The most important thing to know going into HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY is that the chances are excellent that you will leave the theater humming Barry Manilow. Barry Manilow at his treacly, pop music-est. The next most important thing to know is that this outing, though Hellboy creator Mike Mignola gets a co-story credit,… Read More »
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DARK KNIGHT is the aptly named second installment in Christopher Nolan’s sublime retelling of the Batman story. The setting may be Gotham City, but the landscape is that of the unconscious, where archetypes roam unfettered by the restraints of the waking world. This the realm of the hero’s journey, fraught with all the peril… Read More »
HAMLET 2
Where do dreams go to die? That’s the question posed at the beginning of HAMLET 2, a comedy about the triumph of enthusiasm over talent. The answer to that question is Tucson, Arizona, at least for Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan), a spectacularly untalented actor turned equally untalented drama teacher at a high school there. Driven… Read More »
IRON MAN — DVD
Itâs not the reason for most of us to go out and purchase the IRON MAN DVD, but it is certainly worth noting that a preview for the J. J. Abrams Star Trek flick is on it. The real reason to buy the DVD, or at least rent it, is the whiz-bang action, the sense… Read More »
IRON MAN — DVD
Itâs not the reason for most of us to go out and purchase the IRON MAN DVD, but it is certainly worth noting that a preview for the J. J. Abrams Star Trek flick is on it. The real reason to buy the DVD, or at least rent it, is the whiz-bang action, the sense… Read More »
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Danny Boyle’s brilliant new film, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, is the improbable tale of how innocence triumphs against the most seemingly impossible odds. It begins and ends on the fateful night when Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), a former slum resident, plaything of an indifferent world, and current tea-boy in Mumbai, is about to answer a question on… Read More »
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (2008)
There are many reasons for the temptation to remake a classic. There is the one about updating the theme to make it relevant to current events. There is the one about being able to do thematically or visually what one couldn’t have done in a previous era. There is the one about taking a known… Read More »
DEFINITELY, MAYBE
DEFINITELY, MAYBE is a romantic comedy with bite as it follows the adventures of Will Hayes, a guy who started out thinking that he had it all figured out, and who, of course, didn’t. Rising above the commonplace and the cliché, it’s wry, smart and just sentimental enough to warm the cockles of an audience’s… Read More »
THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES
THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES is that perfect nexus of childlike wonder and the terrors of the id. In other words, the perfect fairy tale that is about much more than the magical creatures, some of whom are cute, some of whom are anything but, and some of whom can be both, though rarely at the same… Read More »
IRON MAN
IRON MAN is terrific. Full of explosions, one-liners, and nifty special effects, it goes the extra mile of casting Robert Downey, Jr., one of the best actors working today, in the title role. In his capable hands, Tony Stark, inventor and purveyor of the world’s finest hi-tech weapons and party guy extraordinaire, is not just… Read More »