Feb
5
“Frozen” Review
Filed Under Movies
There’s great line in “Open Water,” the movie about the bickering couple who are stranded in the middle of the ocean and being preyed upon by sharks. Shortly after they discover they’re pretty much doomed, the wife says, “I wanted to go skiing!” Well, Adam Green’s new film, “Frozen,” does for skiing what “Open Water” [...]
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4
I recently saw David Cronenberg’s 1996 film, “Crash.” Not to be confused with Paul Haggis’ crappy 2005 Oscar winner, Cronenberg’s movie is the one about people who are car crash fetishists. I don’t mean they’re like the dimwitted lookie loos I’m stuck behind on the 405 whenever there’s a fender-bender. No, the folks in the [...]
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3
Quintessential Quadrilogies | Batman
Filed Under Movies
Today, we’ll be looking at the four Batman movies released between 1989 and 1997. Despite the drastic change in creative direction that the series took at its halfway point, not to mention the rotating cast of leading men, the films are connected. Supporting players Michael Gough and Pat Hingle, in the roles of Alfred and [...]
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2
The 2010 Oscar Nominations
Filed Under Movies
I haven’t watched the Academy Awards since 2002. I don’t even remember what won Best Picture that year. I think that probably gives you some idea of my general level of excitement when it comes to awards shows. I honestly don’t care. Why? Well, I don’t think the Academy throws Oscars at the right people [...]
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1
“Eve of Destruction,” a forgotten 1991 cheapie released by the long-dead Orion Pictures, is one of the myriad “Terminator” ripoffs that emerged in the late-1980s and early-1990s. Low-budget genre filmmakers followed James Cameron’s lead in knocking out movies about cyborgs that pass as human, both saving tons of money on SFX and capitalizing on the [...]
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29
“Edge of Darkness” Review
Filed Under Movies
More than seven years after M. Night Shyamalan’s ending to “Signs” — ranked by statisticians as the number one cause of facepalm in 2002 — drove Mel Gibson into a religious frenzy, the actor returns to the silver screen as yet another slightly unhinged bereaved man in Martin Campbell’s “Edge of Darkness.”
Gibson plays Det. Thomas [...]
Jan
26
Quintessential Quadrilogies | Indiana Jones
Filed Under Movies
I originally meant to do one of these each week, but I spent so much time fine-tuning my “Terminator” entry, that schedule went out the window. Maybe I can make this a bi-weekly thing. Maybe. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Hey, they made four Indiana Jones movies. Let’s talk about ‘em. The Indiana Jones [...]
Jan
25
This is what happens when my girlfriend goes out of town for the weekend: I put on my jacket and go to Cinefile and rent “Split Second,” starring Rutger Hauer. Why? Well, the pull quote on the DVD cover told me it’s “‘Blade Runner’ meets ‘Alien.’” Now I love “Blade Runner” and I love “Alien.” [...]
Continue reading...Jan
22
Jesus Christ in a walking cast, when is this going to blow over? A friend of mine, a gal I talk to seasonally, called me up the other day. Apropos of nothing, she brought up the Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien pissing contest. She had to ruin a perfectly good conversation about crap that I’m genuinely interested [...]
Continue reading...Jan
21
Stuff I’m Tired of Seeing in Movies
Filed Under Movies
The cinematic medium is fluid. Certain conventions, characters and even genres come and go. Movies are very of-the-moment in their desperation to reach as broad an audience as possible. However, there’s some stuff I still see in movies, stuff that seemingly hasn’t been massaged out over the years, stuff that really needs to go. They’re [...]
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