Yeah...so I'm four reviews behind. With holiday season here, and a number of potential "sees" coming in the next 10 days, it's high time I catch up.Let's start with the one I saw longest ago, and the reason I've been sitting on my hands for 3 weeks. I have no idea what to say about Milk. It's expertly made, full of terrific acting, a hip cast, and what appears to be a historically accurate portray
AFTER seeing several less-than-glowing reviews for Fox's remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still, I really wasn't sure what to expect from this film. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by much of the movie, which has topped...
Context can make or break a film. The Edge of Heaven, by the Turkish-German director Fatih Akin, drew the short straw in competition in Cannes last year. Among a vintage stack of entries including Zodiac, 4 Months, 3 Weeks ... and Silent Light, Akin's thoughtful, somewhat novelistic drama was admired by some, discussed by few. Now Akin's film arrives in Britain during one of the release schedule's
It's quite fortunate for me that certain words from other languages are melded into the boiling pot that is the English language and given the thumbs up for everyday use. For example, I probably can't say "Me and my hermano are going to a baseball game" without getting a sideways glance from a few people, or at the least some stalking by G.O.B. However, I won't get dirty looks from anyone if I cal
I'm tired, I don't feel well, and it's been a long day, so I've invited my other personality, Slappy Jones, to write the review for Synecdoche, New York. Take it away, Slappy:Hey folks. So I went to see Synecdoche to with Fletch, Mrs. Fletch, Mrs. Slappy and some other friends of ours (and their alternate personalities as well) a few weeks ago, and 17 1/2 of us still haven't made up our collective
Do you think you're a beautiful, unique flower? Still under the delusion that you can live outside the norm, escaping society's conventions? Like to think you're somehow special? Well, Four Christmases is here to correct you of your silly fantasies, possibly taking your spirit while at it.The director of The King of Kong, a team of four writers (all pretty inexperienced) and a cast of thousands ha
There's a certain je ne sais quoi I find myself noticing every time I watch a new Danny Boyle-directed film. Many directors have trademark qualities that even a novice film geek could pick up on, from Quentin Tarantino's rapid-fire pop culture-inflected dialogue to Martin Scorcese's Rolling Stones'-tinged gangster flicks, but Boyle has never seemed to have a weakness for any particular style or tr
Do you know anyone that's just so cheery and bouncy all the time that you just want to smack them in the face? Someone that seems so unfathomably glad to be alive that you could swear that they molest puppies at night?Well, meet Poppy. She's the embodiment of that person. Nothing gets her down and, amazingly, she never does have that "down time" that you'd expect form someone like this. She's
"Fezzik, are there spoilers ahead?""If there are, we'll all be dead!"(Perhaps that isn't the best warning. Then again, there were rocks ahead, and neither Fezzik nor Inigo died. Anyway, on to the review.)Role Models is the kind of movie that I want to hate. I really do. Before it's five minutes in, you already know how the story will generally go. Loosey-goosey fun guy Wheeler (Seann William Scott
As I'm sure all of you do, I try not to let the feelings of others influence the way that I feel about a film. I also attempt - though rarely succeed - to go into a film experience without prejudice. As an unpaid film reviewer, that's essentially an impossible task, since you're paying and you likely want to see something to be seeing it in the first place. Common sense, right?Well, I had tempered
On the surface, it wouldn't seem as though Passengers, a psychological thriller centered around a crashed airplane, and Pride and Glory, an NYC Irish Family Cop Drama (capitalized because it deserves it, damnit), would have much in common. That surface would be right. But there's a twist...Passengers may be trying to give off that Lost vibe, but it reminded me more of the 2004 film The Forgotten,
It's been at least a month since I saw Burn After Reading, and probably three weeks since I saw Choke, and I've yet to come remotely close to writing a review for either. It really makes no sense - it's not as if we're talking about Transformers or some other brainless popcorn flick that has nothing to say about society. Okay, maybe Burn does, since it's a straight-up Coen farce, but still, it's a
Imagine Lorne Michaels wants to produce a comedy-laced drama. He has a virtually unlimited budget but instead of his cast of not ready for prime time players, he has all of Hollywood available at his fingertips. He hires an A-list director, picks as his target a lame duck president with but a few months left in office and off he goes.That's pretty much what W. feels like. While we can watch Tony H
Was it live, or was it Memorex? That's what you might be asking yourself after seeing Rachel Getting Married, the latest from director Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia). After a slump of features, including The Manchurian Candidate and The Truth About Charlie, Demme has gone simple on us. Rachel is presented in verite form, almost documentary-like as it follows Kym (Anne
Like most people that write movie reviews regularly, I have an unwritten rule about not reading other reviews of a film before I write my own (much less before I see a film), unless I don't particularly care about the film in question. This rule has a couple exceptions, naturally. On a typical night when Mrs. Fletch and I return from a trip to the theater, I can often be found reading the review o
