starring Matthew Broderick as the lead actor, it tells the story of a young hacker and his effort to prevent a super intelligent military computer from causing World War III. Collecting over $74 million after five months in the U.S., the film also received three Oscars nominations.
Its sequel, "Wargames: The Dead Code", was released...
- 2/17/2009
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
In the opening scene of the 1983 blockbuster WarGames, two missile commanders (played by Michael Madsen and John Spencer!) receive an order to launch a nuclear attack, and one almost kills the other in a dispute over how to proceed. Those kind of "what if" scenarios were rampant in the Cold War era, and if WarGames were exclusively about nuclear paranoia, it would be an amusing nostalgia piece, quaintly reminding us of what we used to worry about. But WarGames is also about issues that still resonate, like Internet security, authoritarian arrogance, and coming of age. Director John Badham (taking over for Martin Brest, who was canned shortly after shooting began) brings a light touch to Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes' tense, well-structured script, by keeping the action focused on what matters most to the audience. Matthew Broderick plays a high-school computer geek—the prototypical model—who accidentally hacks into.
- 7/30/2008
- by Noel Murray
- avclub.com
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