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Director Sidney Lumet turned 83 this year, and his debut feature, 12 Angry Men (1957) turned 50. Most film buffs count that film among the great debut films in history, and Lumet has certainly gone on to make many more classic films: Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976), The Verdict (1982) and Running on Empty (1988), among others. However, most film buffs also agree that, despite his notable debut, Lumet is more of a superior craftsman than an artist and that his long filmography -- more than 50 movies and TV shows -- contains just as many clunkers as it does hits. But here's the good news about a craftsman: he usually learns from his mistakes and gets better and better. And Lumet's two most recent films, last year's Find Me Guilty and the new Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, are among his best.

The bad news is that when Hollywood people and moviegoers hear the thing about Lumet being 83 years old, they'll probably stay away from the new film, as they stayed away from Find Me Guilty a year ago. Lumet has also made the commercial mistake of telling a jewel heist story and telling it straight, without any of the jokey, self-referential stuff that drives most post-Tarantino crime movies. Lumet's movie is about people rather than jewels or guns. And, at 83, he knows a thing or two about people.

Recent Theatricals

• Annapolis (Buena Vista) -- James Franco and Tyrese Gibson invade the Naval Academy, blissfully unaware that An Officer and a Gentleman is still a fairly well-remembered film. (Filmmaker commentary, deleted scenes, two featurettes)
• Failure to Launch (Paramount) -- Professional floozy Sarah Jessica Parker is hired to seduce Matthew McConaughey right out of his parents' home. Of all the movies that show Terry Bradshaw's naked ass, this one's the finest. (Five blathering featurettes)
• Find Me Guilty (Fox) -- I don't care that it bombed and I don't care that it stars Vin Diesel; Sidney Lumet directed it! ("Conversations with Lumet" featurette)
• Madea's Family Reunion (Lionsgate) -- Tyler Perry is the Uwe Boll of urban melodrama. (Director's commentary, deleted scenes, four featurettes)
• Ultraviolet (Sony) -- Milla J. stars in a bunch of stand-alone action sequences that boast some pretty swanky set design. (Jovovich commentary, featurette, 7 minute-longer "extended" cut)

There’s something reassuring old fashioned about Sidney Lumet’s Find Me Guilty. Despite its modern setting, the film is anchored firmly in a time when jokes were gags, Louis Armstrong sang about the whole world smiling, and directors had the confidence to make leisurely movies. Even in Find Me Guilty’s moments of weakness - and, believe me, they’re not hard to find - Lumet’s breezy confidence carries his film through, saving it from the trash heap of utter mediocrity.

Vin Diesel - with hair - stars as Jackie DiNorscio, a soldier in New Jersey’s Lucchese crime family, one of the “five families” than once ran mob activity in the area of New York City. In the late 1980s, 20 members of the family were brought to trial on 87 different charges; the trial ran for nearly two years, becoming the longest criminal trial in US history. Though 19 of the defendants hired lawyers, DiNorscio, a man who left school after eighth grade and whose legal experience stemmed entirely from his extensive jail time, elected to represent himself. For the next 21 months, his antics made him a thorn in the side of the defense, a source of constant irritation to the judge, and a complete wildcard in the eyes of the jury.

Constantly calling himself a “gagster, not a gangster,” DiNorscio used his bullish charm and natural instincts to find his way, sometimes, to success in the courtroom. Just as often, however, he was on the verge of being removed from the case, and he made an enemy of codefendant Nick Calabrese, who feared DiNorscio’s misbehavior would jeopardize all 20 of the defendants. As DiNorscio, Diesel is a strangely endearing combination of macho and insecure; he's blustery and fearless, but with a childlike eagerness to please that lurks just below the surface. What is so interesting about the performance is that one is never quite sure if the traits on display belong to his character or to Diesel himself. Since they work equally well for both, however, it doesn't matter which man we're really seeing: the performance succeeds and, as a result, convincingly raises Diesel above the level of what Lumet calls “a race car action hero” for the first time.

According to VinXperience (Please God, one day let me have a website dedicated to me with the world Xperience included somewhere within), Vin Diesel will star in the big budget futuristic sci-fi action-packed thriller, Babylon A.D. Directed by Matthieu Kassovitz from his own script, the story was inspired by the Maurice Dantec novel Babylon Babies and surrounds genetic manipulation.

Diesel will play a mercenary who must transport a woman from Russia to Canda, then learns there's some crazy virus inside her that could screw the entire human race. Sometimes I feel that way after eating Taco Bell, so I can totally relate. Budgeted at $60 million, the film was originally supposed to star Kassovitz's long-time collaborater Vincent Cassel, however he's been replaced by Diesel...for obvious reasons (Hint: An extra $30 million or more to the box office). Fox will get the domestic rights and outside Europe while Canal Plus will distribute within Europe. Filming begins in June. Anyone read the book and really looking forward to this? I'm not the biggest Vin Diesel fan in the world, so I'm going to need a bunch more reasons to go see this.

Next up for Diesel will be the Sidney Lumet directed Find Me Guilty, of which a trailer is available through VinXperience as well.

[via Coming Soon]