BLACK SWAN

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Np06N-1wkC8/TeUxuWEsJ3I/AAAAAAAABss/ISLTa4RetWs/s1600/black-swan-movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Np06N-1wkC8/TeUxuWEsJ3I/AAAAAAAABss/ISLTa4RetWs/s200/black-swan-movie.jpg" width="108" /></a></div><b>title: </b>BLACK SWAN<br /> <b>year: </b>2010<br /> <b>cast:</b> Natalie Portman, Barbara Hershey, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder<br /> <b>rating:</b> *** <br /> <br /> Anyone unfamiliar with John Cassavetes' OPENING NIGHT will think this movie, about a young woman suffering through a bizarre, hallucinatory catharsis to adhere to a performance she’s not quite equipped for, is completely original.  But most will be mesmerized by director Darren Aronofsky’s creative journey of Natalie Portman’s insufferably shy ballerina given the part of the Swan Queen in “Swan Lake.” She’s perfect for the role – or at least, half of it. Her gracefully practiced precision works as the white swan, but embodying the antithesis black swan might take some work. And the nightmare begins, as Portman, going from the studio: dealing with a menacing, badgering, flirtatiously sexist though cunningly charming director (Vincent Cassel) to home: bickering with a suffocating mother (Barbara Hershey) straight out of PSYCHO.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YsuYspLGUio/TeUxpSn9BgI/AAAAAAAABsk/k-Se584QzrA/s1600/black-swan-poster-movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YsuYspLGUio/TeUxpSn9BgI/AAAAAAAABsk/k-Se584QzrA/s200/black-swan-poster-movie.jpg" width="163" /></a> In-between is the film’s most grounded character, a seemingly normal, streetwise Mila Kunis, Portman’s understudy: acting like a buddy/mentor but with her own agenda. The first half works best as our troubled heroine, stalked by her own double, leans out from a self-imposed prison to grasp the wild side of her nature. But as Portman literally morphs into something otherworldly – the computer animation taking over – it becomes an artsy horror flick that doesn’t quite know what to be. And yet, by the end, as "Swan Lake" completes with the roar of the crowd, you’ll feel you’ve seen something pretty unique (till realizing Aronofsky’s THE WRESTLER ended in the same <i>leaping</i> fashion).

BLACK SWAN

title: BLACK SWAN year: 2010 cast: Natalie Portman, Barbara Hershey, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder rating: *** Anyone unfa...

IN THE HEAT OF PASSION

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87HKHz7aD3o/TeQYaaShdiI/AAAAAAAABsE/cnY8TNqfkDs/s1600/218120_179627495419403_177689438946542_419830_8247008_n-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87HKHz7aD3o/TeQYaaShdiI/AAAAAAAABsE/cnY8TNqfkDs/s200/218120_179627495419403_177689438946542_419830_8247008_n-1.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><b>title:</b> IN THE HEAT OF PASSION<br /> <b>year:</b> 1992<br /> <b>cast:</b> Sally Kirkland, Jsu Garcia, Michael Greene, Jack Carter<br /> <b>rating:</b> ***1/2<br /> <br /> Sure there's a lot of steamy scenes, but this early-nineties Roger Corman production has a lot more going for it. Like Oscar-nominated actress (for 1987's ANNA) Sally Kirkland playing the bored trophy wife of rich man Michael Greene. While at a gas station, she meets hunky mechanic Jsu Garcia (then billed as Nick Corri). The two hit it off and really want to connect; especially Garcia, who makes every effort to do so. And by posing as a cable TV repairman, he talks his way into the bedroom where sexy Kirkland awaits. But what really excels this to greater heights is an action sequence involving Garcia, who's an actor on the side, being chased by mobsters and using this motivation in a scene from a movie (within the movie) with a similar plot line. But back to reality: what Garcia doesn't know is Kirkland, like any effective Film Noir moll, hides a deep dark secret fueling a hidden, and perhaps lethal, agenda. And it takes a grade-A actress and actor to provide enough intrigue and intensity to make a B-movie really work.

jsu garcia, michael greene, neo noir, roger corman, sally kirkland

IN THE HEAT OF PASSION

title: IN THE HEAT OF PASSION year: 1992 cast: Sally Kirkland, Jsu Garcia, Michael Greene, Jack Carter rating: ***1/2 Sure there...

