Archive for June, 2010

Weekend Preview (6.30.10)

The first live action blockbuster since “Iron Man 2” (which feels like ages ago) finally hit theaters today and made $30 million just at midnight showings. Another potential young adult hit also finds its way into theaters tomorrow in “The Last Airbender” directed by the ever-controversial M. Night Shyamalan.

read more

The Idiot’s Guide (Ages 20+) to “The Last Airbender”

Not really sure what all this “The Last Airbender” business is about? Neither am I — and neither is anyone born before 1990. Join me as a fumble my way through flash websites, Wikipedia and more in attempt to learn something about one of this summer’s biggest fantasy films. I’ve scrummaged through the elemental nations, […]

read more

On DVD: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

To label “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” as Harry Potter with Greek mythology is to fault the zebra for having stripes because the tiger had them first. The hero’s journey story of a young protagonist realizing he or she has a destiny and entering a world previously unknown to him or her […]

read more

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” directors to build with Lego

Warner Bros. plan to blend live-action and CGI for a movie based on the world’s greatest toy, LEGO, has found a director: two in fact. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, receivers of much praise for last year’s “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” have been hired for the job, according to Heat Vision.

read more

New “Deathly Hallows” trailer pits Harry against You-Know-Who

According to Warner Bros in this brand new trailer, if we don’t go see “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” (parts one and two) this November and next July, we’re missing out and the single biggest movie event of our generation. Fair enough.

read more

Weekend Recap: “Grown Ups” can’t put away the Toys

It’s still a Toy’s world, no matter what Grown Ups have to say about it. The Pixar film had an equally impressive second week dropping just below $60 million and making it the fourth highest grossing film of 2010 in just its second week. In fact, “Toy Story 3” had made just $3 million less […]

read more

On DVD: Pirate Radio

Rock ‘n roll embodies what we want out of our movies from time to time: letting loose and having fun: throwing aside order and morality for a time, however brief. In the ’60s, rock music was the essence of such “rebellion” and “Love, Actually” filmmaker Richard Curtis and his latest film, “Pirate Radio,” capture the […]

read more

Archive Review: About a Boy (2002)

No man is an island — but no film is either. The proverbial happy bachelor who is set in his ways is bound to succumb to the temptations of togetherness and love as he does in every film. “About a Boy” does not defy this classic character profile, but neither does it slosh around in […]

read more

Peter Jackson expected to direct “The Hobbit”

Let bursts of joy echo throughout Middle Earth, for Peter Jackson is negotiating with Warner Bros/New Line/MGM to direct both installments of “The Hobbit.” The original Lord of the Rings trilogy director was producing and advising the oft-delayed project, but when those delays caused Guillermo Del Toro to abandon his post as director, the search desperately […]

read more

Review: Grown Ups

Adam Sandler’s movies have almost always had a family element if they weren’t a major part of the story (parental responsibility in 1999’s “Big Daddy,” father-son relationship in “Billy Madison” and “Little Nicky”). But lately, especially since the birth of his first daughter in 2006, it’s begun to drastically shape his film choices. It started […]

read more

Adam Sandler Comedy: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

One thing is for certain when it comes to Adam Sandler: love him or hate him, he makes movies that make money. You either jive with the immature goofy humor that changed the comedy landscape in the mid-’90s, or you find his movies pretty detestable. So for this week’s edition of “The Good, The Bad, […]

read more

Avengers rumors resurface: Fillion and Longoria to nab key roles

If you follow the superhero movie rumor mill often enough, then you’ve already heard the rumors about “Firefly” star Nathan Fillion and  Eva Longoria starring as Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne (aka Ant-Man and The Wasp) in Marvel’s 2012 be-all of superhero movies, “The Avengers.”

read more

Trailer Wednesday: The Green Hornet, Conviction

One is a big commercial action property led by funny-man Seth Rogen and the other one of those early fall borderline awards season dramas. They have nothing to do with one another, but not every Trailer Wednesday can have a theme. It’s the movie version of the comic-turned-TV series “The Green Hornet” and the Sam […]

read more

Weekend Preview (6.23.10)

We have an awkward early edition of Weekend Preview this week as “Knight and Day” jumps into theaters today. We’ll have the same thing next week with “Eclipse,” so I suppose I’ll have to suck it up. After family films have dominated the box office for the last six weeks , we finally get some […]

read more

Archive Review: Big Fan (2009)

As sports fans, we always consider the degree to which we support or dedicate ourselves to the team. “Big Fan” is a character study of a man who has formed his identity and life around the New York Giants. The film preys on our expectation that every fan has a clear line when it’s time […]

read more