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 →
Now Playing Review – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
Two nights ago I had a dream that winged creatures were attacking my school, which for some reason looked like a castle. As my friends were devoured in front of my eyes by hungry jaws (RIP Cassidy), I could not cower in fear because I had a mission. That’s right, thanks to weeks of seeing Breaking Dawn – Part 1 →
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 →
For Your Renting Pleasure
In this week of rentals I found myself disappointed with many of this years "better" comedies, where two other films ending up where I expected them to be. If you're considering renting The Alphabet Killer, Horrible Bosses, Your Highness, or Win Win then read my thoughts before making your choice this coming weekend. The Alphabet Killer (2008) Last week was Case 39, →
Now Playing Review – Like Crazy
The thing about romantic comedies is that they’re the safer bet when it comes to love stories. On Valentine’s Day the sappiest girl is not going to put in something that ends tragically, they are going to put in something where it is pretty much a guarantee that the two will end up together; the prince will save her, the →
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 →
For Your Renting Pleasure
With a fall season shooting out some big name video games and an important World Series for STL fans, the Cardinals, Batman, and Nathan Drake have been keeping me a little too busy to slip some movies in. Ok, there might have also been a Teen Wolf marathon on MTV at some point… However, with those games in the bag →
Reflections with Toy Story 3
In my first post on this site I stated that I there are only 5 movie sequels that I love. Well, I saw Predators the other night…and that didn’t change the count, in fact Predators was bad. But the following night I got the kid some snacks and we saddled up Toy Story 3. I may be the last film →
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. →
ESPN Films Review: Ungaurded
The story of Chris Herren is a modern day tragedy. Chris grew up in Fall River Massachusetts and was a all star basketball player in high school. He and his friends played hard, and then went out and played even harder. Partying was a big part of life for Chris and his friends growing up and as long as they →
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 →
Now Playing Review – The Rum Diary
Years ago when Captain Jack Sparrow was wondering where all the rum had gone, he probably would have never guessed that it was being stockpiled for another movie by the man filling his shoes. That traitor! Johnny Depp’s appropriately titled new film, The Rum Diary, has lots of rum, and not much else. Based on the book of the same name, →
ESPN Films Review: The Real Rocky
Tonights documentary The Real Rocky by Jeff Feuerzeig was the story of former heavy weight boxer, Chuck Wepner. Wepner has lived most of his life as a traveling liquor salesman and continues to earn his living through that trade to this day. Boxing was never Chuck's main priority in life but it was something he was good at. He had →
For Your Renting Pleasure
Week after week I apparently find ways to theme my rentals without realizing it beforehand. Scratch that, I totally did it on purpose, and you know it’s true cuz I said totally. A couple of weeks ago I went with creature features, and this week’s selection of The Nines and Being John Malkovich has me going for films in which →
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 →
Review: Footloose (2011)
Footloose is a silly, stereotypical, and safe love story that is elevated by director Craig Brewer, who makes it fun with a heart that will undoubtedly entertain all that are interested. Full disclosure, I have never seen the original Footloose. My closest connection to it is the “angry dancing” sequence when parodied in Flight of the Conchords, and the classic song →
Now Playing Review – The Thing
If any of you read my “For Your Renting Pleasure” post from last week then you would have seen that I just watched the original The Thing (1982), and though I didn’t get the appeal of that film, I was not going to let it stomp out my excitement for this prequel. (From now on to avoid confusion, or possibly add →
ESPN Films Review: The Dotted Line
This week ESPN Films gave us The Dotted Line by Morgan Spurlock. The Dotted Line is a documentary that gives us a glimpse into the life of sports agents. Morgan Spurlock is the man most famous for being the guy who ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 days in his documentary Super Size Me. His documentary was definitely a cultural →
Review: Melancholia
Melancholia is the latest from Lars von Trier and the result is a gorgeous, engaging, suspenseful, and even funny film as we watch our protagonist struggle with depression in an excellent turn by Kirsten Dunst. Lars von Trier starts with the end and things don't end well. Split into two parts, each titled after the sisters at the center of the →
For Your Renting Pleasure
This week I have spent plenty of time at the theater and gaming (Rage FYI), but I managed to fit some movie rentals in this weekend so that I would have thoughts to share with you guys (yes I do realize how narcissistic that sounds). This week we've got two films with Natalie Portman, The Other Woman and The Professional, →