JOHNNY DEPP & ROB MORROW IN PRIVATE RESORT

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9G8nVo6nDtE/TePqgcKtjKI/AAAAAAAABrs/9qlFfQOwWMg/s1600/resort000.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612587403671604386" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9G8nVo6nDtE/TePqgcKtjKI/AAAAAAAABrs/9qlFfQOwWMg/s200/resort000.jpg" style="float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 198px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1985 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> What makes 1980's sex comedies work are the unlucky, insecure yet extremely horny teen males trying hard (throughout the entire film) to find paradise. The problem here is that the two protagonists, played by Johnny Depp (after ELM STREET and before JUMP STREET) and Rob Morrow, are there already.<br /> <br /> Without a care in the world, the boys breezily hang at a plush private resort: either poolside or within the hotel itself. They have everything they need including lots of rich women and token good girl Emily Longstreth: Their only snags are completely unfunny hotel employees and mobster Hector Elizondo (whose trophy wife wants Depp and vice versa) seeking a rich old lady's diamonds. All these one-dimensional characters continuously collide in a hyperactive yet tiresome romp liken to a Blake Edwards comedy, but without any laughs and lead characters who don't have enough to lose, not even their virginity, to gain any victory in the end.

eighties, emily longstreth, hector elizondo, johnny depp, rob morrow, sex comedy

JOHNNY DEPP & ROB MORROW IN PRIVATE RESORT

year: 1985 rating: ** What makes 1980's sex comedies work are the unlucky, insecure yet extremely horny teen males trying hard (thro...

THE PUNISHER

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eLj7ZpyxJW0/TePlwXRj2oI/AAAAAAAABrk/mj1BP5x5E_U/s1600/2004_the_punisher_012.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612582179677919874" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eLj7ZpyxJW0/TePlwXRj2oI/AAAAAAAABrk/mj1BP5x5E_U/s200/2004_the_punisher_012.jpg" style="float: right; height: 154px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2004 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> A gun-toting Marvel comic makes for a gritty film without enough action and too much melodrama. The films begins like many high-octane macho movies do – a bad drug deal goes down and people die, including the son of mobster John Travolta who seeks revenge on the responsible undercover agent Frank Castle, a buff tough Thomas Jane. Enter Castle’s family, a perfect looking son and wife who now live safely on a Mediterranean Island: till Travolta’s thugs take out everyone, including, so they think, Frank… but he somehow survives a killshot to the chest, finds a shirt with a logo resembling a skull within an Afro-pick, and, having returned Stateside, holes up in a grungy, ghetto apartment waiting (and waiting some more) for his own payback i.e. to live up to his title.<br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ePYMWQwLa_U/TePlnhE3mII/AAAAAAAABrc/p17IlKQkcHo/s1600/2004_the_punisher_013.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612582027690219650" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ePYMWQwLa_U/TePlnhE3mII/AAAAAAAABrc/p17IlKQkcHo/s200/2004_the_punisher_013.jpg" style="float: right; height: 152px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">As The Punisher</td></tr> </tbody></table> Side characters within the rat-hole include two extremely annoying computer geeks and a gorgeous girl (providing love without interest). And as opposed to our beefy protagonist seeking revenge, the mobsters seek him, providing only a few fight scenes – one in particular, involving a muscular Russian with carnival music playing, is the best challenge to our “superhero” who doesn't have enough to do, or a decent lead villain to battle. Travolta merely strolls his compound providing filler dialog, and could have been played by anyone. (Will Patton, as Travolta's second, makes a more effective heavy). Gone are the spandex and superpower abilities like most Marvel outings, but there’s not enough kickass action to replace (or provide an alternative for) the thing that makes comic book adaptations work: corny fun.

action, john travolta, marvel comics, superhero, thomas jane, zeroes

THE PUNISHER

2004 rating: **1/2 A gun-toting Marvel comic makes for a gritty film without enough action and too much melodrama. The films begins like...

