GAMER, released without the benefit of a press screening, is a big, loud mess that loses its few good ideas in a morass of convoluted storytelling that it has, sadly, confused with stylish innovation. It posits a world in the near future where gaming has lost its virtual quality. Sim-worlds are inhabited by real people… Read More »
I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER
I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER is a raucous coming of age film that compresses the action into one tumultuous day and night. The day is graduation, the coming of age is done by Dennis, and the tumultuous is courtesy of the object of his longing, the eponymous Beth Cooper. It is a time fraught with… Read More »
2012
With 2012 you got your big special effects, you got your overwrought melodrama, you got your colorful supporting characters, a passel of kids of varying cuteness, outrageous puns, and a plucky dog. What you got here is blockbuster of a popcorn flick that delivers on ending the world as we know it and takes a… Read More »
GENTLEMEN BRONCOS
With GENTLEMAN BRONCOS, Jared and Jerusha Hess hearken back to their maiden effort, NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE, but this is no retread. Though the theme of a loser with dreams staying true to himself and to them is the fodder, this treatment takes it in unexpected but delightfully peculiar directions. It is the celebration of pure imagination… Read More »
TWILIGHT SAGA — NEW MOON, THE
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON is the second film version of the wildly popular “Twilight” series of books and is much less interesting than the first one. Where before there was the delight of Bella (Kristen Stewart) discovering that the deep dark secret that the brooding love of her life, Edward (Robert Pattinson) and his… Read More »
PLANET 51
PLANET 51 is a perfectly sweet film that kiddies will adore. Their adults, on the other hand, may find it more of a slog. The story is predictable, the characters are stock. Both those failings are mitigated by good, if not dazzling, animation, and a mechanical rover, cleverly named Rover, that is in the mold… Read More »
OLD DOGS
OLD DOGS has a strong cast fighting a script that is labored, stale, and obvious. That cast is led by John Travolta and Robin Williams, both of whom are no strangers to comedy, nor to miscalculations when it comes to choosing scripts. They are Charlie and Dan, pals and business partners of 30 years. While… Read More »
THE BROTHERS BLOOM
The successful con is the one where everyone gets what they want. Its a statement that is profound in its simplicity. The same is true of THE BROTHERS BLOOM, where the premise is postulated and then proven with a deceptively simple plot that hides in plain sight. The brothers in question are Stephen (Mark Ruffalo)… Read More »
THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELD
The thing to remember while watching THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS is that this is a parable. Its relationship to the real world is symbolic, hence a male escort service named after the classical Greek take on the afterlife, and a writer who thinks that there is a place for his literate prose in a… Read More »
MONSTERS VS ALIENS
Its hard to love a cockroach. Yet, as demonstrated by WALL-E, in the hands of the gifted storytellers and animators, its not an insurmountable hurdle. With the fine folks who created MONSTERS VS ALIENS, the unlovable insect has once again been redeemed. Unlike WALL-E, a different sort of film altogether that gave us something that… Read More »
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