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« Previous EntriesMovie Review: The Expendables
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Black Entertainment USA
The most anticipated action film of 2010 has finally arrived. If you have not rushed out to see the film yet, you should. But be prepared, the film is not quite what you expect.
As is clear from the movie trailers, The Expendables is an ensemble film. The [...]
What costs $45 million and goes bang in the night?
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Black Entertainment USA
It’s a question that is as boggling as the answer. Super 8.
If you are unaware of what this all means, you are hardly alone. So far all that is clearly known is that Super 8 is the name of a film by J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg. [...]
Movie Preview: The Good The Bad The Weird
Rating 4.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Black Entertainment USA
So let’s admit it. When Asia gets ahold of American cinematic cultural icons they usually do a pretty good job of ripping it off. Often they come up with variants on the theme that are superior to many American films in the same exact genre. Credit goes [...]
Movie Preview: The Losers
Rating 4.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Black Entertainment USA
If there is one thing you know that Hollywood loves, it’s ripping off an idea. That’s where the A-Team movie came from. It’s why Armeggedon and Deep Impact went head to head. There is no end of the copycat and ripped-off ideas Hollywood is willing to flood [...]
Movie Preview: The Expendables
Rating 3.50 out of 5
[?]Written by Black Entertainment USA
Sometimes a movie is just what you expect it to be. With the Expendables the promise is action, explosions, and a few snappy lines. I see no reason for the film to fail to deliver on all 3.
This is an action movie first and foremost. It’s a [...]
Movie Preview: The Joneses
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Black Entertainment USA
Ok, I have to give it to whoever came up with this idea. Hollywood loves liberal values. They hate almost anything not ultra-green, liberal, or anti-patriotic. There are exceptions, but they are rare these days. There have been numerous films depicting all the above, and every one [...]
‘Green Zone’ peddles yesterday’s news
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Matt Damon searches for the truth in Green Zone.
Green Zone, which deals with the early stages of the war in Iraq, winds up firing more blanks than expected. The problem: The movie revolves around a discovery - there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — that’s [...]
‘Remember’ strains not to be forgotten
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Emilie de Ravin and Robert Pattinson talk things over.
What you think of Remember Me probably depends on whether you believe the movie’s emotional end justifies the mediocre means by which it got there. I’d vote no.
Teen-age girls who are enamored of Robert Pattinson, of Twilight-movie fame, may well [...]
A summary of my Oscar Tweets, Part 9
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
OK, the room’s clearing out. There’s no more wine. I have only one more thing to say, The Hurt Locker kicked butt — and all the right butts, at that. And that brings an end to a generally unsurprising evening and to the interminable awards season. See you [...]
A summary of my Oscar Tweets, Part 8
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
9:59 The Academy does the right thing, and gives the best picture Oscar to “The Hurt Locker.” 9:50 p.m. Kathryn Bigelow wins the Oscar for best director. It’s a great honor for her, but did we need Babs to remind us that the time had come for a [...]
A summary of my Oscar Tweets, Part 7
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
9:35 p.m. Good for Jeff Bridges. Everyone knew he’d win and you gotta love a guy who seems to enjoy winning. He calls acting a “groovy profession.” The Dude abides. 9:28 p.m. Having actors and actresses who starred with the best actor nominees introduce each one of them [...]
A summary of my Oscar Tweets, Part 6
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
9:06 p.m. The Hurt Locker wins best editing. It’s on its way to best picture. Maybe. And it’s not even in 3-D. 9:05 p.m. Tyler Perry appears on the Oscars and makes a joke about the fact that this could be a one-and-only gig for him. 9:03 p.m. [...]
A summary of my Oscar Tweets, Part 4
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
8:25 p.m. I know I’m in an older crowd because many of my companions on this endless journey keep asking who some of the younger presenters are. 8:20 p.m. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting bored with Oscar. Looks like George Clooney has had his fill, [...]
A summary of my Oscar Tweets, Part 3
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
7:55 p.m. Mo’Nique thanks the Academy for honoring her performance and not taking the political route. What would have been the political route, Maggie Gyllenhaal? Oh well, Mo’Nique was great, and she deserves her award. 7:50 p.m. Precious beats Up in the Air for best adapted screenplay, the [...]
A summary of my Oscar Tweets, Part 2
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
7:23 p.m. The salute to the late John Hughes is a nice touch. Hughes made teen movies that you didn’t have to be ashamed to watch. Someone mentions that this edition of Oscar seems more scripted than any other in recent history. 7:14 p.m. Mark Boal (The Hurt [...]
A summary of my Oscar Tweets, Part 1
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
6:46 p.m. Christoph Waltz wins the Oscar we all expected him to win. Gracious guy. Not a memorable speech, but to the point. Hope Woody Harrelson gets another chance some day. He was terrific in The Messenger. 6:35 p.m. The Oscars or Vegas? I’m bummed already. Hate this [...]
A great trilogy about pervasive corruption
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Andrew Garfield as a reporter in 1974.
Paddy Considine squares off with Sean Harris in 1980.
David Morrissey plays a troubled cop in 1983.I don’t know when I’ve seen a movie as devastating as The Red Riding Trilogy, a three-picture adaptation of four novels by British author David Peace. The [...]
Handicapping Oscar: My predictions
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
I look for Hurt Locker to blow up big on Oscar night.
Jeff Bridges should have no trouble taking home Oscar gold.
It pays to be bossy, if you’re Sandra Bullock.
It’s time for the fun game the whole family can play. We’re talking about that international pastime and water [...]
A comedy that cops out on laughs
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis are not funny together.
Before I persuaded myself - coerced might be a better word - to write about the new comedy Cop Out, I watched a bunch of Tracy Morgan clips on You Tube. I’d already heard Morgan being interviewed by Terry Gross [...]
Tough teen times, ‘Fish Tank’ reviewed
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender in a moment of normalcy.
Fish Tank — which tells the story of a hostile 15-year-old who lives in a decaying London suburb — strikes a perfect balance between distressing content and unobtrusive style. As a result, the movie earns its place as a gritty [...]
Sex: One teen-ager’s final frontier
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Michael Cera is inspired to be bold by Portia Doubleday.
Michael Cera carries the burden of his familiar presence lightly enough to keep from wearing out his welcome. In Youth in Revolt, Cera (familiar from Juno and Superbad) again follows in his own footsteps, playing a baby-faced high-school kid [...]
The messy imagination of Terry Gilliam
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Heath Ledger standing tall before the looking glass.
There’s no shortage of imagination in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, but when it comes to other matters — a compelling story for example — the movie is running on empty. Less a movie than a tribute to visual [...]
A cop who’s bad to the bone
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Tracy and Hepburn they’re not. Cage and Mendes share a moment in Werner Herzog’s very crazy Bad Lieutenant.
Despite its title, Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is only a distant cousin to Abel Ferrara’s 1992 movie — also called Bad Lieutenant. Ferrara’s movie starred Harvey [...]
Humans bad! Aliens good! It’s ‘Avatar’
Rating 4.00 out of 5
[?]Submitted by Denerstein Unleashed
Jake becomes an avatar to learn native ways.
The long list of technical credits for James Cameron’s much-hyped Avatar don’t pile as high as the stacks of money the movie surely will earn, but they do attest to Cameron’s ability to push the medium to its limits. Like Titanic, [...]
List of 2009 movies - quality and money
Rating 4.00 out of 5
[?]Written by Black Entertainment USA
Well it’s that time of year again. The time when everybody creates a top 10 or best of list for 2009. And of course I will throw in my thoughts to the mix.
In terms of movies there isn’t a lot to say. Most of the drivel from [...]
