THE DUCHESS is a middling film about a larger-than-life historical character from the 18th century. That would be Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (Keira Knightley), fashion icon, darling of the public and of the media, she was beautiful, rich, used her position and fame to influence politics, and married to a man who was indifferent to… Read More »
THE PROPOSAL
What almost saves THE PROPOSAL from itself is a pair of performances by Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds that have a bold and bracing bite of snarkiness to them. Alas, the formulaic nature of the script requires that they both warm up to each other and in the process, while their characters find true love,… Read More »
ONE DAY
ONE DAY is an unconventional love story told in an unconventional style. The conceit of dropping in on them once a year on St. Swithins Day (July 15) to check their rocky progression from the 1980s through to the 21st century is as arch and penetrating as it is effective in stripping the story of… Read More »
ROCK OF AGES
Few directors could pull off the subtle irony and the profane humor of Tom Cruise, as rock god Stacee Jaxx, crooning a gentle ballad about wanting to know what love is to Malin Ackermans buttocks, but Adam Shankman can and does. ROCK OF AGES is a perfect blend of just those elements, the irony and… Read More »
INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE, THE
THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE is a sweet little film about finding, losing, and then rediscovering a sense of wonder. Any sense of the ponderous, however, in telling this tale with a definite moral is more than offset by the gentle silliness with which the story is told. Its a deft bit of sleight-of-hand as befits… Read More »
GET ON UP
James Brown was no ordinary star, and GET ON UP, the film about him is no ordinary bio-pic. It is as kinetic and as kaleidoscopic as the radical new approach to music Brown introduced. Chadwick Boseman, star of 42, essays another real-life character and with the same intensity and passion that be brought to Jackie… Read More »
INTOLERABLE CRUELTY
When the Coen Brothers get it right, there are no better filmmakers going, and with INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, they are at the top of their game. With an irreverent touch, they spin a tale of true love that includes all the melodrama, farce, and heartbreak that such a condition is oft wont to engender while still… Read More »
WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON
There is just something about WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON thats completely adorable. Its not that it strays far from the usual LA meets the real world stereotypes, because it doesnt. Nor does it posit that the sex symbols of the silver screen have an inner life much deeper than their Jacuzzis. No, the… Read More »
THE WHOLE TEN YARDS
Somehow encouraged by the distinctly lukewarm response to THE WHOLE NINE YARDS, Bruce Willis and company have decided to gift us with a sequel, THE WHOLE TEN YARDS. It is a dreadful morass, which may be the result of either hubris, or the need to produce a sure-fire money loser in order to create a… Read More »
MEAN GIRLS
Much has been made of late about the culture of adolescent girls, as in, the viciousness to the pecking order of the cool girls and the ones that will do anything to become one of them. Tina Fey, the first female head writer of Saturday Night Live has mined that territory, one that seems rife… Read More »