How does the old saying go? Don't talk about religion and politics in public?If that saying seems like its from another time, it's probably because a) it is, and b) it's not really relevant anymore, or at least practiced by the masses. Try as I might to avoid the topics in my workplace (mostly because my beliefs don't really mesh with the general public's), they invariably come up - the latter (
Neither as bad as star Vin Diesel and director Mathieu Kassovitz would have you believe, nor as good as...well, no one's really saying that it's all that good. Let's just say that Babylon A.D. is a serviceable sci-fi actioner that you're likely to enjoy at least somewhat if you've enjoyed any of the better sci-fi films of the last ten years.Why's that, you might ask? As it turns out, Babylon's gre
Have you ever had the desire to watch a two-hour shampoo commercial? How about a two-hour love letter to the imperceptible beauty - outer AND inner - of gorgeous college students (or Penelope Cruz)? Or how about a 120-minute ode to the wonders-of-the-world that are Cruz's breasts?Yes, it's true, guys. If you had no interest in seeing Elegy before, at least the prospect of having "the most beautifu
For me, you, and everyone else, but mostly for my friend Chris, who sent me an email this morning titled "For the love of God - CageFestaPaLoozA must die" and followed that up with "Why not film reviews of the William Shatner oeuvre next week? Good Christ. I can’t stand Cage," I offer you a brief respite from Cagefest. Here's a mini review of a flick I saw two or three weeks ago. Cagefest will w
You might not be able to kill a mummy but as "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" demonstrates, you can kill a franchise.The third entry in the series starring Brendan Fraser ups the ante in terms of special effects and action, but there's an undeniably tired air to the enterprise.Arriving seven years after the last installment, "The Mummy Returns" (assuming you don't count the "Scorpion King"
In this Holy War on Terror, can there ever be a "winner" and a "loser," or are all parties both? In the name of God (or Allah), to what end are the soldiers of these wars winning to fight, and through what means? Does God overlook death when it is carried out in his name, and who can be classified an "innocent victim" and who can't? Without mentioning the words "War on Terror" or "Iraq" (amongst o
After seeing Man on Wire, I find myself thinking it somewhat ironic (like rain on your wedding day, of course) that this summer has been dominated mostly by two "superhero" films - Iron Man and The Dark Knight. As it turns out, there's a nonfiction superhero movie, and it's playing right now at your local indie theater.Like all superheroes, Phillippe Petit has his flaws. Just as Batman and Spide
Let's see...it's the number two film of all time at the box office, every film critic and/or movie blogger in the world has written not just one but probably multiple things about it, I've seen it twice (opening night and again a week later)...and yet here it is a month later and I've yet to write a word about The Dark Knight.Unfortunately, I don't see myself coming up with anything brilliant and/
Presenting an insect's-eye-view of the historic Apollo 11 space mission, "Fly Me to the Moon" is an awkward mix of proficient 3-D animation, detailed technical recreation and strained storytelling that stalls on takeoff.With his extensive background in 3-D production, director Ben Stassen delivers on the technology, but the flyweight narrative and characterizations are awfully flat, despite a voic
By the time you read this, Mrs. Fletch and I will have long since forgotten what it was about. We saw the film in early April after we obtained tickets to a focus group screening. If you haven't attended one, it's basically the same as any other old screening, except that you are asked to fill out a questionnaire at the end ("Please, be brutally honest") and a few folks get to stick around to be p
It's serendipitous that Step Brothers and Pineapple Express were released mere weeks apart. Aside from both being branded by the A-word (rhymes with Slapatow), both star a pair of adults playing "man-children."Oh wait - that part is nothing new to the Apatuniverse - they've existed all along. What really groups these two together is that in each we are shown a pair of men who are all too similar,
"I do want as many people to see it as possible," Burstein said, "and I'm not approaching it with as much of a political agenda as more of an anthropological one. And I want to entertain people, I want to move them in the same way a fiction film would."That quote is from American Teen director Nanette Burnstein in a July 23 interview with the L.A. Times. It's funny that she says that, because that
TERRY GILLIAM'S ''Brazil,'' a jaunty, wittily observed vision of an extremely bleak future, is a superb example of the power of comedy to underscore serious ideas, even solemn ones. ''Brazil,'' which was not scheduled for 1985 release until the Los Angeles Film Critics Association voted it best film of the year, was slated, as of yesterday, to open on Dec. 25 for one week in order to qualify for
Just what is Swing Vote? Is it a satire on the election process and depths that presidential candidates will plunge to in order to win? Is it a character study of a New Mexican loser? Or it it a Capra-esque sap fest about the importance of the little man, giving us all an "I'm important, too!" ego boost?As you might expect, it's kind of all of those things, bouncing merrily from one to the next, b
This film is ridiculously good. You need to know this before you read any further. You also need to know that this review is going to contain spoilers. Director Christopher Nolan takes the basics he assembled in 2005’s Batman Begins and screws with them until they bleed. He takes Frank Miller’s and Jeph Loeb’s examination [...]