THE HANGOVER PART II

<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--c1x79u-has/TeNHIF1Y7LI/AAAAAAAABrU/3fPLsFzzwjg/s1600/DDDD.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612407764964404402" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--c1x79u-has/TeNHIF1Y7LI/AAAAAAAABrU/3fPLsFzzwjg/s200/DDDD.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 172px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>THE HANGOVER PART II<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>**<br /> <br /> Las Vegas is where our boys woke up with a hangover the first time. What happens in Vegas, stays there. You’ve heard all that – and at this point, you’ve probably seen it too. And now, here we go again: the new blind-spot odyssey taking place in Bangkok which, unlike Sin City, has little for most audiences to relate with. Nor our characters, who, after waking up hungover (constantly reminding each other: “It happened again”) wander around like bored tourists gathering clues for the disappearance of… not Doug this time. He’s back at a hotel for Phil, Stu and Alan to periodically call: a safety-net that didn’t occur in the original. And even though the self-claimed “Wolf Pack” is a lot further from home, the situation doesn’t seem as dire or hopeless this time around.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_PE8ARqAGoQ/TeNG-zhyCWI/AAAAAAAABrM/jgQJ3hs2LPw/s1600/the-hangover-2-535x357.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612407605431503202" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_PE8ARqAGoQ/TeNG-zhyCWI/AAAAAAAABrM/jgQJ3hs2LPw/s200/the-hangover-2-535x357.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 115px;" /></a> Stu's getting married and his sixteen year old future brother-in-law is the missing-link the boys have to find... in time for the ceremony. It’s all very familiar, but the wry humor’s replaced with over-the-top gross-out situations: making us forget this is a comedy with characters who made us laugh the first time around; not only for their predicament, but their personalities. Bradley Cooper’s Phil is a bland, almost non-existent leader; Ed Helm’s Stu makes for a surprisingly passive victim of circumstances; and ringer Zach Galifianakis’s bearded-bizarro Alan is no scene-stealer. The only funny parts occur during the slide show at the end credits. So perhaps the already-discussed part three should provide us that stuff during the movie, and save the hangover till the end. Hell, it has to work better than this.

blockbuster, bradley cooper, comedy, ed helms, sequel, zach galifianakis

THE HANGOVER PART II

title: THE HANGOVER PART II year: 2011 cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha rating: ** Las Vegas is where ...

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bj4o6W0kwgI/TeIS7vphJ7I/AAAAAAAABq8/_z7nmM-BQz0/s1600/600full-midnight-in-paris-screenshot.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612068903269246898" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bj4o6W0kwgI/TeIS7vphJ7I/AAAAAAAABq8/_z7nmM-BQz0/s200/600full-midnight-in-paris-screenshot.jpg" style="float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 180px;" /></a><b>title: </b>MIDNIGHT IN PARIS<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Owen Wilson<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> *1/2<br /> <br /> Owen Wilson is a flustered Hollywood scriptwriter/wannabe novelist on a trip to Paris with his agitated fiancé (with clichéd right wing parents and clichéd left wing pseudo-intellectual friends): Troubled by perpetual indifference, he ventures alone into the night and is too-easily taken back to the 1930s. There he meets the likes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, and the every-artist den mother, Gertrude Stein.<br /> <br /> Hemingway speaks like a robot reciting Hemingway, while Fitzgerald flaunts his drunkenly troubled, airhead wife, Zelda. Picasso’s in love with a fickle beauty while Owen Wilson, displaying his usual surfer deadpan, as a person thrust into another era acts as if nothing’s going on – and that’s the problem. Woody Allen treats time travel like walking to a corner store, making Paris, the inspiration for a film spanning two (actually three) time periods, feel commonplace; while the actors portraying the famous inhabitants seem like dullards at a costume party. Although one conversation (Wilson and his love interest discussing the importance of nostalgia) does effectively engage the theme of seeking another era for inspiration, so perhaps Woody Allen can transport himself back to the seventies and eighties – he might be able to relearn the art of movie/magic, something he, pulling the same rabbit from an old hat, hasn't effectively concocted for many years.... A more overrated film this reviewer has yet to experience.

