tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55541019282824106262024-02-08T04:54:54.154-05:00TweeterFlixReviews and recommendations of movies from my NetFlix queue.TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-1650395759468953942010-10-13T12:00:00.001-04:002010-10-13T12:00:05.952-04:00"My Kid Could Paint That”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There are a few budding young artists in my family. And when people see their work hanging in my office they’re often surprised by how mature it is. I mention this because I really wanted to believe that Marla Olmsted, the cute little 4-year-old at the center of </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“My Kid Could Paint That,”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> painted all her artwork. At the outset, it’s pretty clear that the director of this documentary, Amir Bar-Lev, wants to believe as well. And there were lots of adults – from gallery owners, to art collectors, to the media – who desperately want to believe. But as the story unfolds, it becomes increasingly difficult to hold onto that belief. I kept thinking about the “Balloon Boy” and how that family manipulated the media. And I couldn’t help but feel that Marla’s biggest boosters, her father Mark Olmstead and Binghamton gallery owner Anthony Brunelli, were somehow doing the same thing. The situation isn’t helped by a searing “60 Minutes” exposé on Marla that airs during the filming of this documentary. From that point on, the Olmsteads never fully recover my trust, even as they flail about trying to prove they’re being truthful, all under the guise of “protecting” Marla, the child they exploited. In the end, this isn’t so much a film about a child prodigy as it is about a fickle media, the randomness of abstract art and our need to insert meaning into things where it may not exist. At least that’s my opinion. I’d like to hear what Marla, now 10, thinks of all this. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">My Tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">My Kid Could Paint That - 4-year-old prodigy turns art world on its ear. Art world returns the favor. 7.5 (out of 10)</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G6YEGSjlZnQ?hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G6YEGSjlZnQ?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><trailer></trailer></span></span></b></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“My Kid Could Paint That”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2007</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">PG-13</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 82 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:small;">Marla Olmstead, Laura Olmstead, Mark Olmstead</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:small;">Amir Bar-Lev</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:small;">Biopic, Documentary</span></p></span></div><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-23512513357679486172010-10-07T12:00:00.000-04:002010-10-07T13:44:14.247-04:00“Food, Inc.”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A doctor recommended I see this movie. Now I understand why. It'll open your eyes to why there's an obesity epidemic in the United States. Big business has invaded the food chain and is growing more food, faster and cheaper than ever before. While it's good for business, it has unintended consequences on our health and the health of our planet. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“</span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Food, Inc.”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">lays it all —exposing how factory farming is reducing diversity, lowering nutrition, causing environmental damage and encouraging </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">E coli</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and salmonella outbreaks — without any of the histrionics of a Michael Moore production. Even still, it'll make you look at your food choices in a whole new way. Which led me to tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Food, Inc.-If you only knew what you were eating, it would make you sick. 8.5</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hsdjcy7yS4Y&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hsdjcy7yS4Y&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><trailer><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></trailer></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Other documentaries you might like: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><a href="http://bit.ly/1suxw">“</a></span></span></span><a href="http://bit.ly/1suxw">Super Size Me,</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><a href="http://bit.ly/1suxw">”</a></span></span></span> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><a href="http://bit.ly/5E0A2">“</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://bit.ly/5E0A2">Who Killed the Electric Car,</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><a href="http://bit.ly/5E0A2">”</a></span></span></span> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><a href="http://bit.ly/otkC7">“</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;"><a href="http://bit.ly/otkC7">An Inconvenient Truth</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><a href="http://bit.ly/otkC7">”</a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Food, Inc.”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2008</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">PG</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 94 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Eric Schlosser, Michael Pollan, Joel Salatin, Richard Lobb, Vince Edwards</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Robert Kenner</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Food Stories, Political Documentaries, Social & Cultural Documentaries</span></span></p></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-69969791341130138752010-09-28T12:00:00.003-04:002010-10-10T17:28:50.525-04:00“2012”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What is it with Roland Emmerich’s doomsday obsession? After “Independence Day,” where aliens try to destroy civilization, and “The Day After Tomorrow,” where climate change gets a crack, he looks to the Mayan calendar to predict and entertain us with the end of the world. (Which, I hope you know by now, is an inaccurate interpretation. So keep saving for your retirement.) In true Emmerich fashion, there are lots of explosions and crazy huge special effects. There's a good deal of sermonizing about “Humanity” and “Civilization,” especially at those pivotal moments. And then there are the laughs, unintentional of course, as all mayhem breaks loose. I just found it preposterous how John Cusack, who's been making some curious role choices of late, manages to narrowly escape death by running, driving and flying while the earth is crumbling, buildings are falling and fireballs are exploding. And you don’t have to be a clairvoyant to see how it ends. You know exactly how </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“2012”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is going, with the exception of a neat twist that allows our heroes to reach China despite the fact that they’ve run out of fuel. So If you can switch off the logic center of your brain “2012” is a moderately enjoyable popcorn movie. But even among Emmerich's catalog, it’s not one of the best. My tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">2012-After failing to destroy earth by alien invasion & ice age, Roland Emmerich looks to the Mayans for ideas. 3rd time's not the charm. 5</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><!--StartFragment--></p><p class="MsoNormal"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DSSo-YBMPSg?hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DSSo-YBMPSg?