I'd like to pay someone, somewhere to conduct an experiment for me. I want to take the audience that I saw Step Brothers with, each and every one of them, and plop them into a theater to watch, say, the Arrested Development movie with me (if and when it comes out). The point of this experiment would be to see if they and I really have that much of a different sense of humor, or if they are just
[Note: The Conversation is the LAMB's Movie of the Month. Head on over there to read a number of other takes on the film from literally millions of other bloggers. Maybe even billions. It might take you awhile to read them all, but it's clearly worth your time.]Gene Hackman is said to have more or less reprised his role of Harry Caul, the paranoid "surveillance technician" from The Conversation
Part Gladiator, part 300 and part World History course, Mongol is a slow-moving yet interesting and educational drama about the youth and legacy of Genghis Khan. Telling a 900-year old story with little documented facts to go by, director Sergei Bodrov has constructed a taut, beautiful and sometimes brutal film that more than deserved its place among the Foreign Language Film nomination at the 20
Most films like Hancock - blockbuster actioners - generally take somewhere in the neighborhood of nine months-one year to complete: three months of pre-production, three months of filming, and three months of post-production/effects work. Hancock technically is no different; filming started in July 2007, and there were re-shoots that too the production through May 2008 (thanks, Wiki). Why then, do
A case of style over substance? Perhaps. But more likely, it's a case of style is substance, for it's impossible to separate the two in "Diva," the delirious, highly enjoyable thriller, which represents Jean-Jacques Beineix's impressive directorial debut. This 1981 work is credited with the renaissance of foreign language films—particularly French--in the early 1980s. But "Diva" holds up extreme
People who have no interest in graphic novels often think the people who love them are nuts, and vice versa. But every once in a while, there's a book -- or a set of books -- potent enough to close the gap between the people who read "comics" and the people who don't. Marjane Satrapi's graphic memoirs, "Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood" and "Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return" -- released, re
Where so many before have gone wrong, Hellboy II gets it right. Then again, it borrows quite a bit from some of the great ones that came before, so...more on that later.Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army is that rarest of beasts: the sequel that bests its predecessor. By no means does that mean that the original was bad, but is a testament to all the places where II goes right.Not
Note: for this review, I'm going to channel my allergies into the ability to type coherent sentences. It's a power that my father had, and now I have it. I will use it to rid the world of typos and misspellings. With great power comes great responsibility.Note two: I realize that note one won't make a lick of sense if you haven't seen Wanted. Sorry about that. I've still honing my powers as we spe
Derivative, repetitive, and mostly boring, Wall*E has to be considered the most overhyped, overrated piece of garbage (pun intended) of the new millennium. Tugging at your heartstrings with Louis Armstrong, Hello, Dolly and shades of R2-D2 is no way to make a modern masterpiece, much less one swathed in eco-morals and romance between inanimate objects.Ah, who am I kidding? (You, hopefully.) Wall*E
Adam over at Counting Down the Hours recently learned that a review of his had been blurbed recently for an Australian newspaper. Despite the fact that he has in-roads to this based on some of the places he submits his reviews, this makes me jealous. So, in the hopes of getting myself noticed by Warner Brothers (Get Smart's distributor), I hereby present some potential blurbs I've specially
(Note: spoilers abound. Enter at your own risk.)
Why......?
...is it that every time Bruce attempts to contact Mr. Blue, Mr. Blue is right there on the computer, ready and willing to type 200 wpm, save for the one time that Bruce and Betty require him not to be at his computer (when they visit him and oh-so-coincidentally meet him outside)?
