Girls focuses in on one subject more than ever this week in an episode that was both funny and heartfelt that featured an important catharsis for Hannah. [Read more...]
Film Review: Young Adult
12/18/2011 by Leave a Comment
Jason Reitman’s latest is another strong, yet lesser, effort from the young director and he gets a great performance out of his lead, Charlize Theron, who makes the most of Diablo Cody’s sharp screenplay. [Read more...]
HST… Film Review: Young Adult
12/15/2011 by Leave a Comment
While discussing Young Adult after a screening a couple weeks ago, Alan and I realized that we didn’t quite see eye-to-eye on this one. Here are our (spoiler free) thoughts on this movie. Also be sure to check out Zac’s review as well to see where his opinion lines up with ours. [Read more...]
Now Playing Review – Morning Glory
11/16/2010 by Leave a Comment
Ever since I was little and I fell witness to a horrifying story about a raging fire on the news I have had a strong aversion to that form of broadcast. And unless it is riddled with sarcastic references to current events, such as The Colbert Report or Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live, it is still a rare occasion for me to sit through a show. Thank goodness I am a strong individual with the capability of separating movies from reality or else I would not have been able to sit through this entertaining film. And I would also be living in fear of zombie outbreaks, but that’s neither here nor there…
I’m glad you asked tagline on poster, the story goes a little something like this: After being fired from her job at a local New Jersey news station Becky must start over towards reaching her goal of becoming a producer for a top rung news show. [Read more...]
Review: Morning Glory
11/10/2010 by Leave a Comment
Morning Glory is a funny (if a tad uninspired) tale about the rejuvenating of a morning news show that does fairly well till a perplexing third act almost ruins a potentially very fine piece of entertainment.
Now if I was a well versed critic I would probably start by writing this film off as paling in comparison to such classic “news” movies, like Network or Broadcast News, but I haven’t seen those movies so just know that going forward. Morning Glory follows a young and aspiring producer, Becky, who thinks she is about to get her big break at a local New Jersey affiliate when she is fired instead of being promoted. Scrambling for a job, Becky, talks her way into the executive producer job at the number four morning show in the country. The show, DayBreak, is struggling and at risk of folding so Becky recruits an off the air, but under contract, legend at the station, Mike Pomeroy, who is getting paid to do nothing. Grumpy and difficult, Pomeroy, is awkwardly thrown into this morning mix as Becky tries to get him and the ratings to boost.
Review: The Switch
08/20/2010 by 2 Comments
The Switch is a high concept rom-com that might seem a bit, “I’ve seen this before,” but its great performances, fantastic heart, and the most realistic characters in a rom-com, in what feels like forever (save 500 Days of Summer), make this a quality effort that is easy to enjoy.
(This review might be a tad spoilerly for some, but I really don’t go into much beyond the trailer and to be honest I think I clarify things so you can have the best enjoyment of the picture. If you want to stay as blind as possible though, skip the next paragraph to be safe.)
Now we have all seen the preview for this and there is only one thing that the trailer is selling, Jason Bateman’s character, Wally, swaps his sperm for that of his best friend’s donor and seven years later the kid and friend re-enter his life after a Midwest hiatus. Jennifer Aniston plays the best friend, Kassie, and while Wally and hers’ relationship started on a dating level, Wally quickly pushed them into the friend zone and they have been best-ies ever since. [Read more...]
Now Playing Review – The Switch
08/20/2010 by Leave a Comment
The title might speak towards the switch of a certain bodily fluid in the story, but this is not the only switch with this film. Instead, what we get is a non-stereotypical romantic comedy (if you can even stick that genre title on it), differing in tone and far less groan worthy than most.
For better or worse, family and friends have a tendency to think they know what’s best for us. In Wally Mars’ case, well, he thinks his best friend is making a mistake by deciding to get pregnant through artificial insemination. Though he strongly apposes it, he still lends his support by showing up for her pre-pregnancy party (AKA the sperm donation party). But that isn’t all he lends. While in the bathroom he drunkenly disposes of the donor’s goods, replacing them with his own. Soon after she moves away, only to return years later with a son that strongly resembles Wally, who has no recollection of what he did that night. [Read more...]
Now Playing Review – The A-Team
06/28/2010 by 1 Comment
Devo advised to whip a problem when it came along, but I am not Indiana Jones. Instead I would much rather take the advice of the narrator in the A-Team, because calling them in when a debacle arises just seems way cooler.
Based on the 1980s TV series, this incarnation starts with the introduction of the four men on their first mission together. Eventually they form the “A-Team,” successfully completing a vast number of missions together that most other soldiers fighting in the war in Iraq would not expect to come back alive from. It’s just what they do. While out on one of these missions things don’t go quite so well and they end up being framed for a crime that they didn’t commit. However, prison time just so happens to be a great time to plan your next move when you want to clear your name and get revenge when you just so happen to know who set you up. I pity the fool who thinks bars can contain them! (I’m sorry… I couldn’t resist. And you should have expected it at some point…) [Read more...]
Review: The A-Team
06/11/2010 by Leave a Comment
The latest TV adaptation, The A-Team, gets 3 great actors and one unproven one together with a director that can shoot some action and the results is an almost non-stop action flick with paper thin characters and a weak plot that is quite a lot of fun.
The A-Team is a group of rangers who have been performing mission after mission specializing in black ops and crazy over the top affairs. After being sporadically thrown together in the film’s opening back story we flash forward to eight years later to see the team accept a mission in Iraq to recapture a billion some dollars and the illegal plates that made them. Well as you can tell from the trailer, the group is double crossed, thrown in prison, and are forced to prove their innocence.