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Another end-of-the-world movie you might enjoy: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><a href="http://bit.ly/6NFkqJ">“Knowing” </a></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“2012”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Released: 2009</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Rating: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">PG-13</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Length: 158 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Cast: J</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">ohn Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Director: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Roland Emmerich</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Genre(s): Action, Sci-fi, Thriller</span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div></span></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p></span><p></p><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-4321354887255739072010-05-26T12:12:00.003-04:002010-05-28T22:29:13.160-04:00“Anvil! The Story of Anvil”<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">I have to admit that my knowledge of heavy metal is limited. So I hope you’ll forgive me for thinking that </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“Anvil! The Story of Anvil”</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> was a “This is Spinal Tap” ripoff. Everything about it felt like a rock and rock cliché. From the album covers (each featuring an anvil), the names of the band members, Lipps and Robb Reiner, (How could you not think his name is a tip of the hat to “Spinal Tap’s” director, Rob Reiner?) to the seemingly improbable streak of bad luck on their European tour. But after a quick search, it turns out that Anvil is (or rather was) the real deal. And that changed my whole perception of the movie. While it was enjoyable from the beginning, once I knew Anvil was started by a couple of 14-year-olds in the 1970s and influenced such monsters in metal as Anthrax and Metallica, only to have their dreams evaporate, the story takes on a certain poignancy. It’s now 30 years later and Lipps, the front man and driving force behind Anvil, is working at an industrial catering company, delivering food to schools. He has hope against hope that if Anvil plays that one great concert, produces that one great album, that the band can recapture its former glory. He, Robb and the rest of Anvil take off on a European concert tour, which is an unmitigated disaster. They’re playing to tiny audiences in obscure venues, traveling in what seems like steerage, and having to fight to get paid for performing. They return home, down but not out, and at their own expense, cut their 13th album (what Lipps and Rob believe is their best ever), shop it around and get courteous “no thank yous.” Throughout the entire ordeal, Lipps remains a true believer. And after seeing his hopes dashed throughout the film, it ends with Anvil playing a concert in Japan. Which make him (and me) believe that there’s hope after all. My Tweet: </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Anvil! The Story of Anvil-Documentary about the nearly famous and now obscure metal band should’ve been titled “All You Need is Luck.” 7.5</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> (out of 10)</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aMZwo1d-3h4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aMZwo1d-3h4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="410" height="344"></embed></object><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Anvil! The Story of Anvil”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Released: 2008</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Rating: NR</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Length: 90 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Cast: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Steve "Lips" Kudlow, Robb Reiner, Malcolm Dome, Lars Ulrich, Scott Ian, Lemmy, Slash</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Director: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Sacha Gervasi </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Genre(s): Documentary, Music</span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div></div>TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-57303371673327474042010-05-20T11:10:00.003-04:002010-05-22T12:58:58.749-04:00“Priceless”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Netflix’s liner notes for </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Priceless”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> call it a “wacky French farce.” I didn’t find it particularly wacky. And while it does have it farcical moments, it’s a really a romantic comedy – a pretty charming one at that. Part of its charm has to do with its set up. Irene (Audrey Tautou) is a gold digger plying her trade on the French Riviera, trying to land the big fish. One night Irene mistakenly assumes that Jean (Gad Elmaleh), the hotel’s bartender, is a rich playboy. It’s only after her behavior toward Jean causes her current relationship to fall apart that she discovers the truth. That forces her to go back on the hunt. But Jean, hopelessly smitten, follows. Once she drains his bank account with her expensive tastes, Jean succumbs to an older woman advances and becomes her gigolo. And pretty soon, the two of them are comparing notes and falling for each other. It’s all in good fun, with a great setting and an appealing cast. My rating: <b>7 (out of 10)</b></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><object height="344" width="410"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5njVf5Zy7P4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5njVf5Zy7P4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="410"></embed></object><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Priceless”</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2006</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: R</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 104 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:small;">Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, Vernon Dobtcheff, Marie-Christine Adam</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:small;">Pierre Salvadori</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:small;">Romantic Comedy, Foreign</span></p></span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-15676859871601342632010-05-18T22:59:00.002-04:002010-05-19T20:42:20.768-04:00“Michael Jackson’s This Is It“<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">My Tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Michael Jackson’s This Is It</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">-That was it? 5</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> (out of 10) This behind-the-scenes documentary was an attempt for the leeches in Michael Jackson’s life to cash in shortly after his death. I found the whole affair rather sad. You see a lot of the moves you’ve seen before, hear a lot of the songs you’ve heard before. Jackson looks emaciated. In the few close-ups that there are (especially the ones in the classic movie scenes he’s spliced into), his face is rendered almost featureless and expressionless, like a kabuki mask. There are plenty of videos out there in the archives that show him as a youthful, promising and truly innovative performer. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“</span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Michael Jackson’s </span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This is it”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> just made me long for what once was and what should have been.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><!--StartFragment--></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iV1WC3u0JyI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iV1WC3u0JyI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Michael Jackson</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">’</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">s This Is It</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2009</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: PG</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 112 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Michael Jackson, Nick Bass, Daniel Celebre, Mekia Cox, Misha Hamilton</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Kenny Ortega</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Documentary, Music</span></span></p></span><p></p></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-67877576287588488602010-04-11T20:00:00.003-04:002010-04-11T20:10:48.900-04:00“Religulous”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;">I like Bill Maher. I watch his show frequently, find him an interesting debater and tend to agree with a lot of what he says. But his Michael Moore-like “investigation” into religion, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;"><b>“Religulous”</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;"> just didn’t work for me. It wasn’t the material. It was Maher – he’s on his own personal jihad. While trying to expose religious fanaticism, Maher comes across as one of them, just from the opposite side of the fence. He is as dogmatic is his disbelief as they are in their faith. “Religulous” would have been a lot more successful if Maher were a bit more playful with his subjects and gave them the rope to hang themselves. This is something “The Daily Show” does quite well and what Bill Maher fails at miserably here. Maher seems content to argue rather than interview and then dismiss his subjects as “silly” or “ridiculous.” This is a manifestation of one of the things that bugs me about his stand-up. When Maher delivers the punch line, he tends to turn to the camera with a knowing expression as if to say, “See, I’m funny.” And in “Religulous” that smugness doesn’t serve him well. I’ll agree that there are a lot of deluded people out there, and that a lot of people, evil and otherwise, have doesn’t awful things in the name of religion. But there are many more people who find comfort and peace in their faith. I’m not sure what Maher’s intention was when he created this film. But he pretty much ends up delivering a long, boring sermon. My Tweet: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;"><b>Religulous-Bill Maher goes looking for God in this comic documentary and commits the ultimate sin – he's not funny. 