Overcast skies and drab blue/gray interiors dominate Roman Polanski’s smart, tense thriller “The Ghost Writer,” setting up a foreboding mood that never lets up, even when it finally seems that all of its mysteries are resolved. (They’re not.) Based on Robert Harris’ 2007 novel “The Ghost,” Polanski’s film is a modern lesson in expertly controlled […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Sure, Tim Burton directed this new loose adaptation of the Lewis Carroll novels “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass,” but you know exactly what to expect with him: Gothic art direction and loony characters. What makes a Tim Burton movie something more than just a visual delight is its screenplay. This one was […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
It makes sense that the man who directed such iconic films as “Clerks” and “Dogma”—which constantly reference movies from the 1980s—would be behind the lens on “Cop Out,” a throwback tribute to the buddy cop movies of the same era. What doesn’t make sense is that “Cop Out” is completely devoid of the inspired and […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I’m sure you get as tired of hearing it as I get of writing it: Here is yet another horror remake. At least this new version of “The Crazies” has one thing that the 1973 George Romero original was lacking—a real sense of community among the soon-to-be-afflicted. It may be achieved through mere glimpses and […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
You know the kind of thriller that works only at surface value, skirts cliché at every turn, keeps stringing you along, and—in the end—hinges 100 percent on whether you buy the twist ending or not? “Shutter Island” is not that kind of thriller. Directed by Martin Scorsese, “Shutter Island” has enough gothic atmosphere, deep emotional […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
While it’s true that perseverance can yield great rewards, such is not the case for Universal’s “The Wolfman.” Originally the movie was to be directed by Mark Romanek, but the music-video maven left shortly after signing because of creative differences. Shortly thereafter, Joe Johnston edged out Brett Ratner, Frank Darabont, James Mangold and Martin Campbell. […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The new hyperspeed action movie “From Paris With Love,” starring John Travolta as a bald, goateed, and leather-jacketed U.S. FBI agent named Charlie Wax, is so dumb—so obnoxiously over the top, so asinine—that you have to wonder if Travolta knew what kind of a movie he was in and tailored his performance to match. Well, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
“Paranormal Activity” movie review Find out why Eric’s actual theater-going experience ruined the movie for him here. I try really hard to go into movies without prejudice. But with the advertising tactics being employed to push “Paranormal Activity,” I’ve found it very difficult to not be extremely skeptical. Take a look at the posters. They’re […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
M. Night Shyamalan movies make great trailers. He’s all about the high-concept hook—an easy-to-explain premise that sucks you in right away. The thing that the movie studio is selling this time out is that “The Happening,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, is his first rated-R effort. I have to admit, the idea perked my […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I was just complaining to a friend of mine how they don’t make nerdy teenage fantasy movies like they did in the ’80s, and then along comes director Michael Bay‘s Transformers. A flawed, frenzied, and ultimately fun affair, Bay’s big screen adaptation of the Hasbro toy line (that itself spun into a TV series and […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
When I saw the pitch-perfect zombie movie homage “Shaun of the Dead,” I figured the reason there was so much gore was pretty obvious. It’s a zombie movie. Duh. Having just seen Edgar Wright’s second feature, the pitch-perfect action movie homage “Hot Fuzz,” I now know that the director uses decapitated heads and buckets of […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Knowing that one of legendary director Werner Herzog’s (“Aguirre: The Wrath of God,” “Fitzcarraldo”) favorite subjects is the futility of man to overcome nature, I went into his newest documentary “Grizzly Man” expecting a sobering story of a conservationalist do-gooder who tempted fate one too many times and ultimately lost out to nature. What struck […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }