At one point during Rian Johnson’s GLASS ONION, one of the character wails “What is reality?” It’s a fair question considering the plot twist that has just been revealed to the suitably colorful cast of characters, and one that neatly sums up why Mr. Johnson’s second installment in the casebook of Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig)… Read More »
DEEPWATER HORIZON
Peter Berg’s DEEPWATER HORIZON does not mince cinematic words when it comes to telling the story of the worst off-shore oil rig disaster in history. It can be summed up in three words. Profit over people. It’s a screed, alright, but a compelling, and beautifully crafted one about ordinary people facing the unimaginable with courage… Read More »
KUNG FU PANDA 3
One of the things that makes Po, the eponymous hero of the animated Kung Fu Panda franchise, so endearing is that he doesn’t take his skills in stride. As voiced once again by the excitable gravel that is Jack Black’s speaking instrument, Po takes a childlike delight in being able to defy gravity and dispatch… Read More »
MY BEST FRIEND’S GIRL
A perfectly reasonable reaction to a viewing of MY BEST FRIEND’S GIRL is to plaintively inquire of an unfeeling universe what the heck was that? Aside from being a complete waste of everybody’s time, it is a tired retread of an earlier, equally time-wasting Dane Cook flick, GOOD LUCK CHUCK. There is a different lady… Read More »
BRIDE WARS
Sloppy writing and lazy direction are the hallmarks of BRIDE WARS, a stale story badly told. And that’s a shame because there is much to lampoon about the current state of the wedding business, where the complicated planning and execution can rival that of the Normandy Invasion during World War II. Perhaps it’s no accident… Read More »
SOMETHING BORROWED
SOMETHING BORROWED, based on the chick-lit novel of the same name by Emily Giffiin, does nothing to advance the case for the genres existence. Though breathlessly caught up in the lives of women in nice shoes dithering about what they should do with their lives, it never approaches being as interesting as those shoes, certainly… Read More »
ALEX & EMMA
There was a time when romantic comedies were just that. Love stories that were funny and here I’m thinking along the lines of BRINGING UP BABY, which may be the most glorious example of that genre, not to mention its sub-genre, the screwball comedy. A triple threat. Even THE FRONT PAGE, the Cary Grant and… Read More »
LE DIVORCE
The Merchant/ Ivory film factory usually dwells on the genteel angst of Victorians. With LE DIVORCE, they take a modern tale and turn it into a flawed but charming little film, long on the foibles of human interaction, a bit short on filling in the details. Never mind. Watching the subtle culture clash as American… Read More »
SKELETON KEY
There is one perfect moment in SKELETON KEY, which is remarkable more for the fact that it’s the only good moment in the entire film than for its own innate effectiveness. In it, a character picks up a cigarette, lights it with the torpid evil inherent in supernatural films set in the swamps of Louisiana,… Read More »
YOU ME AND DUPREE
What sad and lifeless thing is YOU ME AND DUPREE. Not even Owen Wilson’s potent slacker charm can save it from a fatal lack of any sort of momentum, much less energy, leaving it with the sort of stasis that sucks all the fun right out of the proceedings. He’s the eponymous Dupree, a sweet… Read More »