4.5</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;"><b> (out of 10)</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TGRI1Kp-RCw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TGRI1Kp-RCw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Religulous”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2008</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: R</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 101 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Bill Maher</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: Larry Charles</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Documentary</span></span></p></span></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-73606812620159872242010-03-23T11:10:00.004-04:002010-03-23T22:42:50.146-04:00“The Taking of Pelham 123” (2009)<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The basic premise is the same, but director Tony Scott rachets up the noise, violence and cutting tempo in this remake of the 1974 thriller. In this outing, John Travolta, suffering from a bad case of Al Pacino syndrome, emotes his way through the subway hijacking, while Denzel Washington keeps his cool as the dispatcher on the other end on the line. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“The Taking of Pelham 123”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> ends like the original with them getting the bad guy. But it’s all brawn and no brain. And even the reason for the hijacking is convoluted. Without giving up too much, it made me wonder why Travolta didn’t just hire someone to do it for him. Maybe someone who’s a better actor. My Tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Taking of Pelham 123-After they took the Pelham One Two Three in 1974, the Transit Authority should have beefed up security. 6.5 </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">(out of 10)</span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/htpL9Ly6Cqk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/htpL9Ly6Cqk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To see it done old school, here’s the </span><a href="http://bit.ly/FrznD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">trailer for</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="http://bit.ly/FrznD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three”</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">with Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw.</span></span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:16px;"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“The Taking of Pelham 123”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2009</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: R</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 106 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, James Gandolfini, John Turturro</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: Tony Scott</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Adaptation, Action, Thriller</span></span></p></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-23757810611474557092010-03-18T11:06:00.000-04:002010-03-18T11:42:16.810-04:00“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Because of all the bad press this movie got, the fact that it didn’t completely stink was a surprise. While this is far from a rousing endorsement, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is far from a complete waste of time. As the title implies, it tells the backstory of one of Marvel Comics’ and the X-Men movie franchise’s most popular characters. And if you’re interested in Logan’s (Hugh Jackman) strained relationship with his brother, Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber), how he got his adamantium claws, the reasoning behind Stryker’s (Danny Huston) mutant experiments and meeting a few more mutants, it’s worth a look. But it’s mostly Jackman snarling and snorting his way through a trail of dead bodies and exploding real estate. The formulaic violence makes the movie feel more like a vigilante flick from the 1970s. It also lacks the hip sensibility of “Iron Man” or Gothic moodiness of <a href="http://bit.ly/102fyV">“The Dark Knight.”</a> So unless you’re one of Stan Lee’s “true believers,” I’d skip this one. My Tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">X-Men Origins: Wolverine-A case study in how not to handle an individual with unresolved anger-management issues. 6</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/89qjiF2J7Ao&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/89qjiF2J7Ao&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:16px;"></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2009</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: PG-13</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 107 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: Gavin Hood</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Adaptation, Adventure, Action</span></span></p><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-65775619285421152132010-03-16T11:48:00.005-04:002010-03-16T23:28:05.805-04:00Has “Big Love” Nuked the Fridge?<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I know this is a slightly off topic since “</span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Big Love”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is a TV series. But it’ll be on DVD soon enough. Season 4 ended last Sunday on HBO and I have just one question: What happened? “Big Love” has always been a bit out there. This season they went way out there. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For the uninitiated, “Big Love” revolves around the lives of polygamist Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) and his three wives, Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn) , Nicki (Chloé Sevigny) and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin), who hide in plain sight in a Salt Lake City suburb. Meanwhile, characters from the benign to the creepy, including Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton), the leader of Juniper Creek, the polygamist colony where Bill grew up, and Bill’s father (Bruce Dern), threaten to expose the family. Those outside forces and the domestic politics between the three “sister wives” have been the show’s driving force. But this season, the plot lines seem to be ripped from the headlines of the National Enquirer. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Here’s the brief summary: The fundamentalist Henrickson family is now a partner in an Indian casino with Barb running it. Bill himself is running for a seat on the Utah state legislature. Ex-wife Ana (Branka Katic) is pregnant with Bill’s child, while Margene is in a sham marriage with Anna’s husband, Goran (Steve Bacic), to save him from deportation. Roman Grant, now dead, is taunting son Alby (Matt Ross), whose sanity is slipping away after his gay lover, Dale (Benjamin Koldyke), commits suicide. Nicki, Roman’s daughter and the oddball of Bill’s wives, takes the opposite tack by trying to be more normal, even jettisoning her “Annie Oakley” wardrobe in an attempt to mainstream herself. Nicki’s ex-husband, J.J. Walker (Zeljko Ivanek), is involved in a plot to use IVF to incestuously impregnate his wives. And these are just the highlights There are more (and even more confusing) plot detours in the mix. And when the season finally comes to a close, Bill, while addressing his political supporters, publically comes out as a polygamist, contradicting everything he and his family been doing for the last three seasons. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The producers did everything short of having Bill strap on a helmet and fill up the shark tank. I’m really not sure where the Henricksons go from here. My fear is that next season they’ll introduce special guest sister wives like Charo and Betty White. My hope is that Pamela Ewing (Victoria Principal) will wake up and realize it was all just a very bad dream.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jaq-KXdVy7s&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jaq-KXdVy7s&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:small;"></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:small;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Big Love” Season 4</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2010</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: TV-MA</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 90 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, Ginnifer Goodwin, Amanda Seyfried, Douglas Smith, Grace Zabriskie, Matt Ross, Harry Dean Stanton, Bruce Dern, Aaron Paul</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Directors: Dan Attias, Adam Davidson, David Petrarca, David Knoller</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Drama, Romance, Family</span></span></p></span><p></p>TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-89320806665030186412010-03-11T12:06:00.005-05:002010-05-22T08:39:21.764-04:00“The Bicycle Thief”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This film is on virtually every critic’s all-time best list. It’s required viewing at film schools around the world. And if that’s not enough, Martin Scorcese himself recommends it his documentary/Italian film history lesson “My Voyage to Italy.” </span></span><a href="http://bit.ly/9gjIDW"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">(trailer here)</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“The Bicycle Thief</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">” is Vittorio De Sica’s landmark film that captures the desperation in Italy following World War II. It’s a simple story, told well: after a long period without work Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) finally lands a job that requires a bicycle. His wife, Maria (Lianella <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Carell) sells their bed sheets to get Antonio’s bicycle out of hock and on the first day of work, it’s stolen. Antonio spends the rest of the film searching around Rome for the bicycle with his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola). There are some light moments between the two of them, but the tone of the movie turns darker as Antonio realizes that the bicycle, and his hopes for a “normal” life may never be recovered. Which is the source of my Tweet: </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Bicycle Thief-Lamberto Maggiorani’s last glimmer of hope vanishes when he learns an important lesson about the value of a bike lock. 10</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Note: For those who shy away from foreign films because of the subtitles, I can still recommend “The Bicycle Thief.” The acting is superb and the film tells its story with the actors’ faces and in their gestures. I bet you could even turn off the sound and captions and still get the story. It’s that good.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><!--StartFragment--></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ktvw3m6QhIw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ktvw3m6QhIw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><trailer></trailer></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“The Bicycle Thief”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Released: 1948</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Rating: NR</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Length: 90 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Cast: Lamberto Maggiorani, Lianella Carell, Enzo Staiola, Elena Altieri</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Director: Vittorio De Sica</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Genre(s): Drama, Adaptation</span></span></p></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-2387687918418882222010-03-09T11:25:00.004-05:002010-03-09T11:29:59.351-05:00“The Hunting Party”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Start with a war-torn countryside, add a dash of satire, a little action and a pinch of sermonizing and you’ll have </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“The Hunting Party.”</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> This not quite fully-baked mixture stars Richard Gere as Simon Hunt, a burnt-out war correspondent banished to Bosnia after suffering an on-air meltdown. Five years later, Hunt’s ex-cameraman “Duck” (Terrance Howard), who’s traded in the war zone for a network job, is back in Bosnia to do a puff piece on the war’s end with Benjamin Strauss (Jesse Eisenberg), a young reporter (and son of the network’s V.P.). Hunt entices Duck by claiming he’s after an interview with a notorious war criminal known as the Fox (Ljubomir Kerekes). It’s not until the three of them are in the thick of it that Hunt reveals his true intention. My tweet pretty much sums it up: </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Hunting Party-Reporter Richard Gere realizes it’ll take more than a story to restart his career & goes after a war criminal instead. 6.5</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10) The producers of “The Hunting Party” make a point of telling you this is a true story. Which may be because they had a hard time conjuring up believable characters. Hunt is the beaten-down, yet eternal, idealist, Duck is the corporate sellout trying to convince himself he isn’t and Strauss is the nervous newbie who surprises everyone by having a backbone. The movie has its moments, like this exchange when Hunt meets Strauss for the first time: “Benjamin, you look young enough to be someone important’s son.” But there aren't enough of those moments to lift this movie. Bottom line: it’s an okay flick but you can do better. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SUuVbFEa-sM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SUuVbFEa-sM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Another Richard Gere movie you might like: </span><a href="http://bit.ly/2AKD4m"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“The Hoax”</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“The Hunting Party”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2007</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: R</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 104 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Jesse Eisenberg</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: Richard Shepard</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Adaptation, Comedy, Action</span></span></p></span><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-5480507807951528222010-02-18T22:20:00.006-05:002010-02-18T22:29:21.332-05:00“Word Wars”<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Although I never really thought about competitive Scrabble as a career choice, apparently some people have. Including the four players profiled in </span></span><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Word Wars.”</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> This is a rare group of men who have a talent with the tiles but no visible means of support – and Scrabble isn’t exactly paying the bills. The characters range from the mildly eccentrlc to the downright creepy. One competitor with the unpleasant nickname “G.I. Joel” (G.I. as in gastro-intestinal) swigs Maalox and explains the finer details of his acid reflux. It’s all a bit sad. Hence my tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Word Wars-Forget the underdogs. This film about competitive Scrabble makes you feel sorry for the winners. 5.5</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10) If you’re looking for a documentary about someone with an unhealthy obsession, I’d recommend </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://bit.ly/4J78G">“The King of Kong.”</a></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> I gave it a 9. Steve Wiebe’s quest to beat the world record on Donkey Kong is a much more exciting and interesting story.