Each summer, studios drop a late-season, B-grade thriller into theaters in hopes of seeing it make a run at a dark horse weekend. 2005: Into the Blue and Red Eye. Last year: Death Race and Mirrors. Two of those four qualify for a the Showcase of Shame and both, incidentally, were not released in 2008. But so much for old memories. It’s summer 2009 and this year we’ve got A Perfect Getaway. Written and directed by the very capable craftsman …
Category: Reviews
With all the flaccid outrage (read: Why didn’t I get invited?) by critics over Paramount’s decision to screen G.I. Joe to only a handful of audiences and critics (including CHUD’s spot-on review by Devin Faraci) and KSL’s Doug Wright mistakenly reporting director Stephen Sommers quit the project (he didn’t- nor was he ever fired), a huge question remains: “OK, but is it any good?” The short answer: Yes. Remember Stephen Sommers pre-Van Helsing? He’s back with a GI Joe that’s …
As a 35 year-old man, my anticipation for the new comedy Funny People was tantamount to the exuberance I felt during my youth for The Empire Strikes Back or Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom – you know, back when I was sporting Underroos and playing with G.I. Joe and He-Man toys. I suppose my excitement for an “adult” movie is part of growing up (although I still get giddy for a juicy, brainless summer popcorn release) , but …
“The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman… Bitch.” With that, a certain contender for one of the year’s best films (so far) disconnects from the patently absurd formula of contemporary romantic comedies and plugs itself into a relevant reality. As the tag line suggests –in one of the best cases of honesty in advertising film has ever seen– (500) Days of Summer is not a love …
The Harry Potter films thrive amidst a select group of Teflon franchises– films that no matter their quality, earn huge openings and– regardless of any universal love– longtail their way to a tidy sum. And while the Potter films have never been terrible, their page to celluloid translations have always trended toward book-loyalty to a plodding fault. Eight years and five films later, Harry Potter’s cinematic legacy has finally birthed an entry that transcends its dedicated followers to deliver a …
Hoooo boy! It would seem the Transformers sequel, what seemed to be a surefire summer blockbuster, is now headed full steam ahead for ignominy and a Golden Raspberry award. As of this writing and today’s release, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” stands at 22% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.com. And the reviews are brutal. Here’s a sample of what some notable critics are saying about Michael Bay’s Autobots vs. Decepticons movie. A great grinding garbage disposal of a movie, “Transformers: Revenge …
I won’t lie. It’s hard for me to give “The Proposal,” the new romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, a bad review. In fact, it’s not even hard – it’s impossible. We’re not talking Oscars here, by any means, but I think thus far the movie is getting a raw deal from some cantankerous critics. As of this writing, the movie sits at 53% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.com, but I think anyone giving a bad review is a …
There used to be a time when sci-fi films delivered more than laser-fueled swashbuckling, aliens and space ships leaping into the stars blow stuff up. When sci-fi functioned in antiseptically spartan environments and focused less on action and more on ideas and man’s place in a scientifically accelerated world. Duncan Jones’ Moon is a tight look back at those films or better yet, a heavily influenced and transportational return to form. Set somewhere in the near but indeterminate future, life …