I, along with a large percentage of the movie-going public, saw Avatar over the weekend. In short, it is a flawed, problematic movie, and James Cameron has been understandably defensive about those flaws. Nevertheless, go see it. See it on a big screen, so you don’t miss any details. In many ways, it’s an astounding [...]
Fantasy Movies
Avatar
December 21st, 2009 · No Comments
Ponyo
August 22nd, 2009 · No Comments
Studio Ghibli films have a long tradition of eschewing the typical. These are not films made for endless belly-laughs. These are not films made to show off the latest in CGI technology. These are films that rely on the surreal and the fantastic to entertain. These are films where children are the main characters, but [...]
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
May 30th, 2009 · No Comments
With robots and aliens dominating Summer 2009’s film offerings for the young and 13-year-old boys at heart, it’s refreshing to return to the relatively innocent world of history and magic in “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”.
Viewers older than 13 might find that “history” here is similar to that in “Time Bandits” (1981) [...]
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Drinking Game
May 4th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Instead of doing a traditional review of Wolverine, I thought I’d highlight my feelings for this piece of work by writing a drinking game.
TAKE 1 DRINK:
- Each time claws or swords emerge from someone’s skin in slow motion
- Each time a new mutant is introduced
- Each time an exotic locale is revealed in an an [...]
Watchmen
March 7th, 2009 · 1 Comment
Creating a movie from a cultural icon is tricky business. Do you please the fans, or do you create a good movie? The two aren’t mutually exclusive, but it’s a perilous tightrope. I’m not familiar with the Watchmen comics, and coming out of the movie, I felt like someone’s guest at a work party: politely [...]
Coraline
February 12th, 2009 · No Comments
Imagine you’ve just moved into an apartment in 150-year-old house - in murky Oregon, all weird angles and Gothic decay. Upstairs lives a limber Russian, Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane), who’s training mice to perform a circus, while downstairs are two retired actresses, Miss Sprink and Miss Forcible (Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French) for whom life is [...]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
January 1st, 2009 · 1 Comment
During the holiday hustle and bustle, many moviegoers might wish to take a step back and watch life unfold before their eyes: be it the life of Benjamin Button, or their own lives while watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. At nearly three hours, the film makes a bid for “epic” that has seemingly [...]
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
August 25th, 2008 · No Comments
As the world’s eyes turn to China this month for the 2008 Olympic Games, Hollywood offers a distinctly naive and romantic view of the Far East, grafted onto one of its most successful franchises. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor mercifully lets Imhotep - who terrorized Brendan Fraser and Co. twice already - stay [...]
Hancock
August 25th, 2008 · No Comments
In a summer of no less than five superhero movies, Hancock is the only original screen creation, not taken from the pages of a comic book. Key traits of the lead character might seem familiar, since we are now accustomed to superheroes who drink (Iron Man), rage (Hulk), wise-crack (Hellboy), and remain at odds with [...]
The Dark Knight
July 22nd, 2008 · No Comments
“The Dark Knight” is the first movie I’ve seen in about 10 years where no one’s cellphone went off during the movie. In a theater of nearly 350 people, the dull din of conversation through the previews was constant, but when the opening credits started to roll, the crowd was eerily hushed. The hype, the [...]