...does Betty plead for Banner/Hulk to stop choking
The Fall has an interesting lineage. It was adapted from a 1981 Bulgarian film titled Yo Ho Ho by a trio of screenwriters - Tarsem (who also directed) from India, Nico Soultanakis (whom I can only assume is from Greece), and American Dan Gilroy. Gilroy's twin brother John is a film editor and his older brother Tony is the writer/director of Michael Clayton. The film stars American Lee Pace (TV's P
An unconventional movie gets an unconventional review. Today, let's play a round of "It's funny that..." or "It's not funny that..." No, I haven't done this before, and yes, you'll get it quickly.It's funny that...coming off two SNL-flavored posts this week, I should happen to go see Zohan Thursday night.It's not funny that...the movie relies on a few of the same running gags for nearly all of its
It's Sunday night. Outside of The Fall, for which I have yet to write a review, Mrs. Fletch and I hadn't been to the theater much lately at all, both of us unimpressed by the output at the theaters in recent weeks. But we love going (and we love that Harkins popcorn), so I browse through the paper, scouring the ads to see what's playing and when. Unfortunately, we had no interest in seeing the lat
Film: 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'; Cast: Harrison Ford, Ray Winstone, Cate Blanchett, Shia Lebouff, Karen Allen; Director: Steven Spielberg; Ratings: ***
Just yesterday, prior to seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I had a discussion with Anil Usumezbas of The Long Take regarding Spider-Man 3. Having just recently watched the final installment of that trilogy, he was a bit bewildered by the "hypocrisy surrounding the critics and fan circles regarding where they place [the] last chapter," going on to say that "isn’t it the s
Film: 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'; Cast: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Mosley, Anna Popplewell, Ben Barnes; Director: Andrew Adamson; Rating: ***
Thomas McCarthy is a busy man. Having worked his way up the acting ranks, from a bit part in Conspiracy Theory to a regular role on Boston Public all the way to supporting turns in such high-class fare as Syriana and Flags of our Fathers, he took his time in becoming a writer/director, but showed considerable promise with the 2003 indie hit The Station Agent.He returns this years with what's setting up to be another indie hit in The Visitor. Clearly showing his past as an actor, The Visitor is an excellent character piece (but misses excellence overall) starring veteran character actor Richard Jenkins (spotlighted recently in this space).Jenkins plays Walter Vale, a lonely widower (is there any other kind onscreen?) teaching at a cushy Connecticut university. The thing is, Walter's not doi
With his hooded eyes, long chin, and glum expression that's like a craggier Humphrey Bogart, Salomon Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) is an unlikely film hero. By Felicia Feaster.
“Shadows in the Palace” is a terrific fast paced conspiratorial page turner that refuses to take a breath. Occurring in the period of the Joseon Dynasty, this palace potboiler is full of enough twists, turns and red herrings to keep most viewers off balance and perplexed. What makes it especially fascinating is the feminist milieu in which the plot unfolds – a secret world behind the gates of the royal palace in which ambitious women grasp desperately for power and for survival and murder is only one of many options available to them. In fact, nearly the entire cast is female with only a few small roles for the opposite sex. The director is female as well, but her debut entry is not a delicate tale of polite manners and subtle intrigue – it is historical pulp with mangled bodies pi
When you're watching a movie and can't place where you've seen an actor from, is there anything more satisfying than hopping on the computer when you get home and getting the answer? I had another such moment this weekend while/after watching the Audrey Tautou-starring Priceless. Tautou stars as Anna Nicole Smith. Well, not really, but she might as well have been, playing the biggest gold digger this side of the deceased Texas belle (minus the psychological and pharmaceutical issues). Amongst the many men she seduces is an older, balding gentleman with a very prominent nose. I knew I had seen this guy before, but where?So I'm searching his filmography...sure, he's been in a lot of American films, some that I might have even seen, but nothing was clicking. Through the 00s...heading back thr
Smart People is a piece of cinema seemingly crafted by obtuse individuals. Despite featuring a strong screenplay by greenhorn writer Mark Poirier, the leadership by fellow neophyte director Noam Murro lacks imagination.Dennis Quaid stars as boorish Victorian English professor at Carnegie-Mellon University. We know he is an insolent soul because he parks his Euro sedan (a Snaab, if I recall) in two spaces. Apparently, his spouse expired some inordinate length of time ago, and he sees this as an opportunity to be cantankerous for his remaining days. Around the time of our introduction, his lazybones con man of an hermano (adopted, by the way) enters the picture, in need of some duckets and perhaps a domicile. Already cohabiting with Quaid's Lawrence Wetherhold is his conformist conservative
