Movie Reviews


MOVIE REVIEW- No prickly pear: 'Hamlet 2' rivals 'Thunder' for hoots Published on Aug 28th, 2008 0 comments Where to begin a review of Hamlet 2 but with the final words of Hamlet 1, as it shall evermore be known: Take up the bodies. – Such a sight as this Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss...
MOVIE REVIEW- Rock on: For folks who believe in second chances Published on Aug 21st, 2008 0 comments Like The Full Monty, director Peter Cattaneo's only other film you're likely to know, The Rocker is a sentimental, hard-to-hate feelgood movie that gives itself a little bit of an edge with non-...
MOVIE REVIEW- He's back: Woody Allen hits a homer at last Published on Aug 14th, 2008 2 comments When Woody Allen's at the top of his game no one is better. His batting average isn't what it was in the ‘70s and ‘80s but at 72 he keeps turning out a film a year, and hitting an...
MOVIE REVIEW- Reunion flop: ‘X' makes the z-list Published on Jul 31st, 2008 2 comments If you've ever been disappointed seeing one of your favorite bands in a "once more for the money" reunion tour, you have an idea of what to expect from The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Twenty-first...
MOVIE REVIEW- Man/boys overboard: Two pea-b rains in a pod Published on Jul 24th, 2008 0 comments Please pardon the schizophrenia of this review. I'm really tired of the man/boy comedies where guys in their 20s, 30s, even 40s and beyond act infantile; and Step Brothers gives you a double dose of...
MOVIE REVIEW- 'Dark Knight': Batman's back and worth several views Published on Jul 17th, 2008 0 comments Two hours has rarely flown by as rapidly as it does in The Dark Knight. My jaw dropped so often I finally got tired of picking it up and let it lie there. Director and co-writer Christopher Nolan...
MOVIE REVIEW- So what? 'Journey' missing only a brain Published on Jul 10th, 2008 0 comments If you get your rocks off by having someone throw rocks at you (without hitting you) you'll find Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D a multi-orgasmic experience. I haven't seen the 2D, or "flat"...
MOVIE REVIEW- Derailed: 'Hancock' so good 'til it goes bad Published on Jul 3rd, 2008 3 comments There are so many different movies in Hancock it's like spending a day at a film festival, only much shorter. Hancock runs only 93 minutes, really brief for a Will Smith Fourth of July blockbuster,...
MOVIE REVIEW- ‘Wanted': A potentially prophetic title Published on Jun 26th, 2008 0 comments Wanted is every action movie you ever saw, at at least twice the speed. It should be the most original blockbuster of the summer. It's not a sequel or a comic book superhero adaptation, although it's...
MOVIE REVIEW- ‘Wanted': A potentially prophetic title Published on Jun 26th, 2008 0 comments Wanted is every action movie you ever saw, at at least twice the speed. It should be the most original blockbuster of the summer. It's not a sequel or a comic book superhero adaptation, although it's...
MOVIE REVIEW- Going green: Remake gives deja Hulk Published on Jun 19th, 2008 0 comments Would you let one bad movie stand in the way of a potential billion-dollar franchise? Neither would Universal Pictures and Marvel Comics, so they've attempted a cultural lobotomy on the order of "Pay...
MOVIE REVIEW- Garcon! Le petit déjeuner at Tiffany's Published on Jun 12th, 2008 0 comments If Priceless ("Hors de prix") makes Truman Capote turn over in his grave, chances are he'll be rolling with laughter. It's a virtual French remake of Breakfast at Tiffany's, with just enough...
MOVIE REVIEW- Thunder-ready?: The fat and the furious Published on Jun 5th, 2008 0 comments "Jack Black would smoke no crack..." Then what accounts for his manic energy, his comedy-on-steroids approach unseen since Robin Williams' heyday? As Williams energized Disney's Aladdin, Black's...
MOVIE REVIEW- Why the fuss?:Is there life after maturity? Published on May 29th, 2008 0 comments Whether they're straight women or gay men, whether they saw the series on HBO, DVD or, somewhat sanitized, on TBS, there are enough Sex and the City fans to make a big-screen sequel economically...
