Due Date, starring Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 2) and Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), is essentially a modern retelling of the 1987 John Hughes classic, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. In that hilarious odd couple comedy, Steve Martin was a road weary salesman struggling to get home for Thanksgiving and, at the same time, trying to rid himself of a well-meaning but lecherous misfit, played by John Candy. The movie is memorable for the “where are your hands” motel scene, as …
Tag: Movie Review
I oftentimes find myself grossly swindled by movie trailers, but in the case of Clint Eastwood’s new “supernatural” thriller, Hereafter, the plodding, head-scratching trailer matched the contents of Dirty Harry’s movie to the letter. I read a review this morning opining that only Clint Eastwood could have directed such a lovely movie about life-after-death, but I wholeheartedly disagree on both points: This isn’t a movie about life-after-death (more on that later), and Clint Eastwood absolutely couldn’t be the only director …
The American is a masterful, intelligent movie built on the trust that director Anton Corbijn has in the audience’s brainpower. This well-placed faith allows us to peacefully enjoy the somber pacing and quiet details of The American, a far cry from most movies that force-feed viewers plot and character. In fact, watching The American is like reading literary fiction, particularly the kind that transports and leaves you feeling breathless. The portrait Corbijn paints is so vivid we can feel the …
From Old School to Elf to Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and even Land of the Lost (I think I might be one of a handful who actually enjoyed this movie), Will Ferrell has proven to be one of the funniest actors of the last decade. Mark Walhberg is in the same boat talent-wise. He’s no Oscar winner (literally), but he’s capable and solid, especially in The Departed, Three Kings and Boogie Nights. You’d think with these two …
By ANDY MORGAN Making fun of Twilight fans and bemoaning Stephanie Meyer’s novels and the subsequent movies is almost as easy as drumming up sarcastic jabs about Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton or Miley Cyrus. There’s no effort required. It’s easy. And it’s also out of control. It’s almost as popular to dump on the vampire-werewolf franchise as it is all the rage to scoop up Team Jacob or Team Edward paraphernalia at Hot Topic. Every time I see a teen …
Every autumn for the last four years, Dan and I, along with our pal Nick, head up to Garden City, Utah – home of Utah’s Bear Lake – and spend a weekend inhaling everything and anything bad for your body, including Doritos, cinnamon rolls, bacon, M&Ms, Swedish fish, soda, Oreos, Nutter Butters, hamburgers, fries, pizza and anything else in sight that’s chocked full of sugar. This three day culinary orgy is affectionately called “Mankend” and is punctuated by an afternoon …
It would be easy to dismiss all the boobies, drugs, drinking, swearing, puking and other dirty deeds in Get Him to the Greek as “been there done that,” especially considering the director, Nicholas Stoller, was the man behind Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the movie that inspired this current spin-off sequel. And of course we can’t forget the Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40 Year-Old Virgin) connection, as he serves as producer on both comedies. But what makes Get Him to the …
Shrek and Shrek 2 can easily be referred to as animated classics and have, like nearly every feature film in the Pixar canon, set the standard for tone and design in computer-animated movies for the last decade. Using irreverence as fuel – almost making concerted efforts to be the anti-Disney, and buoyed by an eclectic list of effective voice talent, the first two Shrek films were able to appeal to adults and kids with its fairytale mix of sweet and …
I had this big introductory paragraph parsed out about how difficult it is to make sequels that don’t suck in Hollywood and how it’s even harder to push out a comic book sequel considering the rabid throng of fans frothing in the background, waiting to pounce if their beloved story isn’t up to par with their expectations. I imagine this type of stress might cause the bookkeepers in Tinsletown to drink Mylanta like an ice-cold pitcher of summertime Kool-Aid and …