Archive for December, 2008
The bumpy path from book to film
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Last night, I received an agitated email from a friend who was gravely disappointed by “Revolutionary Road,” a movie my friend had just seen at a preview. The movie — already open in New York and Los Angeles — begins its Denver run Friday.
A fan of the Richard [...]
Studios in a fight mean movie success for 2009
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Michael Vass
There are dozens of ways to tell what a studio thinks of a film. In almost every case the most blatant actions of a studio tend to mean absolute confidence that a movie will bomb.
There are the cases were the director refuses to put their name on the [...]
The New Year Movie Resolution Meme
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by DVD Panache Blog
I think it’s fair to say that I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately as far as new posts go. The holiday season can bring strange occurrences, such as a baby shoving a slice of birthday cake bigger than his head into his mouth. And [...]
Ten of 2008’s best movies — maybe
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Just about everyone needs a year-end, 10-best list, although I’m hard-pressed to say why. The temptation, of course, is to review the year, say a few grandiose things about the state of … well … things. “Movies never have been worse.” “They’re not as bad as you might [...]
Reading the German past
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
No one’s likely to accuse director Stephen Daldry (”The Hours”) of taking the easy way out. Daldry seems to favor big-screen adaptations of film-resistant books. In 2002, he tackled “The Hours,” Michael Cunningham’s complex 1998 novel that centered on three lives connected by Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway.” This [...]
Cleaning up Dirty Harry
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
I admit it. I don’t get it. The praise — immoderate and enthusiastic — that has been heaped on Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” has me scratching my head.
Because Eastwood both stars in and directed “Gran Torino,” the movie has been hailed as a kind of valedictory for the [...]
“Button” up for a long, sad ride
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
At the beginning of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a man invents a clock that runs backward. He installs this regressive timepiece in a prominent spot at the local train station. His intention is silly but oddly noble. If time moves backward perhaps we can recover the [...]
Seven reasons to forget “Seven Pounds”
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Northwest Harley Blog
Yeah, I’ve seen “Seven Pounds,” the new movie that reunites Will Smith with Gabriele Muccino, who directed him in 2007’s “Pursuit of Happyness.” This time, Smith — joined by Rosario Dawson – brings an inspirational weepy to the multiplex — and, no, it’s not much good. Smith [...]
‘Teen Wolf’ fans come in all shapes and sizes
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by DVD Panache Blog
I nearly spit out my wassail when I saw “inspired by the movie Teen Wolf” at the tail end of an NFL newsbit on ESPN’s bottom line. What in the world could anything in today’s NFL have to do with the innocent hijinks of Teen Wolf? The [...]
There’s room for “Doubt”
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
I grew up with lots of kids who attended Catholic schools. Sometimes, we’d play basketball in the playground that adjoined the Epiphany Church school, where my pals learned the four Rs — reading, writing, arithmetic and, of course, religion. I’d occasionally see nuns scurrying off after the final [...]
The movies of 2009 - part 2
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Michael Vass
Continued from part 1…
But lest you believe every movie in 2009 will only be a sequel, video game, or comic book here are some of the better, and worse, things to look forward to. Some of these I have discussed in more detail previously.
2012 Doomsday
The world will end. [...]
The movies of 2009
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Michael Vass
With 2008 quickly coming to an end it’s time to look forward to 2009 and the films we can expect to see. So far several of the biggest movies look to be no better than the fare presented to us in 2008. Hollywood seems to have forgone entertainment [...]
Shaking hands with the devil
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
When Richard M. Nixon shows up for a taping of his famed interviews with British TV personality David Frost — in the new movie “Frost/Nixon” — James Restin Jr., a young academic and researcher who regarded Nixon as the embodiment of anti-democratic evil, is asked whether he’s going [...]
The Earth may be doomed — again
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
With the end-of-the-year mired in pre-Oscar seriousness, I found myself looking forward to “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” a remake of Robert Wise’ s 1951 sci-fi classic. I should have known better. Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly are a long way from Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal, [...]
25 pretty maids, all in a (vertical) row
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by DVD Panache Blog
Thanks to the egostatic Bill R. for tagging me with the latest meme, listing your 25 favorite actresses (as started by Nathaniel R.). I wasn’t sure if I could come up with 25, but after reading through the fun lists from Jonathan Lapper, Jeremy Richey, Kimberly Lindbergs, [...]
Update on The Day The Earth Stood Still
Rating 4.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Michael Vass
Way back in August this year I mentioned my preview of The Day The Earth Stood Still. In that preview I had only one video clip of the film to judge the revisioning of the 1951 classic by. And I stated that it would be more of a [...]
She writes as she pleases
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
“The Reader,” an adaptation of a novel by Bernhard Schlink, opened Wednesday in Los Angeles and New York. New York Times critics Manohla Dargis panned the movie, which won’t be released in most of the country until later this month. Directed by Stephen Daldry (”The Hours”), the movie [...]
Let the fun begin! It’s time for awards
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
OK, it’s once again time for awards. The Broadcast Film Critics Association,* which boasts one of the most extensive lists of awards in the business, has just announced its 2008 nominees. I’m going to comment later, but wanted to post the entire list so that those who wish [...]
Everywhere I look, I see ‘Total Recall’
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by DVD Panache Blog
I’ve got a terrible condition: I see the world through a Total Recall filter. It affects my daily life. Whereas most people want to visit Hawaii or Europe on vacation, I want to go to Mars. Yes, I’m aware of the recent violent uprisings on Mars, and [...]
A Chess game with music
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
“Cadillac Records” chronicles the history of Chess Records, a Chicago-based label that introduced such artists as Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Willie Dixon, Etta James and Chuck Berry. “Cadillac Records” is less a big-screen biography of Chess Records, which reached in apex in the late ’50s and early ’60s, [...]
95 of the top 100 greatest movie characters
Rating 4.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Michael Vass
Oh the fight is on. It seems that British magazine Empire made a list of the top 100 movie characters ever. This of course could not go without dispute. and thus Yahoo had to throw in their 2 pennies with a list of the top 25.
And I think [...]
Movie Review: Transporter 3
Rating 3.50 out of 5
[?]Written by Michael Vass
$1.25 for gas
$20 for tickets to movie theater
2 hours of your life
“Are look upset?
But let me tell you why.” - From the Birdcage
That I think aptly describes the experience of going to see Transporter 3. That isn’t to say this was a bad film. It is to say [...]
Remember FAME
Rating 4.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Michael Vass
I wanna live forever, I want to learn how to fly.
If you know the next line in that song then you are a child of the 1980’s like myself. For those that have bad memories or are unfamiliar the next line is Fame! as sung by Irene Cara. [...]
