There’s no denying that “Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire” is a tough film. The harrowing story of an overweight illiterate 16-year-old girl pregnant by her father for the second time and living with her abusive mother is not the fare most of us go to the theaters for. But sometimes we need […]
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Hit or Miss: The Career of John Travolta
Seeing what kind of messed-up half-thuggish hair and facial hair John Travolta is wearing in his next film is like following public appearances of Lady Gaga to see what bizarre outfit she’s concocted next, only Gaga can manage to pull it off at times. But seriously, middle-aged Vinny Barbarino has tried and done everything to […]
On DVD: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Here’s my theory on how Paramount and Hasbro teamed up to make “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.” With the help of the film’s creative team, Hasbro designed an entire Toys R Us aisle’s worth of G.I. Joe action figures and accessories, everything from subs to jets to tunneling vehicles to Joes in accelerator suits […]
Avatar is most successful movie in US history
As expected, Avatar became the highest-grossing film in US box-office history today, passing Titanic‘s record of approximately $600 million given the estimates from Tuesday’s receipts. This is not a surprise today, but maybe even a month ago, certainly two months ago, this news would’ve made our jaws drop.
Oscars 2010 Nominees – Avatar and “Locker” tie with 9
And they’re up! I’ve got your list of Oscar nominees this morning along with how my predictions checked out. The big news is that the Academy absolutely loves The Hurt Locker, giving it as many nominations as Avatar. They share noms in seven of those categories, so this should really be quite a race to the […]
Weekend Recap: Avatarded
Well, I was right about Avatar staying No. 1, which it did while barely dropping off yet again, but I thought Edge of Darkness would give it a serious run for its money, which it did not with only $17 million. Looks like Mel Gibson failed his test. Avatar has now become the first film […]
Oscars 2010: My Nomination Predictions
Tomorrow, Punxatawney Phil will try and check out his shadow, but even if we have six more weeks of winter, we’ll at least have the list of Oscar nominations. The announcement will come Tuesday morning at 7:00 CST/5:00 am PST and will be announced by the lovely Anne Hathaway. Ah, the smell of Oscar season. […]
Review: A Single Man
You won’t find a more visually immaculate film than “A Single Man.” Gucci frontman Tom Ford’s film debut is something out of an inch-thick fashion magazine. His eye for beauty and sensuality might be unparalleled in Hollywood with just this one entry. Applied to the story of a man torn apart inside with the loss […]
Julie & Julia Review
Side Note: Check out the next Julie Powell of Chicago cuisine, my friend Stephanie, and her blog “Stephanie Eats Chicago.” She was featured on WGN Radio this morning, plus if you click you might find pictures of puppies amidst her food-pegs. “Julie & Julia” is not about food so much as it is about setting […]
Weekend Preview (1.29.10)
And we’re waiting … and waiting … who’s got the goods to dethrone Avatar? This is our what, fifth weekend of 2010 and no one has been able to generate enough buzz to make the cash that will finally snap the streak. And guess what: it won’t happen again this weekend. Yes, it will be […]
“Spartacus” (1960) – 3.5/5 Stars
R.I.P movie star Jean Simmons, who starred opposite Kirk Douglas in this film. She passed away last week just 9 days before her 81st birthday. “Spartacus” (1960) and “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) were the two great epic war films of the 1960s. That said, the latter is superior, but not for the former’s lack of […]
Mel Gibson returns, but his past follows him
He hasn’t starred in a film in eight years but you’d never know it. In that span he directed the most controversial highest-grossing film of all time as well as one of the weirdest foreign-language films and in 2006 he got pulled over for a DUI that made him the hideous butt of late night […]
On DVD: Paranormal Activity
I don’t necessarily understand the phenomenon that “Paranormal Activity” became in the Fall of 2009, especially considering the success of “The Blair Witch Project” and “Cloverfield” bringing exposure to the documentary-style and low budget horror/thriller. Yet people demanded this film be shown in their cities and towns and this $15,000 movie grossed more than $100 […]
Apple’s new iPad: will it change movie-watching?
If you are of the Net News generation or have any means by which to know anything when it happens via the Internet, than you’ve probably already heard about iPad, or at least saw a friend make a joke about iKotex on Twitter, were confused and then linked that to your knowledge that Apple had a […]
New on Blu-ray: Atonement (2007) – 4/5 Stars
If one were taking a course on how to appropriately adapt a novel for the big screen, “Atonement’ would certainly need to be among the required materials. Though I personally have never read McEwan’s novel, the attention to detail that Joe Wright and his team bring to telling this story visually is superb.
