Nov 20, 2009 -
Nicolas Cage has said, "There's a very fine line between Method actor and schizophrenic." In Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, he teeters that line maniacally, with an ever-increasing slur and crooked swagger. Cage plays Terence McDonagh, a detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating a drug-related murder and his personal threshold for cocaine and heroin.
- 0 Comments
Nov 13, 2009 -
For the past five years, Wes Anderson's wide fan base has been waiting for his first fully animated film. Would his adaption of Roald Dahl's children's book, Fantastic Mr. Fox appease the same crowd that holds Bottle Rocket and The Royal Tenenbaums near and dear to their hearts? The answer is an emphatic yes, and the best news is that you don't even have to enjoy Anderson's other work to fall in love with this film.
- 3 Comments
Nov 05, 2009 -
Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol is, quite literally, a tale as old as time. Hollywood has already turned the novel into countless films, so how do you keep it fresh to entertain old and young audiences alike? You give them a pair of 3-D glasses.
- 12 Comments
Sep 18, 2009 -
Love Happens is not a romantic comedy, like the promo photos of Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston smooshed together might have you believe. The real focus of the film is Burke (Eckhart), a widower who's hooked on Grey Goose and his own delusion that he's "a-okay" like the title of his self-help book suggests. He's constantly quoting his own chapters, with turning-lemons-into-lemonade kind of lessons, as a means to get through his day — frankly, the guy's a downer.
- 11 Comments
Sep 09, 2009 -
I was a bit apprehensive about going to see 9, because it didn't look like your typical animated movie. However, the buzz on it has been huge (the short film on which it's based was Academy Award nominated), and Tim Burton is one of the producers, so I figured it had to be twisted good fun to get his stamp of approval.
Directed by first-time feature film director, Shane Acker, the film opens with our robot hero, 9, in the workshop of his scientist creator — who has just died on the floor after completing his final invention.
- 6 Comments
Aug 21, 2009 -
Meet the Inglorious Bastards, er, the Inglourious Basterds: a quintessential Quentin Tarantino clan (see also Reservoir Dogs) helmed by an accent-affected Brad Pitt. Pitt, who plays a sort of Tennessean hillbilly, is the ringleader of the group of mostly Jewish-American soldiers whose aim is to kill — specifically by scalping — Nazis. It's as disgusting as it sounds, but the film is not all gory and the Basterds are only one in a series of interwoven stories.
- 7 Comments
Aug 14, 2009 -
What makes the book The Time Traveler's Wife so magical is how well it marries two genres: romance and sci-fi. But the big-screen adaptation leans more toward old-fashioned Hollywood love story, with the attendant schmaltz and a touch of slapstick.
Fans of the cherished book — myself included — had many hopes and fears about the film.
- 19 Comments
Jul 24, 2009 -
When reviewing The Ugly Truth, it's impossible to ignore what Katherine Heigl had to say in 2007 about her film Knocked Up: "It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a b*tch; why is she being such a killjoy?
- 21 Comments
Jul 17, 2009 -
Bromance: it's a trendy topic. Between Brody Jenner's reality show, Paul Rudd and Jason Segel's I Love You, Man, and practically anything Judd Apatow touches, it's clear that platonic man-love on film is here to stay. Sundance darling Humpday takes the notion to an entirely new level, but not in the way you might expect.
- 1 Comment
Jul 17, 2009 -
The unnecessary parentheses in the movie's title are the first sign that (500) Days of Summer might be too cute and contrived for its own good. Often, it is: the female lead (played by Zooey Deschanel) is named Summer, the wardrobes and apartments are impossibly hip, and shopping at Ikea acts as a relationship milestone. I'm willing to forgive much of that, however, because despite its overly indie constructs, (500) Days of Summer captures many achingly real sentiments.
- 16 Comments