</span><br /><br /></span><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/P9yFPLhcRgA&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P9yFPLhcRgA&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object><div><br /><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“Word Wars”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Released: 2004</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Rating: NR</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Length: 77 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Cast: Joe Edley, Matt Graham, Marlon Hill, “G.I.” Joel Sherman</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Directors: Julian Petrillo, Eric Chaikin</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Genre(s): Documentary</span></span></p></span></span></div></div></div>TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-21795791065616121462010-02-15T09:00:00.000-05:002010-02-15T09:14:33.218-05:00“Enchanted”<span style="font-weight:bold;"><trailer><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hands down my favorite Amy Adams movie. In fact, she carries </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Enchanted”</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> with an unbelievably believable performance as a fairytale princess who finds herself stranded in the very unenchanted New York City. Once in the city, Giselle (Ms Adams) retains her pluck along with the rose-colored view of the world of someone who believes in happy endings. She’s rescued and reluctantly taken in by Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey), a jaded divorce attorney who has no reason to believe in happy endings. But, surprise! there is a happy ending. However, this modern twist on the classic Disney fairytale from Disney itself is a knowing, post-modern update. Prince Edward (James Marsden) is Giselle’s vacuous sword-wielding suitor, unable to decipher modern New York. The evil Queen’s (Susan Sarandon) henchman Nathaniel, (Timothy Spall) obediently does the Queen’s bidding but, according to a call he places to a talk-radio psychologist, he feels unappreciated. And when Giselle calls for the local critters to help with her cleaning chores, she’s greeted by New York’s own pigeons, cockroaches and sewer rats. This particular event leads to one of the film’s musical numbers and, critters aside, it’s the kind you’d expect from Disney. There are also plenty of references to other films in the Disney catalog for Disney-philes. But even if you’re not, there’s a lot to like in “Enchanted.” It may be a little “Shalit-esque,” but I found it enchanting. My tweet: </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Enchanted-When an evil stepmother strands her in New York City, Disney Princess Amy Adams makes it her own magic kingdom. 8.5</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10)</span></p><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ywoVsmawo3g&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ywoVsmawo3g&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Other Amy Adams movies worth a look: </span><a href="http://bit.ly/bdUjbQ"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Julie & Julia,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span><a href="http://bit.ly/8O7pfw"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Doubt</span></a></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Enchanted”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2007</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: PG</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 108 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: Kevin Lima</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Comedy, Romance, Adventure</span></span></p><p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></trailer></span>TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-58963763537106273102010-02-12T06:45:00.001-05:002010-02-12T06:49:43.066-05:00“W.”<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">At the risk of getting political, I’d like to say that this was a pretty good movie. It doesn’t really offer any new insight into what helped shape the 43rd President of the United States. But <b>“W.”</b> does a good job of stringing together the story of a party boy who wanders aimlessly through life, reaches the land’s highest office yet still can’t get his father’s approval. Director Oliver Stone walks a fine line between biopic and satire and at time it’s difficult to tell which side he's on. Josh Brolin gives a credible performance as George W. Bush from his days at Yale to the post-Iraq period. But for me, the show is really in the side characters. Thandie Newton plays an obsequious Condoleezza Rice who spends most of her screen time wearing an expression that looks as if she swallowed a lemon. Scott Glenn’s Donald Rumsfeld is completely lost, has no respect for the President, or both. In one particular meeting, he seems more interested in the pie than the policy. And Jeffrey Wright portrays Colin Powell as the only man of principle in the room. The one false note is Richard Dreyfuss, who might bear a faint resemblance to Dick Cheney, but doesn’t have the former VP’s scowl or his growl. (It was difficult to picture “Mr. Holland” bullying the CIA into fudging the yellow cake reports.) With fact-based dramas like this I often find myself wondering how much is fact and how much is drama. With “W.” I also wondered how much is “Oliver Stone?”— this is the man who directed the conspiracy-theorist’s favorite “J.F.K.” Regardless, there’s one thing about “W.” I have absolutely no doubt about: It would have been a lot more entertaining if it weren’t true. My Tweet: <b>W.-Oliver Stone biopic makes the case that while anyone can become President of the United States, not everyone should. 7.5</b> (out of 10)<br /><br /></span></span><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JV9HMHw_3v4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JV9HMHw_3v4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“W.”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2008</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: PG-13</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 129 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Burstyn, James Cromwell, Richard Dreyfuss</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: Oliver Stone</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Drama, Biopic, Satire</span></span></p></div>TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-48166921614982946992010-02-02T12:15:00.004-05:002010-02-02T12:15:00.168-05:00“X-men 3: The Last Stand”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">My tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">X-Men 3: The Last Stand-While Bryan Singer is minding the Superman franchise, Magneto and Brett Ratner make a mess of things. 7</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> (out of 10) Brett Ratner, who took the helm while Brian Singer was directing “Superman Returns,” must be from the “too much of a good thing still isn’t enough” school of directing. Because in </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“X-men 3: The Last Stand”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> he piles it on. “The Last Stand” is bigger and louder than the first two X-men films, and has more characters than you can count. It also has two storylines: one involving a “cure” for mutants, derived from the DNA of a mutant boy and another about the resurrection of Jean Gray (Famke Janssen), who died at the end of the X-men 2. Needless to say, the mutants are split about the cure and Jean is now Phoenix with unimaginable, and uncontrollable, powers. These two stories collide in a effects-laden battle between the Brotherhood, led by Magneto (Ian McKellen) and the humans, with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry) and the X-men providing support. But it’s all pretty much expected by now. So while “The Last Stand” may surpass the prior installments in pyrotechnics, unfortunately it comes up short on satisfaction. I’d recommend either one of the first two.