MOVIE REVIEW- Hunt's no find: Helen's unpromising directorial debut Published on May 22nd, 2008 0 comments In April Epner's (Helen Hunt) 40th year, a lot of things change. Her husband, Benjamin (Matthew Broderick), leaves her, just when she's obsessing about trying to have a baby. Her adoptive mother (...
MOVIE REVIEW- Knotty set-up: Martial arts drama, Mamet style Published on May 19th, 2008 0 comments David Mamet can beat me in an intellectual competition with one brain tied behind his back, but he may have outsmarted himself with his screenplay (he also directed) for Redbelt. As usual, he employs...
MOVIE REVIEW- Roughed up: ‘Caspian' not a must-sea-- er, see Published on May 15th, 2008 0 comments The wonder evoked by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been replaced by thunder in the second installment, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The fantastic elements are taken for...
MOVIE REVIEW- Down the... I'll have another movie, please Published on May 1st, 2008 0 comments Hollywood professionals can crank out a movie like Made of Honor in their sleep– but that doesn't mean they should.
MOVIE REVIEW- Grow your own: 'Baby Mama' a breath of stale air Published on Apr 24th, 2008 0 comments It's payback time for the ladies who had to sit through Forgetting Sarah Marshall last weekend. They can get even with Baby Mama, which may look to them like a date movie but, with Tina Fey and Amy...
MOVIE REVIEW- Aloha-ha! ‘Marshall' plan shortchanges women Published on Apr 17th, 2008 0 comments What guy hasn't gone to Hawaii to get over some girl who dumped him, only to find her staying at the same resort? That's why Judd Apatow movies are so successful– everyone can relate to them.
MOVIE REVIEW- Not so smart: Chasm between people is sar-chasm Published on Apr 10th, 2008 0 comments Savvy moviegoers know great independent films are unlikely to be released at this time of year, too late for one award season and too early for the next. While we may see an occasional gem like In...
MOVIE REVIEW- Score! April is football season! Published on Apr 3rd, 2008 0 comments How does George Clooney get so much work done and still have a life when he spends all his time watching old movies?
MOVIE REVIEW- Count me out: '21' doesn't bring down the house Published on Mar 27th, 2008 0 comments "Is this a game of chance?" "Not the way I play it, no." That famous W.C. Fields exchange sums up 21, the latest proof that if you're going to set a movie in Las Vegas and put a number in the title,...
MOVIE REVIEW- Choice v. life: Two films let you be the decider Published on Mar 20th, 2008 0 comments If you don't believe in coincidence, blame harmonic convergence for two films about abortion showing up around the same time, both of which are as serious as Juno and Knocked Up, in which pregnant...
MOVIE REVIEW- Fight feature: Wadlow's second film a manly movie Published on Mar 13th, 2008 1 comments What a great 26th birthday present for Sean Faris– the release of Never Back Down, the latest movie in which he plays a high school student. Acting lessons would have been a more useful gift,...
MOVIE REVIEW- Totally recycled: But Ferrell still makes us laugh Published on Feb 28th, 2008 0 comments Kent Alterman never directed a movie before Semi-Pro, but he must have seen a lot of them, including those written by his screenwriter, Scot Armstrong: Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch,...
MOVIE REVIEW- Well? All's well until it ends Published on Feb 21st, 2008 0 comments I'll admit I probably like movies about the shooting of U.S. presidents more this year than I will next year. It's a moot point in the case of Vantage Point since the trailer reveals that the...
MOVIE REVIEW- Parent trip: Too long a story for one night Published on Feb 14th, 2008 0 comments Putting the "lent" in Valentine's Day, Definitely, Maybe is a borrowed collection of romantic clichés that's been nicely packaged but overstays its welcome. Or considering that How I Met Your...
MOVIE REVIEW- No hand for ‘Job': Suspense missing in heist film Published on Feb 14th, 2008 0 comments "Based on a true story," like every movie of 2007 except Transformers and maybe Ratatouille, The Bank Job is not as generic as its title. It strips the heist movie formula to its bare bones, then...
MOVIE REVIEW- Comedy cowboys: Hilarious 'Hollywood to Heartland' Published on Feb 7th, 2008 0 comments Though shorter on title than The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum at Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, Vince Vaughn's...