Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale”) films are always difficult. The concept of going to the movies for the sake of escapism is lost on him. If anyone tried harder to make real life into a movie, they’d have to compete with Baumbach. If anyone tried to make a film where dialogue is king, […]
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Weekend Recap: Dragon-training proves lucrative
Hullo mah wee drehgons! Dreamworks Animation produced a No. 1 hit this weekend although I must say, not nearly as well as I would’ve expected based on the reviews. Positive word of mouth, however, should keep How to Train Your Dragon going strong throughout the week and onto next weekend. Dreamworks’ last spring effort was […]
On DVD: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is about the closest any major CGI animation studio has come to a classic cartoon done in a modern style. It would appear that somewhere between “Looney Tunes” and Pixar’s “Up” that animation has lost a bit of its rule-bending nature. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, co-executive producers of […]
Weekend Preview (3.26.10)
Well, for most children around the world, it’s Spring Break. Whereas “our” spring break consists of either rest, sun, friend, booze or e.) all of the above, most children are busy causing their parents headaches despite how nice it is to spend some family time together. That’s where the movies come in. There’s Disney’s Alice […]
Top 10 Time Travel Movies
For some reason, one of my favorite plot devices of all time is time travel, or really any film that messes with the framework of time. Even a film that tells the story in non-traditional chronological order such as Memento or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind get extra props for time manipulation. With Hot […]
Review: The Ghost Writer
The giant gray cloud that hovers over the setting for almost the entirety of Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” is like the film’s suspense. The truly excellent mysteries in cinema are drawn out, almost at times torturous, hanging questions over our heads like — giant gray clouds. I wouldn’t say “The Ghost Writer” deserves comparison […]
Trailer Wednesday: Predators and Eat, Pray, Love
This post title just gave me a great spoof idea for a film entitled Predators: Eat, Prey, Love. I’m not sure how the love part factors in yet, but that could be interesting. I think these movies are about as far apart as any two chosen in the short life of Trailer Wednesday. One is […]
Harold & Maude (1971) – 4.5/5 Stars
It’s hard to believe a film such as “Harold and Maude” was made in the 1970s. Movies like this one, the off-kilter teen coming-of-age story, haven’t really become common place until today. Hal Ashby and Colin Higgins’ film was undoubtedly ahead of its time. It’s not rooted in pop culture, popular folk-style music is a […]
Chris Evans is Captain America
The rumor mill has finally stopped. After much deliberation over a pretty definitive shortlist, Marvel has chosen, well, The Human Torch. Chris Evans will star as the leader of the Avengers, Steve Rogers aka Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger.
Weekend Recap: Three Times an Alice
A weekend of weak releases has kept Alice in Wonderland the uncontested box office No. 1 for the third straight week. And I keep wondering when I’m going to go see it and when I post a review, if any of you will even care by then. Certainly 3D will not do for Alice and […]
This Film is Not Yet Rated (2006) – 3.5/5 Stars
The American public is no stranger to the MPAA ratings system and its inherent flaws. Everyone has his or her own opinion about the level of censorship that goes on in Hollywood and what is appropriate for what age group and so on. But you don’t really know what it’s about until you watch Kirby […]
Weekend Preview (3.19.10)
This is one of those weekends where the films with the best reviews are not the ones in wide release. New Ben Stiller indie Greenberg is getting great reviews and rock biopic The Runaways is getting some decent early buzz, but the three films opening this weekend en masse are getting ripped. Then there’s one […]
Chloe Moretz: A Good Child Star
I normally hate child actors, especially the prolific ones. Every time I saw a preview with 9-year-old Dakota Fanning I rolled my eyes. Spencer Breslin in his day was painful to look at and his sister Abigail was not in anything good outside of Little Miss Sunshine. Freddie Highmore of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory […]
Trailer Wednesday: Shrek Forever After
Insert loud sigh here. Finally — finally — we get the trailer for the last — the last — installment of Dreamworks’ money-making ogre, Shrek. Well-titled Shrek Forever After (without inserting a “u” in “forever” amazingly enough), Dreamworks has said this is Shrek’s last hurrah. They’ll need to scramble to find his successor, but for […]
Archive Review: Hable Con Ella (2002)
Pedro Almodovar’s “Hable Con Ella” is a great film but one that’s hard to diagnose. Foremost it’s a love story, one that explores unreciprocated love in the sense that two women are in a coma and the film is about the men who love them. But it also explores that idea more figuratively because the […]
