These trailers aren’t piping hot off the press, but Wednesday has always been the hardest day of the week for me to post something new, so I’m devoting it to recent trailers. It also seems a lot of trailers generally come out this day of the week (like when we had Iron Man 2 and […]
Archives
“Three Kings” (1999) – 3.5/5 Stars
Personal and human interests butt heads in “Three Kings,” a Gulf War action flick from David O. Russell. Following the Gulf War cease-fire four soldiers (Clooney, Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Jonze) plan to take gold stolen by Saddam Hussein during the invasion of Kuwait so they can live well for the rest of their lives. […]
Spidey 4 is no more: Sony plans reboot sans Raimi, Tobey
Fans of the Spider-Man franchise, brace yourselves. Sam Raimi – and by association Tobey Maguire – will not have anything to do with next film. “Spider-Man 4” as it stood, is no more. Sony will instead aim to reboot the franchise with a whole new cast based on a script by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac).
On DVD: 9
Shane Acker’s Oscar-nominated animated short “9” impressed on ingenuity and creative visuals. Its anthropomorphic googly-eyed burlap protagonist, 9, connectedly instant with the short’s viewers, and the wealth of imagination poured into his world and surroundings made it fascinating. With the help of numerous producers including “Wanted” director Timur Bekmambetov and legendary stop-motion filmmaker Tim Burton, […]
Weekend Recap: Another $50 M, “Avatar” is No. 7 ever
In not surprising news, Avatar won this weekend’s domestic box office, overtaking Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for No. 1 film of 2009 and climbing up to No. 7 on the all-time list. In a bit more surprising news, I did very well for my first big weekend of predictions in 2010. The only new […]
“Avatar” moviegoers suffer Post-Pandora Depression
Did you feel depressed after watching Avatar? Not in the sense that the movie itself depressed you, but because you came to the stark realization that the world of Pandora and the Na’vi are not real? That life here on Earth is gloomier and more meaningless in comparison? Apparently, you’re not alone. Not by a […]
“Underworld: Evolution” (2006) – 2.5/5 stars
It seems kind of pointless, in my opinion, to develop such an extensive mythos and history for a centuries old vampires vs. lycans (werewolves) premise when everyone’s just going to try and kill each other anyway. Underworld creators Len Wiseman and Danny McBride impressively flesh out their world and backstory, especially so in “Underworld: Evolution” […]
Review: Youth in Revolt
Before you ever see the first shot of “Youth in Revolt,” you know what’s going on. A repetitive motion sound can be heard as well as the flipping of pages. Nick Twisp (Cera) is masturbating and almost everyone in the theater knows it. That’s testament to how far the R-rated comedy sexual revolution has come […]
On DVD: Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
The first “Night at the Museum” worked despite conventions for a few reasons, but the main one was that it eased into its premise of museum exhibits coming to life and didn’t take it for granted like “Night of the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian” does. I’m actually surprised the writers of the first […]
Weekend Preview (1.8.10)
The first major weekend of 2010 is upon us, but does it matter? Audiences across the country are still all up in Avatar‘s business. It’s going to be hard for these early January films to become surprise winter hits until the buzz wears off and America wakes up to find a man or woman (your […]
“Sunset Blvd.” (1950) – 4.5/5 Stars
More than a half century after “Sunset Blvd.,” audiences are well aware that Hollywood is not all glitz and glamor — that there’s a stark reality. Yet despite that knowledge, “Sunset Blvd.” is still an eye-opening and deeply affecting motion picture today as it was in the 1950s. Because even though our “access” to Hollywood […]
Winter Movie Preview: The Watch (Cautiously) List
As promised, here are some other films that might pan out that didn’t quite have the chops for my Top 10 list. Check out the trailers below on YouTube and decide for yourself if they should’ve been Top 10 material. — Leap Year (Jan. 8) The Word: The impossible-to-dislike-even-slightly Amy Adams stars with handsome Brit […]
On DVD: Drag Me to Hell
One would suppose if Sam Raimi really wanted to do a masterfully frightening horror film that he could easily do so — but that would be too easy. “Drag Me to Hell” is like a thesis statement for why horror films should stop wasting their time with realism and trying to frighten people in the […]
Sam Mendes in talks for James Bond 23
Not long before this news broke, we heard the first bit of news about Bond 23: it wasn’t happening, at least not until the future of MGM was determined. So the last thing anybody expected was to hear news of who would be brought in to direct the third installment of the revamped Daniel Craig […]
Winter Movie Preview: 10 Films to Start Off ’10, Pt. 2
As I present you the Top 5 movies on my list of films to watch these next couple of winter months (click here for the first five), I’m getting a bit nervous. The reason is because when it comes to January and February, it’s hard to say with certainty that anything will be good. But […]
