The question raised by WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY?, and it’s a loaded one, isn’t the eponymous one, but rather why it is that it’s a performance artist that is the one protesting against the commercialization of Christmas, and not the actual ministers of the kid from Nazareth. It’s more than just the orgy of gift-buying… Read More »
MR. MAGORIUM’S WONDER EMPORIUM
In MR. MAGORIUM’S WONDER EMPORIUM we discover that neither bright and shiny sets nor silly socks a fun film makes. Sprung from the sadly underfevered imagination of Zach Helm (STRANGER THAN FICTION), this fable is like something imagined by Turgenev during what would have been even for him one of his more bleak interludes. The plot… Read More »
BEOWULF
The retelling of BEOWULF by Robert Zemeckis, Neil Gaiman, and Roger Avary stays true to the rip-snorting quality of it that has enthralled people for 1500 years or so, a few bored freshman English students at the mercy of teachers who couldn’t engage their enthusiasm notwithstanding. This computer-generated Beowulf is full of swagger, pride, and… Read More »
MIST, THE
Would that THE MIST, Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novella, were just about things that go bump in the fog. It would be so much easier to reassure oneself that it’s just a story and then go out in the real world secure in the knowledge that nothing like that could ever happen except… Read More »
PIXAR SHORT FILMS
Art school geek meets basic math and the result is the magic that is the Pixar Studio. This collection of 13 short films starts with the very first, “The Adventures of Andre and Wally B.”, from 1984, and runs through 2007. Esthetically and historically, they are wonderful, but it’s the commentary that is the real… Read More »
RATATOUILLE — DVD
The only thing better than watching RATATOUILLE in a theater is watching the DVD of RATATOUILLE at home with a lovely big bowl of the eponymous fare on which to dine while watching it. And perhaps a side of toasted cheese and mushrooms. If you’ve seen the film, you’ll get why. The adventures of Remy,… Read More »
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, is a nail-biting masterpiece of suspense, operating on a philosophical level that is as sophisticated as it is compelling. It takes its tropes and its idioms from classic noirs, but with nary a cliché, and with a soul more hard-boiled than the film… Read More »
I AM LEGEND
I AM LEGEND is a bittersweet tale of all that is best and worst about humanity, and a cautionary one about good intentions. It’s also one of Will Smith’s best performances as Robert Neville, the scientist driven by guilt to save humanity single-handed while and fighting his growing sense of nihilism after three years and… Read More »
PS I LOVE YOU
The single biggest problem with PS I LOVE YOU is that all the supporting characters are more interesting than Holly, the main character. This is as much a function of the writing as of the relative talents involved, even though the main character is played by two-time Oscar® winner Hilary Swank. Holly is gawky, maudlin,… Read More »
NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS
NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS is a cutesy and inane follow-up to the only slightly less cutesy and inane NATIONAL TREASURE. The plot feels like it was cobbled together from the sort of random ideas tossed out during the wee hours of the morning during an all-night brainstorming session, ideas that seem like genius when… Read More »
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