You know that post I made a months weeks back where I preemptively declared that "Ellen Page sucks," just so that I'd be ahead of the curve? Let's put it this way - if I put up another that said "Judd Apatow sucks," I'd be about six months behind the pack.It's funny how overexposure can turn the brightest success stories into major annoyances for some. I'll admit - the usage of the phrase "brought to you by the guys from..." isn't the best way to market a movie, but it's used probably because it works pretty well. Unfortunately, it sets up this scenario where every work is compared to the work that was previously "brought to us" by the same makers.So, blogs and message boards and SOCIETY IN GENERAL are currently crammed with opinions ranging from "Forgetting Sarah Marshall is worse than
At one point during Street Kings, the character played by Keanu Reeves tells his girlfriend to get away from him, as "everything [he] touches dies." If only Reeves has read that line in the script and heeded the warning.Reeves plays Tom Ludlow, a Vice detective in L.A., the setting and occupation of almost all of director David Ayer's works. Ludlow is a miserable man, trudging through the grind of nabbing villains while his personal angst (and alcoholism) grows, as he's a widower who kind of hates his job. If only he weren't so good at it! Ludlow's boss, Captain Jack Wander (Forrest Whitaker), dotes on his star detective, especially after the strong opening sequence that features Ludlow deep undercover battling some baddies. But when it's revealed that Ludlow might not be completely t
I mean no pun intended when I say that Run Fatboy Run starts you off on the wrong foot. You see, when you have a schlub that ditches anyone (much less Thandie Newton) at the altar, it's hard to feel for them later. Granted, the film is about nothing if not redemption and forgiveness, but perhaps a little "get to know ya" before showing the character metaphorically kicking a dog isn't the best way to gain an audience's trust.That, however, is probably the least of Fatboy's problems.Considering the writers behind it, Fatboy should have been a smartly written comedy. Star/writer Simon Pegg and co-writer Michael Ian Black have nothing if not a great track record, including Black's Stella and The State, and Pegg's Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. However, one can't help but think that a sitcom v
Chances are good that you're not looking for any more Iraq War-themed films, but if you were to look for one that pretty adequately sums up my feelings on the conflict, while still not being a great film, this might be the one.Unlike In the Valley of Elah, which had a firm, unmissable message, Stop-Loss is a bit all over the place. It knows one thing for sure - being stop-lossed sucks - but can't seem to make up its mind (or really even come to any conclusions) in regards to the hows, whys, and shoulds of the ongoing conflict.Ryan Phillippe plays Brandon King, a soldier that, soon after being engaged in a deadly conflict that he led, is sent home to Texas, as his duty is complete. But of course we know that that isn't the case, as he will be called back by Uncle Sam in an effort to keep
Unlike most animated tales in which the story leads up to a big fuzzy moral at the end, Horton Hears a Who is all morals, with a story that kind of dances around it. The beauty in this one, though, is that what those life lessons are - what the kids and/or adults are meant to glean from it - is left somewhat open to interpretation.When the titular elephant finds that he is the only one that can hear a community of Whos on "a speck," the reaction from those around him ranges from disbelief to dismay to dissatisfaction to destruction. But what is it, really, that Horton (and Dr. Seuss) is eager to protect, and what is it that the "evil" kangaroo is so eager to be rid of? Is it religion? Unborn babies? Little people? Well, that's up to you.Either way, the film provides a fun ride, and expands
This is the first of two reviews that I'm posting more of less just for posterity's sake. This first one I've been procrastinating for months now, and the second I feel I would procrastinate for months, so I'll just get that out of the way and put something up shortly for it. These will be very small, and it'd probably be best if we all pretend they just didn't happen (kinda like Verne Troyer).Joe Wright's Atonement starts with a frenzy of sound; the tapping of a typewriter, mirroring the actions of one Briony Tallis, who has resorted to play writing in an effort to escape the doldrums of living in a giant manse with nothing to do but play with her bizarre cousins. She has the mind of a dreamer and is just smart enough to get herself and those she knows in trouble, particularly when sh
Now, the usual gig here would entail my coming up with some clever tie-in, followed by a straight review of the film at hand. However, I hardly think that's necessary, given the film. In case you're sleeping under a rock (in which case you're probably not sleeping too well), Drillbit Taylor has been (rightfully) compared, by just about everyone, to producer Judd Apatow's production from roughly six months ago, namely Superbad. The only differences are that, aside from having the titular "bodyguard" Taylor (played by known tough guy Owen Wilson), the three high schoolers this go around are a few years younger, and the movie is not as funny (to how much of a degree depends on who you talk to). At this rate, not only is overexposure a potential upcoming hazard, but apparently, with his casts
