Review: The Artist
The Artist is an interesting homage to the silent film era that shows the format can still entertain, but it doesn't play with the format as much as it could; especially when it seems that it wants to. The picture takes place at the turn of the silent era into talkies and follows the path of Hollywood's biggest star George Valentin. →
Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the English language debut for Tomas Alfredson and the result is a marvelously acted and meticulously directed and plotted spy film that will reward those who give themselves over to the plot as it unfolds its twists and turns. When a British MI6 operation goes bad in Budapest, leaving a British agent shot, the “Circus’s” top →
Review: New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is a terrible movie, one you shouldn’t see, and I hope it is a giant failure so we don’t get Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Arbor Day movies over the next three years. This is coming from someone who thought Valentine’s Day was a watchable mess, but this latest entry makes that film look phenomenal. In lieu of a normal →
Review: The Muppets
The Muppets is a joy of a film, as it is wonderful to have the gang back, and the sheer positivity of the characters paired with the excitement of seeing them on the screen again makes it easy to forgive a few shortcomings as you grin ear to ear over almost the entirety of the runtime. The film's narrative acknowledges the →
Review: Hugo
Martin Scorsese's Hugo takes a bit to find its way, but once it does it is a marvelous tale of filmmaking and wonder that is, quite possibly, the best use of 3D yet. The protagonist of our tale is Hugo Cabaret, an orphaned boy living with his uncle and working as a clock smith inside the walls of a Paris train →
TV Review: The Walking Dead 2.6: Secrets
The Walking Dead bides time after its big reveal in the barn by tying up some lingering plot lines before the mid season finale next week. The beginning of the episode gets off on the wrong foot as Glenn is forced to keep secrets for both Lori (which is understandable) and Maggie (which is ridiculous) as he must keep the baby →
Review: The Descendants
Alexander Payne returns from a seven year hiatus with the marvelous film, The Descendants, that is easily one of the best films of the year. George Clooney stars as Matt King, a successful lawyer who is the head of his family’s long held land trust which owns the largest plot of undeveloped land on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. The trust →
Am I A Zelda Fan?
I cannot wait for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword to come out this weekend, but can I be a Zelda fan (which I self identify as) if I have only ever played through two of the series' games in their entirety? The two games in the series I have played through are Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess and I →
Review: Like Crazy
Like Crazy is a very well made and acted romance that is a narrative mess and could have used a script instead of just an outline to frame the film around. Taking a similar cue from last year’s superb Blue Valentine, this heavily improvised romance follows a pair of young lovers as they meet in their final year of college. Instead →
Review: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
The Twilight Saga is coming to an end with Breaking Dawn: Part 1 and while some are counting away the days till it is out of their lives it should be remembered as a series that missed opportunities to actually be interesting. The film is an extended look at the first few weeks of Bella and Edward's marriage and it stresses →
TV Review: The Walking Dead 2.5: Chupacabra
Daryl gets an episode almost all to himself and goes through hell, somehow making it out on the other side. Sophia is still missing and the group as a whole can now make a search of the surrounding area, but no one gets really anywhere. Shane and Rick show us how strong their friendship can be and how long it has →
Review: Immortals
Immortals is a beautiful, awesome, action packed spectacle that sticks right to the hero’s journey and creates a new(ish) tale of Greek mythology that lets the Gods go kill crazy. Theseus is our hero and he is a common man, a bastard and the son of a whore. Living in a cliff side province of Greece, Theseus, has made himself an →
Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a fantastic debut by director Sean Durkin, only bested by his star Elizabeth Olsen in a mesmerizing debut. Martha is a member of a cult when our film opens, known to them as Marcy May, and after a brief survey of the cult’s complex we see her escape and run away to the safety of her →
Review: J. Edgar
J. Edgar is the latest from Clint Eastwood and it is solid in much of its execution, but falls flat in too many areas to really rise above anything beyond average. Following the professional and personal life of the fabled F.B.I. director J. Edgar Hoover, Leonardo DiCaprio steps into the shoes of the man both young and old. Picking up in →
TV Review: The New Girl 1.5: Cece Crashes
The New Girl is fast and furiously funny again this week with almost no down beats. Our story is split into two camps here as Cece invades the apartment to get away from her face tattooed, diabetic, DJ and newly ex-boyfriend. Half our story is Winston and Schmidt trying to "close it" with Cece and awkward hilarity ensues. From Winston stumbling →
TV Review: The Walking Dead 2.4: Cherokee Rose
The Walking Dead is really solid again this week, even with little zombie drama and the plot continuing to go nowhere. The fact the show is able to stay so entertaining this season while moving the plot almost no where is a testament to the huge step forward the show has taken from its season one downward spiral. The show had →
Review: Tower Heist
Tower Heist is a mediocre film elevated by the performances of its very talented cast that will gain higher praise then it deserves due to said performances; especially because of Eddie Murphy. The premise is a ripe and timely one that a lot of people can relate to nowadays. The little man being financially raped by the rich man is at →
Review: A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is a bounce back after their Escape from Guantanamo Bay and is about as good as their trip to White Castle. If that sentence makes any sense to you then you are probably ready to go see this one this weekend, but I think the film is still accessible to virgins of the series. →
TV Review: The New Girl 1.4: Naked
The New Girl is back from MLB playoff hiatus (AKA StL Cardinals kicking ass) and the show picks up right where it left off in terms of quality; really good. Story wise the show continues to keep things light. Naked roommates, rebound awkwardness, and being culturally out of touch are all common themes here this week and two of them produce →
TV Review: The Walking Dead 2.3: Save The Last One
The Walking Dead continues its upward movement of constantly improving as the season progresses, with this episode centering around Shane's character for the most part. To put it simply, he sees some shit and flirts with the dark side to save Carl's life. We last left our group in the same places they have been most of the season, divided either →
Review: In Time
In Time is a mess of a movie with a weak script, little story, and a great allegory to go along with its creative premise. Time is money, and in our apparent future of In Time, time is life. Humans are engineered with their 25th year being a key milestone; not only do they stop aging on this birthday, but a →
TV Review: The Walking Dead 2.2: Bloodletting
The Walking Dead's second episode of its sophomore season is a step up from the premiere and is setting up quite the confrontation next week. We last left the gang with Carl getting accidentally shot by a mystery hunter and we smash cut to Rick carrying his lifeless son through a field, heading for the farmhouse of the shooter. Well, the opening →
TV Review: The Walking Dead 2.1: What Lies Ahead
The Walking Dead has returned for season 2 and the results are just fine and hopefully setting the show in the right direction. Our survivors are on the road again and, after an atrociously ADR'd catch up from Rick on an Atlanta rooftop; they are leaving the city life for a military base quite a ways from their temporary home. Along →
Review: The Thing (2011)
The Thing prequel from Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. is not only a worthy follow up to John Carpenter’s 1982 film but is also able to blaze enough of its own path while seamlessly connecting to its “follow up.” I can’t imagine someone seeing this film and not wanting to rush out and watch the ’82 The Thing, whether for the first →
