Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Quentin Tarantino's latest film, set before the Civil War commences, offers "a bloody good time," critics say. Have you seen it?
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
"Django Unchained" contains the snappy dialogue, laconic humor, choreographed violence and the first rate acting we've come to expect from Quentin Tarantino. The movie, released on Christmas Day, tells the story of a bounty hunter named King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) and the soon-to-be-freed slave turned bounty hunter Django (Jamie Foxx), who travel the South, meeting the local color as they team up to haul in or eliminate bad guys and to find Django's wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). If there were one theme for this movie, it would be revenge, writ large. It's gotten a 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Here's what the critics are saying: “Django Unchained” is Quentin Tarantino’s greatest exploration of the human condition, from its…
Monday, December 17, 2012
Hold onto your hats, kids; we're heading to Middle Earth again with Peter Jackson and company.
After years of waiting it's finally coming to theaters -- Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." Bilbo Baggins, a kicked-back, happy-go-lucky Hobbit, joins Gandolf the Grey and 13 dwarves on a dangerous quest to reclaim their homeland and their treasure from Smaug the dragon. The film is a staggering 160 minutes. But unlike any of the "Lord of the Rings" films, it takes about an hour for anything to really get going. Once it does, though, game on, with non-stop chase scenes and action sequences. On the journey they run into every kind of creature imaginable. The problem is, most of them are CGI creations. That was a big misstep, I think. In the "Lord of the Rings" films most of the monsters were just guys in makeup, and there…
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The only wide release movie this week is so bad there is a good chance it's on the way to home video by Christmas
Gerard Butler plays a divorced ex-jock who needs to be a father to his kid in the terrible romantic comedy "Playing for Keeps." Jessica Biel plays his ex-wife who just happens to be getting remarried. Uma Thurman and Cahterine Zeta-Jones play a couple of horny housewives who can't resist Butler. Dennis Quaid has a small role as a creepy team soccer dad who loves throwing money around. This may be one of the worst romantic comedies I have ever seen. Butler is a decent actor but this is not his finest hour. He stumbles though the movie as a good-looking, bumbling fool. The notion that no woman in town, even those who have suffered most from his womanizing, can resist this hunky, dim-witted, loser guy is, well, offensive and even …
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Jack Frost takes a 3D animation adventure to save all that is good and nice in the world.
Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman draft Jack Frost to be in their gang to guard against all things evil as they protect the magical state of childhood in "Rise of the Guardians." Stars such as Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Hugh Jackman, Chris Pine and Isla Fisher lend their voices to this visually stunning film perfect for the holiday season. I'll be the first one to say that it's easy to be cynical about holiday movies but this one won't let you. This certainly isn't a Judeo-Christian holiday-themed film, as you might imagine. That's what makes it a better than your average Christmastime film. Turning these mythical beings into superheroes is clever. If it does well at the box office I see a franchise in the making…
Sunday, November 11, 2012
He's got the tux, the cars, the gadgets, the girls…James Bond is back and better than ever!
Daniel Craig is back in his best Bond performance to date in "Skyfall." On the 50th year of the franchise and the 23rd in the series, this is one of the best Bond films yet, and I have seen all of them. The opening chase scene may be the best ever, and it sets the tone for a really good spy thriller and pure Bond fantasy. Javier Bardem plays the villain in this one. He's creepy good as the bad guy, making this movie that much better. We learn more about Bond in this film than any of the others as he tries to come to grips with his mortality and the fact that his type of spying has become obsolete due to technology. But, as you might have guessed, when it's time to kick some butt…who you gonna call ? A great supporting cast including Judi…
Sunday, November 4, 2012
The bad guy in an old video game is about to become the good guy in a new movie. It's a wreck the whole family should enjoy.
The bad guy in a low-resolution '80s video game is a reluctant villain who tears down buildings with his sledgehammer fists. He's ready for a change in today's high-resolution world in "Wreck-It Ralph," in 3D. In order to break out of his bad-guy image Ralph travels to grand game central, where there is access to every video game in the world. If he can win a few levels, who knows, he may become that good guy he has always wanted to be. The clever writing and character development is met with a solid voice-over cast which includes John C. Reilly as Ralph, Sarah Silverman as the voice of Vanellope and Jane Lynch as Sgt. Calhoun. There are dozens of retro games for the grown-ups and a solid storyline for the kids. As in the tradition of "…
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Clint Eastwood takes a break from his one man act with an empty chair to play a grouchy old man, now that's a stretch!
Clint Eastwood plays an aging baseball scout who has a troubling relationship with his daughter Amy Adams in Trouble with the Curve. Eastwood's eyesight is failing so Adams decides to tag along on what could be his last scouting trip. The conflicts in the movie are many, father-daughter, daughter and her new boyfriend (played by Justine Timberlake), and a big baseball conflict pitting younger tech savvy scouts against old school, seasoned scouts. We have seen this movie before, it was called MONEYBALL. There are some dark moments, some sappy moments, and you are never quite sure if you are supposed to laugh or not when Eastwood goes on one of his grouchy old man rants. The last time he was in a movie was back in 2008 for Grand Torino, and…
Saturday, December 31, 2011
We have an Oscar alert! Meryl Streep portrays one of the most influential figures of the 20th century and nails it.
There is no question that Meryl Streep is the best actress of her generation and she raises the bar once again as she transforms herself into former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady." Most of the film portrays Thatcher as she is now -- an elderly women looking back on her life. Confused, sometimes delusional, she carries on conversations with her deceased husband Denis, played by Jim Broadbent. Alexandra Roach does a fine job portraying Thatcher as a young woman, but it is Streep's powerful performance that warrants Oscar consideration. There are some great scenes exploring some of the pivotal moments in Thatcher's controversial 11-year term in the 1980s. The film disappoints, however, when it circles back to a …
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law continue the "bromance" from the 2009 Sherlock Holmes film with a new installment involving a game of shadows.
Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, or Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson in this case, face a new super-villain set on destroying the world in "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows." Set in 1891, Holmes and Watson square off against Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), who has cooked up a scheme to pit various European nations against each other in hopes of benefiting from the demand for weapons. A gypsy fortune teller, played by Noomi Rapace, tags along. Rachel McAdams, Holmes' love interest in the first film, also makes a brief appearance. Guy Ritchie once again directs this film, turning Arthur Conan Doyle's classic literary character into the star of a likely Hollywood blockbuster. The film is loud, there are plenty of explosions, and there is …
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
A bright young actress conjures up a movie icon. She may get an Oscar, but she also deserves a medal for bravery.
Michelle Williams gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn." Based on true events, the movie focuses on the summer of 1956, in which Monroe went to London to shoot "The Prince and the Showgirl" with British actor, Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). From the start, nothing goes well. Monroe is hopped up on pills, she messes up her lines, she's always late on the set, and she lacks self confidence. No one likes her, except for Dame Sybil Thorndike (played by Dame Judi Dench) and messenger boy Colin Clark (played by Eddie Redmayne). It is through his eyes that the movie is told. For all "Potter" fans out there, Emma Watson (Hermione) has a small role in this film as Colin's on-again, off-again …
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Judy Putnam
12:19 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
The 23rd James Bond movie scored an outstanding $87.8 million, which is a new opening weekend record for the 50-year-old franchise. more ›