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><object width="411" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/f02xsBahJtc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/f02xsBahJtc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“X-men 3: The Last Stand”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Released: 2006</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Rating: PG-13</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Length: 105 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cast: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Director: Brett Ratner</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Genre(s): Adventure, Sequel, Action</span></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-51927654517621155562010-01-26T14:15:00.000-05:002010-01-26T14:34:23.207-05:00“Julie & Julia”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I’m probably not the only reviewer who liked one half of </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Julie & Julia”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> better than the other. (For those who are wondering, the “Julia” half.) But then, who is Julie Powell (Amy Adams) in comparison to Julia Child (Meryl Streep)? Julie Child is an icon – her kitchen is in the Smithsonian, for Pete</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">’s sake. Julie Powell is a frustrated writer in an unfulfilling job looking for a creative outlet. For Julia, cooking is a passion. While perhaps no less a passion for Julie, her feat is more of a stunt, as she cooks her way through Julia’s classic, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and blogs about it. The truth is, the story of Julia Child and how she became “Julia Child” is just more interesting. The love affair between Julia and her husband, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Paul</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (Stanley Tucci) is charming and something I’d never heard about. So it adds a new dimension to the character we know from “The French Chef.” Post-war Paris, where the Childs live when </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Paul</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is a diplomat, is much more picturesque than Queens, N.Y. And Amy Adams is simply outgunned in the acting department. Not only does Meryl Streep have more to work with in Julia Child, she performs the feat of bringing this larger than life character down to earth. In contrast, Amy Adams (who I usually love) feels like she’s trying to keep up, just as Julie is trying to keep up with Julia. Director Nora Ephron does a great job of knitting the two stories together and making them move in parallel paths. And it’s actually quite enjoyable, hence my rating. But I think it would have been even better if it were titled “Nobody & Julia” or better still, “</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Paul</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> & Julia,” hence my tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Julie & Julia-Nora Ephron blends Julia Child’s story with that of blogging admirer Julie Powell and creates a lopsided soufflé. 7.5 </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">(out of 10)</span></span></span></span></p> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RTb12hjoaik&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RTb12hjoaik&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“Julie & Julia”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Released: 2009</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Rating: PG-13</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Length: 123 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Cast: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Jane Lynch</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:small;">Director: Nora Ephron</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Genre(s): Adaptation, Romantic Comedy</span></span></p><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-38314545329474838382010-01-21T12:29:00.004-05:002010-01-23T23:11:34.766-05:00“The Shootist”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I’m not a huge fan of westerns, but “</span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Shootist”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is one I popped to the top of my queue because of its star, John Wayne. This was the last film he made before finally succumbing to lung cancer. I haven’t seen a lot of Wayne’s work, so I don’t know if it’s one of his best. But it’s certainly a good film. As my tweet says, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Shootist-In an unfortunate case of typecasting, an aging John Wayne dying of cancer plays an aging gunslinger dying of cancer. 8</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10), Wayne’s character, J.B. Books, is dying of cancer. He returns to Carson City, has his doctor, E.W. Hostetler (James Stewart) confirm the diagnosis then takes a room in a boarding house owned by the widow Rogers (Lauren Bacall). While it’s Books’ intention to live out his final days quietly, Dr. Hostetler, the Carson City Marshal (Harry Morgan) and the widow’s son, (Ron Howard) who is fascinated by Books’ life as a gunfighter, coax him into going out in the proper fashion. Fans of the John Woo school of shoot-outs with their atmospheric lighting, slow-motion photography of unloading ammo magazines and an aviary-load of flying doves – may be a little disappointed by the simplicity of this film’s climatic scene. But it’s a fitting ending for a man of action and few words, just as </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Shootist” is for the career of John Wayne. </span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BMboGPneLOo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BMboGPneLOo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“The Shootist”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 1976</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: PG</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 99 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: John Wayne, James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: Don Siegel</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Drama, Western</span></span></p></span></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-10791156832120743062010-01-19T11:53:00.004-05:002010-01-21T11:29:58.233-05:00“The Twelve Chairs”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">My tweet: </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Twelve Chairs-Mel Brooks made a movie between “The Producers” and “Blazing Saddles” that no one ever talks about. This is it. 5.5</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10) I never heard of this movie before. But even Brooks’ less successful films are usually a good time.</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> “The Twelve Chairs”</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> certainly opens on a good note. It’s post-revolutionary Russia and an old lady, a one-time member of the aristocracy, makes a death-bed confession to hiding a fortune in jewelry inside an old dining room chair (one of 12) that has since been lost. That sends orthodox priest Father Fyodor (Dom Deluise) and her son-in-law, Ippolit Vorobyaninov, (Ron Moody) on a race to find the chairs and ultimately the jewels. I was expecting a madcap treasure hunt akin to “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” But “The Twelve Chairs” never rises to that film’s level of slapstick and certainly not to the inspired lunacy of “The Producers” or Blazing Saddles.” It’s not all bad though. Frank Langella, as a larcenous beggar who teams up with Vorobyaninov, is a dashing presence. And both Dom Deluise and Ron Moody have their moments. But unless you’re a hardcore Mel Brooks fan who wants to see everything in his catalog, I think you can better than “The Twelve Chairs.” Brooks certainly did.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/munxxpQx1N4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/munxxpQx1N4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“The Twelve Chairs”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 1970</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: NR</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 94 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Ron Moody, Frank Langella, Dom DeLuise, Mel Brooks</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: Mel Brooks</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Comedy</span></span></p></span></span></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-16583544117013424822010-01-15T11:52:00.013-05:002010-01-17T18:11:50.188-05:00“The Karate Kid”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I recently saw the trailer for the remake with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. So I thought I’d take another look at the original. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“The Karate Kid,”</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> for those who haven’t seen it, is a teenage version of “Rocky.” And for those who haven’t seen “Rocky,” it’s a story about an athlete who overcomes great odds because of his heart. (Director John Avildsen was behind both.) In “The Karate Kid,” Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is a New Jersey native who relocates to the suburbs of L.A. and is almost immediately an outcast. He also makes the mistake of falling for a cute blond (Elisabeth Shue) who happens to be the girlfriend of the local teen karate champ, Johnny (William Zabka). As a result, Daniel ends up on the wrong side of Johnny and his buddies from the Cobra Kai dojo. Daniel’s luck changes when, after a particularly bad beating at the hands of Johnny, Mr. Miyagi, (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) his building’s handyman, agrees to teach him karate. Unknown to Daniel, his first lessons involve performing maintenance work around Miyagi’s house, like waxing the cars and painting the fence. Miyagi never lets on that these chores are about building character as much as muscle memory. And once Miyagi reveals that these slow, laborious tasks have a purpose, Daniel’s attitude, and the pace of the movie picks up. We move onto the obligatory training scene (accompanied by mystical Asian-style music) followed by the main event – a face-off between Daniel and Johnny in the final round of a karate competition (accompanied by a power-rock anthem). Now I must confess that everything I know about karate comes from movies, so I could be wrong. But I wonder how far Daniel would actually get in a competition. I can see how the simple motions (like “wax on, wax off”) can translate into defensive moves. But how effective would they really be? And how, in a matter of weeks, could Daniel be ready to compete at such a level? In the end, though, reality doesn’t really matter because you’re along for the ride. “The Karate Kid” also benefits from the believable (surrogate) father-son relationship between Daniel and Miyagi, and a message about learning coming from unexpected places. (Which inspired my tweet: </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Karate Kid-Teenager learns karate by performing household chores. And all I mastered with my Sensei was “mow lawn” & “take out trash.” 8</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10) “The Karate Kid” is a good feel-good movie, especially for family viewing. For nostalgia fans, it’s also a bit of a mid-’80s time capsule. Look for Johnny in his Michael Jackson “Beat It” red leather jacket and the Cindy Lauper “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” hairstyles. Those two things alone could have been the reason for greenlighting the remake.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1P0nuRL6Dqg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1P0nuRL6Dqg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:16px;"></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“The Karate Kid”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 1984</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: PG</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 126 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: John Avildsen</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Drama, Action, Sports</span></span></p><p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-42418574365251025002010-01-12T12:06:00.009-05:002010-01-12T12:06:00.543-05:00“Nothing But the Truth”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">My tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Nothing but the Truth-Reporter Kate Beckinsale outs a CIA agent and is jailed for not revealing her source. Like that would ever happen. 7.5</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> (out of 10) Well, it actually happened. But not the way it does in this “ripped from the headlines” political/courtroom drama. Inspired by the real story of Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter who spent three months in jail for refusing to reveal the source of a CIA leak, </span></span><!--StartFragment--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Rod Lurie</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">, the maker of political dramas like “The Contender” spins a much larger story. Reporter Rachel</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) spends more than a year in jail as each of her attorney’s (Alan Alda, who seems to be making a career of playing high-powered lawyers) legal manuevers is deftly blocked by the government’s special prosecutor (Matt Dillion). In the meantime, lives fall apart for now-exposed CIA operative Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) and Armstrong herself, as her husband (David Schwimmer, who seems to be getting whinier with each performance) deserts her and her cause. While there are high-minded questions about principle and motive in </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“Nothing But the Truth,”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> the identity of the source is the real question we want answered. So after a few plot twists and teases, you’ll learn where Armstrong got her tip. And it’s not a source I would have ever considered. So maybe it’s possible that Scooter Libby wasn’t the one who outed Valerie Plame.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><trailer><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></trailer></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><!--StartFragment--></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hs5Q0enUafc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hs5Q0enUafc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:16px;"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Nothing But the Truth”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2008</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: R</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 107 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Vera Farmiga, Alan Alda, David Schwimmer</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rod Lurie</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Drama, Thriller</span></span></p></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-19407811547701770082010-01-07T12:38:00.002-05:002010-01-07T14:12:53.759-05:00“Ghost Town”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The reason to rent this DVD, in a word (two, actually): Ricky Gervais, who does another spin on the socially-awkward character he perfected on “The Office.” In </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Ghost Town</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">” he plays Bertram Pincus, a dentist who dies on the table during a colonoscopy and is revived, only to discover that he now can see and communicate with dead people. One particular member of his new group of friends is Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), a recently-deceased cad who “convinces” Bertram to break up his widowed wife’s (Tea Leoni) pending marriage. And as is the law in the world of romantic comedies, Bertram must eventually fall in love with the widow and she with him. But that’s a little difficult when Bertram is an “anti-people” person who has a gift for saying and doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Gervais himself has a gift for making these cringe-inducing characters watchable. Just as in “The Office,” you’ll watch a scene unfold and think to yourself, “he’s not going to do that… oh please don’t do that” and when does, you think to yourself, “I can believe he just did that.” And that’s the fun part in an otherwise pretty tame romantic comedy. My favorite scene: The dog with bad breath. My tweet, inspired by Bertram’s ability to see dead people: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Ghost Town-Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni & Greg Kinnear star in this romantic comedy loosely based on M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense.” 7 </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">(out of 10)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dxm6UFzcyTw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dxm6UFzcyTw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Ghost Town”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2008</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: PG-13</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 102 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: David Koepp</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Comedy, Romantic Comedy</span></span></p></span></span> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-72456543351644514822010-01-05T10:54:00.009-05:002010-01-07T00:40:57.573-05:00“This Film Is Not Yet Rated”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.1pt; margin-left:0in;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0in"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">It