Archive for the 'General' Category

Works as bright cheery satisfying fantasy if a mere

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

Works as bright, cheery, satisfying fantasy, if a mere trifle of a passing fancy. And it works, too, as a celebration of female dont-ignore-us indignation This movie is awkwardly structured. Mad Money, a sisters-in-greed heist comedy thats like Fun With Dick and Jane buy dvd movies crossed with Set It Off, may be a formula flick, but as directed by Callie Khouri, it gives you a good, infectious dose of its heroines money fe Comedy is difficult, but it seems like Mad Money didnt even try. Its very hard to find the jokes. Mad Money really isnt worth yours. Mad Money really isnt worth yours.

There are those who will applaud what Haynes and

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

There are those who will applaud what Haynes and his actors have accomplished, and I can understand its appeal on an intellectual level. But I am not a supporter of film without form or art without structure. Even if you’re one of those viewers who finds Haynes an overly cerebral director I’m not, the music provides an emotional scaffolding that sustains the film. I’m Not There dvd Anyone can make a bad movie, but it takes a good filmmaker to make one as bad as I’m Not There. It doesn’t all work and it runs too long. But every fragment of Dylans life, every version of him, from the funny to the tippy, rings true. takes us laughin, spinnin, swingin madly across the screen with Dylan metaphors and anecdotes Writer-director Todd Haynes has come up with the most interesting psycho-cultural-biographical mix in memory here, managing to make the film reek of the artsy 60s at the same time it unfailingly honors its subject.

The mood is darker and quieter than the Coens

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

The mood is darker and quieter than the Coens usually present, though some of the dialogue has a deadpan humor. I would have preferred a bit more resolution, but it’s hard to fault the filmmakers for sticking to their filmic style Buy No Country for Old Men dvd The story is vintage McCarthy in its sense of place and its poetic voice. And it is vintage Coens for some of those same traits, and its cruel, graphic violence. The Coen brothers have once again placed themselves at the very forefront of American cinema. Bardem is nothing less than the best movie villain since Anthony Hopkins slipped out of Hannibal Lecters manacles, scary-smart and horrifyingly appealing, and Brolin is nothing short of a revelation. The most fascinating element of the film is its formal linking of its multiple, no-nonsense protagonists.

The films overriding sense of the unknown ratchets up

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

The films overriding sense of the unknown ratchets up the suspense, if not the terror. unlike almost any movie you have seen before to become a raw, realistic and gut wrenching experience Cloverfield dvd An efficiently gripping sci-fi/horror romp. This is the stuff we want from a monster movie rescues the Godzilla genre from the realm of kitsch. rescues the Godzilla genre from the realm of kitsch.

Last month there were a couple of movies Michael

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

Last month, there were a couple of movies Michael Clayton, We Own the Night that recalled the 70s heyday of director Sidney Lumet. This month, we get the real deal. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is often an uncomfortable film to sit through, but the rewards it offers make it well worth the effort. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead blu-ray I didnt get it. Lumet tackles this material like an old master, finding scenes to settle into and hanging out there longer than a younger director might. Sidney Lumet makes his best movie in ages, a crackerjack crime thriller that goes for the jugular. Veteran director Sidney Lumet Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon shows hes no slouch at 83 when it comes to crafting first-class thrillers with a pitch black core.

Director Mike Nichols working from Sorkins terrifically written screenplay

Monday, April 21st, 2008

Director Mike Nichols, working from Sorkins terrifically written screenplay and with a cast thats obviously game and eager to please, pulls it all together and makes it work in an utterly convincing and crowd-pleasing fashion Without Philip Seymour Hoffmans Gust, this would be a mildly amusing 2-star dramedy. His deadpan punchlines elevate it beyond well-intentioned shlock Buy Charlie Wilson’s War dvd A mildly engaging holiday season diversion that will evaporate from many viewers’ memories at a speed so rapid it may put Santa’s sleigh to shame. Maybe it wasnt his fault those chickens came home to roost in the form of the Taliban, but you have to wonder: Would Nichols have given Oliver North such an easy ride? Its a sprightly achievement for director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and their cast to keep effervescing for 80 minutes of a 97-minute movie. The seasons oddest and perhaps most effective war movie.

Burton and Depp again prove to be a marvelous

Monday, April 21st, 2008

Burton and Depp again prove to be a marvelous combination in this gory yet glorious adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical. When was the last time you winced and became misty-eyed in the same movie? Bloody good, a lusciously Grand Guignol excercise thats true to the composers original vision but spectacularly cinematic as well. Sweeney Todd DVD In Tobys story, even more than in Sweeney Todds, the film observes the evolution of vengeance as ethos, the ways it can come to look like justice, a means to escape living hells. A movie musical for people who dont like musicals, in the way that — for example — Kenneth Branaghs Frankenstein was a horror movie for people who dont like horror movies. … Burton and Depp put their stamp on Sweeney Todd, bringing the Demon Barber of Fleet Street to life for a whole new audience.

When the dust settles on the religion row The

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

When the dust settles on the religion row The Buy Golden Compass Blu-ray will surely be remembered as one of the best children’s adventures of the year. Bland treatment of round one of Philip Pullmans His Dark Materials trilogy. An entertaining start for this new series. This kid film noir touching on magic dust substance abuse, cranky clerics, worrisome wizards, goth grownup child abusers and computer-generated homicidal polar bear throat slashers, is less likely to dazzle the senses than exhaust minds of all ages. Spotty but often effectively weird.

It’s not one for the ages but this comedy

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

It’s not one for the ages, but this comedy about the ‘perpetual bridesmaid’ suggests a romantic marriage between star and audience that could last and last. Certainly Heigl fares better in less formulaic fare, such as Judd Apatow’s irreverent Knocked Up, but she does raise the level of this chick flick from bland to mildly entertaining. 27 Dresses Blu-ray makes the point that modern American weddings are all pretty much alike. The same could be said about modern American romantic comedies. Anyone who has seen a chick flick knows what is going to happen next, and next, and next.

For half an hour or so Walk Hard DVD:

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

For half an hour or so, Walk Hard DVD: The Dewey Cox Story is hilarious. Problem is, the movie lasts an hour and a half. Judd Apatow can do no wrong, apparently. At very best, someone will recognize the good work here by the star of the show, John C. Reilly Whats taking so long? Give the man an award already! Walk Hard is not making a mockery of the music or the musicians. It only playfully takes the teases the filmmakers and the conventions that have developed in telling these tortured artists stories. Its only Matinee price because it is occasionally a l Walk Hard is 100 minutes of fun, and for pure, uncomplicated enjoyment, its the movie to see right now. Walk Hard offers a quantity of laughs that few comedies could match.