Fee fi fo fum, ask not when the thundering applause comes. Cuz it won’t…
Nailed it. [Read more...]
Film Review: Jack The Giant Slayer
03/01/2013 by Leave a Comment
Film Review: Warm Bodies
01/31/2013 by Leave a Comment
No matter how popular a genre is, there always comes a point in which someone takes it too far. Take zombies – a romance between the living and the undead would definitely be that thing to push the genre over the edge. Yet surprisingly, the relationship works well. [Read more...]
Review: X-Men: First Class
06/03/2011 by 1 Comment
X-Men: First Class is a great comic book film that is anchored by a fantastic cast and resets the X-Men universe in an era ripe for potential future films.
The film opens up right where the franchise did, with Erik Lehnsherr being separated from his family at a Nazi concentration camp and ripping a fence down in the process. Where we go from there is all new. After an introduction to Mystique and Charles Xavier who have become childhood/lifelong friends we catch back up with Erik who is hunting down the Nazi’s who tortured him and his family in the camp. Erik’s main target is Sebastian Shaw, a mutant himself who has collected a few others (mutants) around him, and Shaw is hatching something sinister between the U.S. and Russia.
The film is set right in the heart of the cold war, the Soviets and America on the verge of nuclear war, and Kennedy is in the White House trying to diffuse the situation. The unexpected help comes from these newly discovered mutants and this fresh new era really gives the series a fun playground to play in. The 60’s look is cool, sexy, and allows the characters to have a lot of fun, especially in these younger incarnations of these characters. The two leads, Erik and Xavier, are of course Magneto and Professor X from the films we are familiar with and getting to see them as young men is really quite fantastic. [Read more...]
For Your Renting Pleasure
09/03/2010 by Leave a Comment
That’s right, my write-up for rentals has changed yet again. This time around (and hopefully I will stick to it this time) I will write up little blurbs about the movies I have seen in the past week on Fridays, giving you suggestions for what to pick up and what to avoid when considering what to rent that weekend. On this weeks list we’ve got: The Back-up Plan, The Last Song, Operation: Endgame, Repo Men, The Runaways, A Single Man, and The United States of Tara.
Fight for the Last Copy:
United States of Tara: Season One
This Diablo Cody created, Showtime TV show is about a woman who has recently gone off the medications that have helped to suppress the other faces of her multiple personality disorder (or dissociative identity disorder). Toni Collette plays Tara, and the way in which she moves in and out of these other personalities is pure artistry. Though this is a serious topic, it does not shy away from the humor of it all, thanks in large part to the people she becomes. In the beginning she is aware of three: Alice is a 1950s housewife, Buck is the redneck hick with a heart of gold, and T is basically the teenage slut, but eventually another emerges (but I will not spoil in for those who want to watch) in response to the overriding story arc of Tara digging into her past to discover what caused this disorder to take form during her teen years.
The show does not just stop with how this disorder effects Tara, but shows the strain it puts on her family. John Corbett plays her supportive husband who i leading the search to discover her past and must constantly coral the other personalities (though he is far from ashamed of his wife). [Read more...]
Review: A Single Man
12/25/2009 by Leave a Comment
A Single Man is a career defining performance from Colin Firth and one of the strongest, most confident, and beautiful directorial debuts I can recall from Tom Ford.
The film’s theme touch on everything from loss, death, love, friendship, and purpose in life and never feels forced, always natural and honest discussions on the subjects. The film follows a man, George, who decides that today will be the day he finally gets over his lost love that died tragically in a car accident while away on vacation. The two had been together for years and months after their death George was still having problems everyday getting through his life and not drowning in sadness.
The film takes place over a single day and engages from start to finish with a number of interesting stops along the way for George as he tries to move on from his lover, Jim. As George grapples with the struggles of the day, they trigger moments in the past with Jim and the scenes are poignant and touching and we really get a sense of their relationship and bond with little screen time devoted to them.
Tom Ford directs the adaptation of Christopher Isherwood and this film doesn’t waste a single frame of the film. Ford is/was a clothing designer so the man knows details and it is no surprise that his film is so articulate and beautifully put together. Every shot is interesting and superbly framed and I can not wait to have this at home on Blu-ray. [Read more...]
