What in the hell happened with “Snakes on a Plane”? With one incredibly simple title phrase and some super-savvy advertising, all this movie had to do was make good on everyone’s ridiculously low expectations. Bring the snakes, the plane, and the funny (intentional or otherwise) and it could ascend to a seat at the big […]
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In the tradition of great sports hero films like “Rocky,” “Invincible” is predictably inspirational. The fantastic surprise is that it is a PG-rated Disney film that is both incredibly well-made and full of gritty realism. Not unlike “Good Will Hunting,” this is the story of a loyal pack of friends deeply bonded and living under […]
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“Little Miss Sunshine” is absolutely spectacular. The road-trip genre and dysfunctional family genre are frequently used foundations upon which to build a script, but this movie breaks out of the cliché. The first feature from husband and wife directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris is armed with inspired characters and killer performances that have the […]
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The title of this list could very well be “Top 10 Overlooked Contemporary Movies That We Thought Up Off the Top of Our Heads That You Should See if You Haven’t.” I have the oldest movie on the list, and even it came out after I was born. These are films that, one way or […]
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Hollywood’s resident wild-card director and sometimes conspiracy guru Oliver Stone couldn’t have made a better movie to follow his previous feature. The epic misadventure “Alexander” could have sent a lesser director back to the minor leagues, feeling lucky to direct an episode of “Laguna Beach,” but classics like “Platoon,” “Wall Street” and “JFK” give studios […]
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On rare occasions, films can be entertaining and at the same time have sociological implications that add weight. For instance, I viewed Michael Moore’s controversial film “Bowling for Columbine” – a movie about Americans and their guns – in a theater full of Canadians in Toronto. I also had an opportunity to see Stephen Spielberg’s […]
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I can remember distinctly the feeling I had…slipping on my white mesh shoes and straightening the white blazer over my pink polo, thinking to myself that if there was a way to make my exceptionally dorky ass cool…this has got to be it. It was the time of “Top Gun,” Pac-Man and “Footloose” and I […]
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I honestly can’t remember the last time I went to a movie that made me jump out of my seat, laugh out loud, and get all emotional in the same two hours. M. Night Shyamalan’s “Lady in the Water” is an incredibly well balanced film that has immense style and substance. A bit of a […]
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There are lots of sci-fi movie and novel fans out there who could explain to me fervently what they like about the book or film version of “A Scanner Darkly.” I admit, I haven’t read the novel, but I have read “Naked Lunch” and that should count for something. It’s possible I don’t own the […]
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No one expected the first film in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise to be any good or to become such a huge success. Spectacular advertising and an outrageous performance from Johnny Depp made “The Curse of the Black Pearl” a smash-hit and left audiences chomping at the bit for another romp with Captain Jack […]
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I must concede from the get-go that I think Superman may be the least cool superhero ever. His story has never grabbed me the way Batman or Wolverine do, not to mention the whole “all-powerful unless too close to a rock” thing never ceases to annoy me. For that reason alone “Superman Returns” was not […]
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One really never knows what you’re going to get with an Adam Sandler flick. You could get lucky and end up with a modern classic like “The Wedding Singer” or make a nonrefundable withdrawal of two hours of your life suffering through “Mr. Deeds.” The new Sandler film “Click” is a pleasant surprise. It’s not […]
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When you see a movie poster with Jack Black in a Mexican wrestling costume you really ought to know what you’re in for. If not, and you were hoping for – I don’t know…an elevated comedy experience – it would be a bit like waltzing into the Ben and Jerry’s and demanding a car battery. […]
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I am obsessive about films and music. If I like an album, I don’t just listen to it once or twice and move on, I’ll listen to it endlessly for weeks, sometimes months on end. Just ask anyone at my work if they want to listen to Death Cab for Cutie’s “Transatlanticism” or Jay-Z’s “Black […]
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It shouldn’t come as a monumental shock that the new movie “The Break-Up” is actually about…wait for it…a break up. In spite of the slightly misleading previews that tout the film as a quirky romantic comedy, “The Break-Up” is a worthwhile gem, one that avoids many of the typical pitfalls of relationship stories and manages […]
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