takes a certain amount of courage for a filmmaker to take on a powerful institution. Think of Michael Moore and his documentaries that ridicule GM (“Roger and Me”), the Bush administration (“Fahrenheit 9/11”) or the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare system (“Sicko”). But in “</span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This Film Is Not Yet Rated,</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">” Kirby Dick pokes a finger in the eye of an authority far more closer to home, at least for a filmmaker – the MPAA ratings board. Like many in the movie-gong public, he’d like to know how the Board comes up with its ratings. Why do movies that feature copious amounts of violence get “R” ratings while movies with nudity or sex (that are clearly not pornographic) receive an NC-17? So Dick goes about finding out. This is more than a matter of making a simple phone call. The MPAA works under an air of secrecy worthy of a military intelligence operation. When the polite methods won’t work, Dick becomes inventive – hires a private detective, sorts through trash, uses hidden cameras – and he chronicles everything. He also interviews filmmakers who’ve “suffered” at the hands of the MPAA, including John Waters, Kevin Smith, Matt Stone and Atom Egoyan, as well as some former members of the Board, who I assume will now be unable to get tables at posh restaurants in L.A. The story that Dick pieces together is surprising, but not shocking. The Board members (yes, he finally identifies them all) are promoted by the MPAA as parents of children aged 5-17, yet most are not. The big studios who fund the MPAA get preferential treatment, while indie filmmakers are often left on their own. And the MPAA, who professes to support a filmmaker’s freedom of expression, is a de facto censor because an NC-17 rating will close off various distribution and marketing channels. But “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” gets really interesting when Dick submits his film to the MPAA for a rating (an NC-17, of course). He presses them for an explanation and specifics, and receives a couple of unfriendly phone calls from their representatives, including an MPAA attorney who threatens to “Cut him off.” Now for a filmmaker, that’s pretty courageous. My tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This Film Is Not Yet Rated-Kirby Dick investigates the “even when you win, you lose” paradox by taking on the MPAA ratings Star Chamber.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><b> 7.5</b> (out of 10)</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.1pt; margin-left:0in;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0in"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><!--StartFragment--></span></span></p><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OeP2LUELaM4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OeP2LUELaM4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></span></p></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;"></span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“This Film Is Not Yet Rated”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Released: 2005</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Rating: NR</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Length: 97 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Cast: John Waters, Kevin Smith, Matt Stone, Kimberly Peirce</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Director: Kirby Dick</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Genre(s): Documentary, Interview</span></span></p></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-12163838257784632752009-12-22T11:24:00.005-05:002009-12-22T13:05:59.087-05:00“The Gift”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Even if Annie Wilson (Cate Blachett) didn’t have her gift of clairvoyance, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“The Gift”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> would still be a pretty good suspense thriller. But that added dose of the supernatural gives the movie a jolt that director Sam Raimi uses to blur the lines between Annie’s visions and reality to keep you guessing. The plot of “The Gift” revolves around the disappearance of Jessica King (Katie Holmes), a woman engaged to a local school principal (Greg Kinnear) while sleeping with virtually every other man in town. After coming up dry, the police reluctantly turn to Annie. She leads them to Jessica’s body on the property of Donnie Barksdale (a menacing Keanu Reeves), the abusive husband of one of her clients (Hilary Swank). The resulting court case seems to satisfy everyone – except Annie. She’s haunted by visions that lead her to believe she’s helped convict an innocent man. And when she tries to set things right, that’s when everything starts to go wrong. “The Gift” is thoroughly enjoyable, with a top-notch cast and a surprise ending that defies prediction. It’s definitely worth a look. <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">My tweet (influenced by recent tabloid headlines): </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Gift-When Katie Holmes disappears, clairvoyant Cate Blanchett knows it’s not because she’s trying to get away from Tom Cruise. 7.5</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10)</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4gead3IHlpQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4gead3IHlpQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“The Gift”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2000</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: R</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 110 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Greg Kinnear</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: Sam Raimi</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Mystery</span></span></p></span></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554101928282410626.post-84860131189182707992009-12-18T10:51:00.006-05:002010-01-18T19:10:36.619-05:00“Grizzly Man”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For 13 summers, Timothy Treadwell lived with the grizzly bears in a remote area of Alaska. Although he believed himself to be a protector of the bears, many people thought he was a nut. In </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Grizzly Man,”</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Werner Herzog pieces together Treadwell’s story from video footage shot by Treadwell himself and interviews with the people who knew him. While the interviews and Herzog’s narration serve to provide context and chronology, it’s Treadwell’s footage that makes “Grizzly Man” so compelling. With his Prince Valiant haircut and Mr. Rogers’ speaking manner, he’s is quite a character. The remarkable thing is that bears have become so accustomed to Treadwell’s presence that he’s largely ignored. Likewise, he’s become so accustomed to the bears (maybe too much) that he’s fearless in his interactions with them. This is not the kind of stuff you see in National Geographic specials – from some unmanned close-up camera or shot from a safe distance. Treadwell gets up close and personal with 1,000-pound beasts that could maul or kill him in an instant. Which, unfortunately, is how it all ends. But even when you know that going in, this story/character study a well-meaning but misguided man is no less surprising. My tweet: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Grizzly Man-Werner Herzog's fascinating documentary about a man who lives with bears in the wild until they have a “falling out.” 7</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (out of 10)</span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span></span></p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><p class="MsoNormal"><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RCSXwv02OJQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RCSXwv02OJQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Grizzly Man”</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Released: 2005</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Rating: R</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Length: 100 minutes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cast: Timothy Treadwell, Werner Herzog, Amie Huguenard, Warren Queeney</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Director: Werner Herzog</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Genre(s): Documentary, Nature</span></span></p><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->TweeterFlixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15853101508868879549noreply@blogger.com0