Not every book deserves to be made into a multi-million dollar movie. “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” attempts to mix Greek mythology with the modern day problems of teens into an epic adventure. The results are mixed. Shortly after learning his son had be diagnosed with both Dyslexia and ADHD, Rick Riordan […]
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The first thing you need to know about When in Rome is it doesn’t take place in Rome (give or take ten minutes). I wanted to like this film. But nothing, not even the talents of Veronica Mars and Tad Hamilton, could save the film from a flurry of romantic comedy clichés and contrivance we […]
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Stop me if you’ve heard this before. In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a wanderer (Denzel Washington) travels across a ruined landscape avoiding robbers, thieves, and cannibals. He carries with him something important and valuable which the intelligent but mean-spirited head of a small town (Gary Oldman) will kill to possess. This is The Book of Eli, […]
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The Young Victoria is a solid effort from screenwriter Julian Fellows (Gosford Park, Vanity Fair). Emily Blunt proves capable of capturing a young woman on the verge of controlling an empire and struggling with advisors, her mother’s power-hungry lover (Mark Stong), and her own ideas for her country’s future. And yet, something is missing. Don’t […]
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Not everything released around Christmas is Oscar-worthy. Now, It’s Complicated certainly has some talent. Meryl Streep collects awards like I do comics, and Alec Baldwin (as I have often said before) just reading a phone book can be funnier than almost everyone else on the planet. This new rom-com from writer/director Nancy Meyers (The Holiday […]
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Invictus is a project Morgan Freeman has been trying to get off the ground for more than a decade. Although I think it’s a quality film, and the story is definitely worth telling, I can certainly see why it took this long for the film to get made. It feels at least one more rewrite […]
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It’s been awhile. For more than a decade Disney has been, well, very un-Disney. In many ways, with the latest animated feature, the company returns to the roots. We’ve got a classic tale, a princess (of sorts), talking animals, big musical numbers, true love triumphant, a wicked villain, and a curse. The Princess and the […]
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At a time when Hollywood seems dead set on giving movies bloodless one and two-word titles that don’t give you a clue as to what the movie is about, along comes a film called Ninja Assassin. It’s about ninjas who kill people. Finally, a little truth in advertising. For more than 1,000 years, nine ninja […]
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Planet 51 isn’t going to wow you, but as a first animated feature from Ilion Animated Studios it’s better than I expected. The story is pretty simple: a peaceful world is invaded by an alien explorer, and with the help of a goodhearted youngster and his friends he eludes the government and attempts to get […]
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I didn’t expect much from director Roland Emmerich’s latest disaster flick other than a little dumb fun. “2012” couldn’t even deliver that. What follows is a short, and hopefully concise, review for a long, and depressingly boring, film (158-minute running time) that is about as almost as much fun as spending three hours alone in […]
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From the minds of the Coen brothers comes this tale of a rather pathetic Jewish professor of physics in late 60s Minnesota. Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is having all kinds of problems, from the serious to the mundane. Larry is indeed A Serious Man, and one whose existence isn’t likely to be improved over the […]
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I’m pretty sure Ed Wood would have loved “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant“. Messy, flawed, riddled with odd choices and questionable casting, and stuck with a plot that make less sense as it progresses, The Vampire’s Assistant is in every way a B-movie. And, I’ll admit, I kinda liked it. Based on a series […]
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Fame is fleeting and, by itself, unsatisfying. So what are we to conclude about a group of kids chasing a dream, not of being a great singer, dancer, or musician, but only trying to grab the spotlight for themselves? “Fame,” the remake of the 1980 film, gives us a variety of characters from the meek […]
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I often dread going to see romantic comedies such as “Love Happens.” 1,000 times burned, 1,001 times shy. Romcoms are usually known for only their lack of originality, convoluted nature, and eagerness to play on overused themes. As it happens, “Love Happens” isn’t a bad film. In fact its a fair bit better than I […]
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Here’s what I learned from Jennifer’s Body. 1) Academy Award nominated screenwriters are just as good at writing mediocre horror flicks as everyone else. 2) People should really stop giving Æon Flux director Karyn Kusama work. 3) Asked to do some real acting, and without Michael Bay’s lascivious ogling lens, Megan Fox (who isn’t allowed […]
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