film

This DVD/Blu-ray review of “Just Go With It” appears on KTKA-49. Back in February, when I reviewed the new below-average formulaic romcom from Adam Sandler, “Just Go With It,” I complained about how tired and crammed full of cheap jokes it was. Nothing’s changed there–the unfortunate movie remains the same. And it’s a shame that […]

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This review of “Super 8” appears on KTKA-49. J.J. Abrams channels his inner Spielberg, with help from the blockbuster maestro of the 80s who served as producer, on “Super 8,” a refreshing change of pace for summer flicks. It’s just too bad that Abrams has made such a big deal about not letting any secrets […]

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The signs were all there. No guest would accompany me to the film, the theater was only half full for the screening, I probably should have known, but I decided to give “Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer” a fair shake. I can say having sat through its full 91 minutes, that “Judy Moody” […]

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Woody Allen is back with his yearly cinematic offering. “Midnight in Paris” is a joyful and funny romantic comedy fairytale that follows Gil (Owen Wilson), a screenwriter who pines for a bygone era and a more vibrant artistic time. “Midnight in Paris” showcases Allen’s love of the title city and his love of the 1920s. […]

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One could say that I was intrigued by the hype surrounding “Super 8” I enjoyed the J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the Star Trek franchise in 2009, and I was interested in what he might craft when he turned his creative energies to a kids’ adventure movie. Unfortunately Abrams took a page out his producer, Steven […]

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It’s ironic that writer/director Chris Ordal’s quietly moving “Earthwork” opens its run at Liberty Hall in Lawrence the weekend after Governor Sam Brownback erased the funding for the Kansas Arts Commission, leaving the program with zero budget and no staff or offices. Shot almost entirely in Kansas and based on the true story of Lawrence, […]

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There are movies that make me wish I had the option of the split rock fist, a non-neutral symbol that says this film is as bad as it is good. That’s the way I feel about Matthew Vaughn’s “X-Men: First Class,” and I only grudgingly went with the slightly positive, because I walked out of […]

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What other film offers as much in the way of visual detail and intrigue with such static, humdrum visuals actually presented?

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Po (Jack Black), the reluctant and obese Dragon Warrior, and his gang of kung fu specialists are called back into action in Dreamworks’ “Kung Fu Panda 2”. The story, which has Po, Tigeress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan) and all the rest chasing the nefarious peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), is thoroughly entertaining if not […]

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This review of “The Illusionist” appears on KTKA-49. Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars earlier this year, “The Illusionist” is a beautifully rendered melancholy tribute to a brand of entertainers that has long since passed. Director Sylvain Chomet follows an elderly magician in the declining years of his career. It’s 1959, and television, […]

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Our new bi-weekly movie-themed comic strip here on Scene-Stealers is back. Here’s strip number six of the movie-related comic The Chicken and the Egg. The artist is Ben Townsend and he lives in the Southampton, U.K. Click on the strip for a larger image! Contact the cartoonist: thechickenandtheegg@hotmail.com Link to The Chicken and the Egg […]

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This review of the “Bridesmaids” appears on KTKA-49. Co-written by and starring “Saturday Night Live” standout Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids” is being marketed as “The Hangover” from a female perspective. It’s a nice shortcut, but there are a couple key differences. First off, despite a couple scenes with over-the-top and scatological humor, “Bridesmaids” is a little […]

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Nick Halsey (Will Ferrell) is having a really bad day. In the first few minutes of the film he loses his job, his wife locks him out of the house and leaves town (first throwing all his possessions on the front lawn), his car is repossessed, his bank accounts are locked out, and he falls […]

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