A couple of capsulized reviews to get me caught up...PenelopePenelope is the Tim Burton movie that he never made. Not only is the plot vintage Burton (cursed family gives birth to girl with the snout and ears of a pig), but it co-stars Beetlejuice vet Catherine O'Hara and Sleepy Hollow vet Christina Ricci (rounding out the cast are James McAvoy, Richard Grant, Peter Dinklage, and a bit-parted Reese Witherspoon).Despite the do-gooder fairy tale moralizing (love yourself and others for who they are, kids), the film has its charms and laughs, and McAvoy and Ricci even show some solid chemistry together. The sets, costuming and art direction are vibrant and eye-catching, from Penelope's out-there wardrobe to the imagined metropolis they live in, a mashup of New York, old London and an amusem
Two London-based hitmen head out to do a job. Something goes awry. Their penance? Spend two weeks in Bruges (Belgium), lay low, and await further instruction. Sounds simple enough, right?Not so fast. As it turns out, Ray (Colin Farrell) is not too fond of quaint, sleepy towns lacking in an adequate nightlife (or day life, one could suppose). So there's one problem. Meanwhile, his partner Ken (Brendan Gleeson) is quite taken with the Belgian hamlet famous for its historic, medieval city center, complete with an impressive bell tower and the Church of the Holy Blood, which is said to have a vial of blood from none other than Jesus himself. And while their tastes for tourist activities may differ, that pales in comparison to the wants and needs of their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes), who just in
I have blinders on, but I'm okay with that.See, despite its faults, I can't help but love Be Kind Rewind, the fifth film from Michel Gondry. Though it lacks the impact of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or the dreaminess and worldliness of The Science of Sleep, Rewind more than makes up for it with innovation, creativity and heart bursting from its dilapidated sleeves. I know, I sound kind of like a Hallmark card. I admit it - there's something about the 45-year old Frenchmen that is infallible to me.The movie starts off slow - Mike (Mos Def) and Jerry (Jack Black) are New Jersey ne'er do wells living in a dying city just outside of Manhattan. Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) runs the local video store, and by video, I mean VHS. It's a run-down store on a run-down block in a run-down
Rashomon. There - it's been said, and I can move on.Anyway, Vantage Point takes a not-so-novel concept - telling a story from several points of view - and really doesn't do much with it. The plot centers on an anti-terrorism summit taking place in Spain, where the U.S. President ("Ashton") is set to speak. On the scene are hundreds of Spaniards, scads of media, the Secret Service, tourists, and of course...terrorists. It's no spoiler to tell you that the President (William Hurt) gets shot, and almost even less of a spoiler to tell you that it's really not the President (POTUS) that gets shot, but his body double.Letting that detail out in the trailer for the film was just the first of many mistakes made by the studio/producers, seeing as how it's one of two big twists in store for the
Rescue Dawn. Superbad. Supertroopers. God forbid - even Fletch?What do these films have in common, you ask? Well, by virtue of having their stars or co-stars (Steve Zahn, Jonah Hill, Kevin Heffernan and Joe Don Baker, respectively) appearing in Strange Wildnerness, they all feel somewhat tainted to me now (lucky for Ernie Borgnine, The Single Guy was never good to begin with). I can confidently say that Strange Wilderness will be the worst movie I will see this year. I can only hope that you don't make the same mistake, or have already (Wayward Jam from Reel Whore already has, but his take is gentler than mine).The truth is, the films of those that appear in Wilderness (this being a Happy Madison production, Adam Sandler vets Allen Covert and Peter Dante join the ride, as does Justin
There's a book-to-film adaptation out in theaters right now that has some people up in arms. It takes place in a world like ours, but not quite. It has an ending that's is alternately seen as confusing and frustrating. It features an animal in one of the main roles.But I reviewed The Golden Compass a few days ago. (Like you didn't see that one coming.)The truth is, there doesn't seem to be nearly as many people upset about the adaptation of I Am Legend as there are about Compass. This could be because either not many people have read the book or because those that have barely remember it (it was first published in 1954). However, I think this is more due to the fact that the movie has almost nothing in common with the book. As I read and have seen, this movie shares its lineage more with Cast Away and 28 Days Later... than it does with the story of a man who hunted vampire-like beings in mid-70s Los Angeles.Not that that should matter much, except maybe to the book's author
Stealing a page from the brilliantly simplistic Review in Haiku, I present to you my Golden Compass review in 17 syllables. RIH is so detailed with it's commitment to simplicity that I am awed. There are but five grades (Awesome, Good, Okay, Bad and Awful) given. The post tags don't exceed two - the year (or decade for pre-2000 films) and the grade. The "reviews" are the obvious 17 syllables, a picture and a grade. That's it, every time. Gimmicky? Sure. But it's awesome, and I only wish I had thought of it first. Anyway, here's The Golden Compass:"Where is double O?No religion ruckus herePolar bear fight rocks."Fletch's Film Rating:"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
