Oz the Great and Powerful is a solid start for Disney’s return to that merry old land, but it works best when blazing its own path and not being beholden to The Wizard of Oz. [Read more...]
Film Review: Oz the Great and Powerful
03/07/2013 by Leave a Comment
Film Review: The Bourne Legacy
08/09/2012 by Leave a Comment
As soon as this continuation of the Bourne films was announced it was much debated how the story would continue on without the title character involved. Then with Jeremy Renner eventually attached it seemed like there was nothing to worry about; it just turns out we may have been looking in the wrong place for where this could all go wrong. [Read more...]
Film Review: Dream House
10/01/2011 by 5 Comments
Dream House is an interesting idea, not a horror film, and has no idea what to do with itself; crumbling under a ridiculous exposition heavy third act twist that is almost laughable. Poor and misleading marketing will make reactions to this film far worse then It deserves though as there could have been something here. [Read more...]
Review: The Lovely Bones
01/15/2010 by Leave a Comment
Peter Jackson’s latest adaptation is visually stunning but feels like a cliff notes version of the novel and on its own right doesn’t go deep enough into these characters relationships and feelings to connect us as emotionally as possible with the rich material.
The story follows the path of Susie Salmon a 14 year old girl that is murdered and raped (though the film leaves that last part out for the most part) by her neighbor Mr. Harvey and we follow her in the afterlife as she watches her family cope and hopefully find a way to lead them towards her killer. A little background on my connection to the source material, when I read Alice Sebold’s novel I was blown away for the first two thirds of the book or so and was a bit disappointed with the time jump and felt like things lost a bit of steam in the end. With that said I loved the afterlife stuff and the progression of these family members as they dealt with this horrible incident. And as a person that was hoping for the film to capture those connections and be a great look into these characters lives was disappointed with the skimming the surface approach the film seems to take. We only really get to spend a good amount of time with Mr. Harvey and Susie over the course of the picture and even with them we don’t really dive too deep into their psyche. [Read more...]
Re-Post-Review: The Brothers Bloom
05/29/2009 by Leave a Comment
I saw this movie last October and I stand by my opinion from then, and infact, I liked it even more the second time around.
Rian Johnson is back with another solid entry in his sophomore debut, which is full of humor, style, and great work by everyone involved, all mixed with a story that really makes you care about the characters and their plot they are involved in.
Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody) have been con men for most of their lives, moving from foster family to foster family, never fitting in, but Stephen is always able to find the story to earn them a little something wherever they are. While Stephen is the brains, Bloom is the hook, and he has lived his life as someone else, written by someone else, and is coming to the grips that he has never been himself or made any real connection with anyone on his own. When Bloom quits, again, Stephen tracks him down and promises him that this will be the last con, and he (Bloom) can live his life as his own forever. So Stephen, Bloom, and Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), their ‘explosive’ third man, set off to New Jersey to set up their new mark, Penelope (Rachel Weisz). [Read more...]
Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody) have been con men for most of their lives, moving from foster family to foster family, never fitting in, but Stephen is always able to find the story to earn them a little something wherever they are. While Stephen is the brains, Bloom is the hook, and he has lived his life as someone else, written by someone else, and is coming to the grips that he has never been himself or made any real connection with anyone on his own. When Bloom quits, again, Stephen tracks him down and promises him that this will be the last con, and he (Bloom) can live his life as his own forever. So Stephen, Bloom, and Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), their ‘explosive’ third man, set off to New Jersey to set up their new mark, Penelope (Rachel Weisz). [Read more...]
Review: The Brothers Bloom
12/18/2008 by 2 Comments
Rian Johnson is back with another solid entry in his sophomore debut, which is full of humor, style, and great work by everyone involved, all mixed with a story that really makes you care about the characters and their plot they are involved in.
Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody) have been con men for most of their lives, moving from foster family to foster family, never fitting in, but Stephen is always able to find the story to earn them a little something wherever they are. While Stephen is the brains, Bloom is the hook, and he has lived his life as someone else, written by someone else, and is coming to the grips that he has never been himself or made any real connection with anyone on his own. When Bloom quits, again, Stephen tracks him down and promises him that this will be the last con, and he (Bloom) can live his life as his own forever. So Stephen, Bloom, and Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), their ‘explosive’ third man, set off to New Jersey to set up their new mark, Penelope (Rachel Weisz).
The film is told from the perspective of the brothers, mostly Bloom [Read more...]
Review: Definitely, Maybe
02/13/2008 by Leave a Comment
Ryan Reynolds stars in this Romantic dramadey that focuses on the romantic trials and tribulations of William Hayes and the for the most part is a pretty solid picture.
William Hayes is about to get divorced and his daughter tries to get him to tell him the story of his past love life hoping that he will realize why her mom is so great and they can get back together. Sounds sappy and predictable, but it doesn’t follow the beaten path. It is charming, cute, and funny throughout while remaining real and sad at times. [Read more...]