(Ed. note: Procrastination tends to build on itself, and that is surely the case here, as I've been sitting on this review for some time now. Fact of the matter is, I don't have a lot of thoughts regarding American Gangster, so take from that what you will.)American Gangster is a good movie. No more, no less, really. Though it has little to do with the film itself, I was bothered by the fact that Russell Crowe and Denzel Wasginhton spend less time onscreen together than DeNiro and Pacino did in Heat - a faux pas that can be blamed on either the media or the marketers. The lack of shared screen time doesn't hurt the film terribly, but it certainly hurts its appeal, as what we instead get is a game of cat-and-mouse, with the bulk of the storytelling focusing on the mouse (Washington), Frank Lucas.Lucas is an interesting choice for a movie character. Though the title and some of the press would have you believe this to be a Scarface-like characterization for the ages, it's really the
You might not know this, but I was named after Bob Dylan (see my Blogger profile). As such, it should come as little surprise that I'm a fan of the man's work, though I wouldn't classify myself as a fanatic. That said, imagine my surprise when my parents (whom Mrs. Fletch and I attended the film with on Thanksgiving) understood less of this highly artsy, ambitious, ambiguous film than I did. In case you haven't heard, this is probably one of the strangest "bio-pics" ever made, in that it's entirely about its subject while simultaneously not even mentioning his name or featuring a character by the name of Bob Dylan. Instead, 6 actors portray a "role" that Dylan "played" at one point or another in his life (just like I'm currently playing "quotes" guy).All well and good, and possibly even comprehensible, if that were taken on its own. Unfortunately, that's not the case, as director Todd Haynes complicates matters by jumbling the six (or more?) narratives around each other, leaving
The reviews are inescapable, and they are overwhelmingly positive. You get it...you've been beaten over the head with it: No Country for Old Men is superfantabulexcellenterrific. Well, yes and no. No Country certainly stands as one of the high points of the Coen brothers career, which certainly says something considering their resume (I'd rank it third probably, after Lebowski and Fargo). That said, it has a giant elephant-in-the-room sized issue that it seems not enough people have a problem with. The way I see it, there are three types of people with three different interpretations of the last act of No Country. The first group is "people who have read the book." I assume this group is small. They most likely "get" what happens. The second group is people like me (and the three people I saw the film with). We openly criticized the finale, questioning a number of the choices made, not to mention trying to interpret certain things. We could be classified as "morons who want ev
Aaja Nachle came, saw and tanked! The movie has been panned by the critics and given thumbs down by the audience. Considering this was Madhuri Dixit’s comeback film, the film failed to meet the audience expectations and the only saving grace was MD. Here is a review from TOI who shred the film apart. As for Madhuri, she still got, not that we doubted that for a second.Review:THE dhak-dhak diva returns, alas, minus the dhak-dhak . Surely, this was hardly a comeback vehicle for Bollywood's biggest female star, who once posed a challenge at the hustings to all the male superstars. Maybe, Madhuri thought this was `decent' enough, befitting her new status as suburban wife and mother. But for the viewers, it's an ekdum thanda reprisal of her screen career, minus all passion, romance and the adrenalin-thump that was almost always associated with her. Think Dil , Beta&n
I managed to escape having to read Beowulf in high school, but that won't stop me from learning my literature the American way - on the big screen!It's hard to really praise or denounce the film too much. On one hand, it's a smorgasbord of cinematic magic that gets taken for granted these days - I start to feel old when I think that the sights featured in the film are pretty much commonplace for the kiddies out there in the audience. Despite its flaws (more on those later), the movie is pretty breathtaking to see when you disengage yourself from the story or the fact that a naked facsimile of Angelina Jolie is staring you in the face - the level of detail given, especially for closeups and/or frames without much movement, are photo-realistic. Meaning if you were looking at a still, you'd barely be able to tell that this was created by computers. As fancy as many of the special effects you see in films these days are, to this day, there aren't many that would pass that test.On the
I caught a 2006 documentary titled Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop recently on Sundance and thought I'd share a brief synopsis and review here on the chance that others might find it as interesting as I did. Briefly, the film explores the impact of big-box retailers, focusing on Wal-Mart, Borders, and Starbucks, on the character of American communities, documenting a growing discontent Americans are experiencing with the impact of such corporations. Two journalists, Hanson Hosein and Heather Hughes, load up their Nissan Xterra with film equipment and their dog to travel across America. Beginning in Port Townsend, WA, they traverse America with two rules in mind. First, they will attempt to support only independent motels, restaurants, and stores. Second, they will try to stay on back roads, avoiding the newer freeways.Many of the communities they visit will be familiar, even if you have never visited those portions of America. They show how many towns invite
I’m sure it’s an unfair comparison, and it may seem blasphemous to some, but I liked Gone Baby Gone more than Mystic River. Maybe it’s a factor of being able to relate more to Casey Affleck than to Sean Penn; or maybe it’s because the Shakespearean melodrama at the end of River was not only a huge turnoff, but the lasting image the film has for me; or maybe it’s just because I think Tim Robbins’ performance was more laughable than laudable (and I’m normally a big fan). What can I say – I’m the same guy that’ll take Casino over GoodFellas any day of the week.I say it’s an unfair comparison because they really are two separate entities, and are directed by two different people at that, but it’s a pretty inescapable one as well. As a reader commented, Dennis Lehan’s novels are not all templates of one another, but these two (at least) do share some commonalities, not only in terms of story (female goes missing form the rough streets of south Boston) but in terms
About a month ago, I was contacted by an independent filmmaker based out of Toronto. His name is Brett Butler (sadly, not the former L.A. Dodger, and gladly, not the annoying-voiced comedienne) and his latest film is the one in the title above. He and his brother Jason have their own production company (http://www.subprod.com/) up there where they've made a few films, all on low budgets.Brett and the gang have been taking Confusions on the festival circuit and have won and/or been nominated for a few awards ("the Audience Choice Award for Best Film at the Indiana University South Bend Video and Film Festival, as well as being nominated for Best Film at the Swansea Bay Film Festival in Wales, and Best Comedy at the Southern Winds Film Festival in Oklahoma). As part of this publicity, I assume they're contacting a number of movie bloggers in an attempt to get some more press. Well, I took him up on the offer and received a screener DVD a few weeks back, finally getting to watch it a co
Spending the weekend out of town and coming back to the grind with a 3 day backup of work can really wreak havoc on the whole blogging schedule. (For the record, I went to Puerto Penasco aka Rocky Point to hang out, drink beer, drink tequila, watch the Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers concert, enjoy yet another sandstorm and sit at the border for close to four and a half hours. At least the sandstorm didn't hit until the day we left.)Anyway, I'm back and am two reviews behind schedule, the first of which, as you can tell from the title of this post, is Michael Clayton. Due to the whole "lots of work, not a lot of time" scenario, I'll attempt to keep them short and sweet, but somehow I know they'll end up being the same length as any other review I've done, thanks in no small part to rambling, incoherent prefaces such as this. On to the review...I read this line in another review of Michael Clayton, but it's good enough that it warrants my blatant stealing and reprinting here (I be
I wouldn't blame you for not recognizing the face to your left, notwithstanding the title of this post. Tommy Lee Jones wasn't particularly famous in his youth, making his way through guest spots on TV shows all through the 70s (Barnaby Jones, Baretta, Charlie's Angels) until a breakout performance in Coal Miner's Daughter put him on the map (I'm guessing; after all, I was only 4 years old at the time). Still, it was TV work through the 80s as well, though his performance in the epic (and star-studded) Lonesome Dove mini-series in 1989 made him a burgeoning star.Since then, Jones has been a fixture on movie screens, alternating between star turns (The Fugitive, Men in Black) and guest roles (Batman Forever, Natural Born Killers) in a wide variety of genres, playing an even wider array of types. Over the last 15 years, he's garnered a reputation as a modern-day version of an old school Western hero - tough as nails, a man of few words and strong actions. His dry, laconic way of sp
Every once in a while, I'll see a great film that leaves me more or less speechless. This isn't some gasp over how great it is or due to shock or anything, but for whatever reason, it just doesn't leave me overflowing with criticism (in the general sense). This may be a lacking on my part to be able to successfully apply critical thinking to all mediums and articles, or perhaps it's a flaw in the film that it just doesn't give you much material in terms of theme or tone. Or maybe it's just because sometimes I'm content admiring the quiet beauty that comes with watching Patrick Swayze perform martial artsy yoga in Roadhouse.Eastern Promises is one of these films that leaves me lacking a response. To be sure, it's very good, if not great. It demonstrates the power of loyalty, brotherhood, family, motherhood and a myriad of other topics that have been covered by many a mob picture before it. The fresh part this time, as simple as it is, is that it centers on a Russian family that
Went to the cinema the other night to finally see the Bourne Ultimatum, an excellent film. Whilst I was waiting for the film to come on there was a trailer for the latest Tom Cruise turd, "Lions for Lambs" - can you see which direction this is going?
LIONS FOR LAMBS OPENS NOVEMBER 9th, LIONS FOR LAMBS MOVIE FILM REVIEW
I think that the last thing the world needs at the moment is anymore American