comedy, oscar nominated 2012, owen wilson, tens, time travel, woody allen

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

title: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS year: 2011 cast: Owen Wilson rating: *1/2 Owen Wilson is a flustered Hollywood scriptwriter/wannabe novelis...

THE TOURIST

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eXHvMaojoIY/Td13gSJ-UDI/AAAAAAAABqU/6yshv0pvQ_s/s1600/the-tourist-2010--00-300-75.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610772107286695986" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eXHvMaojoIY/Td13gSJ-UDI/AAAAAAAABqU/6yshv0pvQ_s/s200/the-tourist-2010--00-300-75.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 120px; height: 200px;" /></a><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>THE TOURIST</div><span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2010<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Steven Berkoff, Timothy Dalton<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> **<br /><br /><div></div>In one scene, Angelina Jolie, as a British secret agent, glides into a lush Italian hotel bedroom, and Johnny Depp, as a timid American math teacher, after having second thoughts of joining her, sits on a couch and starts reading an espionage novel. That’s what this movie feels like – watching one thing when you’d be better off reading another. The plot has Jolie choosing train-riding tourist Depp (resembling Billy Crystal with a grunge Beethoven pompadour) as a red herring: knowing the government has their eyes on her every move.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LNuzF1WF47k/Td13YCgnVsI/AAAAAAAABqM/xY8qEaN9aTc/s1600/eee.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610771965647738562" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LNuzF1WF47k/Td13YCgnVsI/AAAAAAAABqM/xY8qEaN9aTc/s200/eee.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 99px; height: 200px;" /></a> They’re waiting for her to connect with a mystery man wanted for stealing billions from a billionaire. So the agents sweat behind computer monitors, trying to keep villainous Steven Berkoff, who wants his money back, from killing her. There are only a few quick action scenes, the chemistry between the sleepwalking leads is nonexistent, and the twist ending is not only predictable, but delivers one of the dumbest final bouts of dialog (during the last twenty seconds) in cinematic history.

angelina jolie, johnny depp, spy, steven berkoff, suspense, tens, timothy dalton

THE TOURIST

title: THE TOURIST year: 2010 cast: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Steven Berkoff, Timothy Dalton rating: ** In one scene, Angelina Jolie, ...

THE KING'S SPEECH

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9v_sRdBbURE/TdwzfGWqgqI/AAAAAAAABp0/oQ-dhGGuEz4/s1600/kings-speech2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610415845171430050" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9v_sRdBbURE/TdwzfGWqgqI/AAAAAAAABp0/oQ-dhGGuEz4/s200/kings-speech2.jpg" style="float: right; height: 193px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2010<b> rating: </b>***1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Having won the big Oscars: best picture, best director, and best actor, the simplicity of this film will surprise you. Playing like a knighted KARATE KID, it’s a feel-good teacher/student movie with style, class, and superb performances: A remarkably channeled Colin Firth, as the stuttering/stammering Prince George, can’t give a speech – a medium especially important in the age of 1930’s radio. This is a predicament his wife, played with subtle charm by Helena Bonham Carter, seeks aid for in failed stage actor Lionel Logue, who’s garnered a successful reputation in speech therapy by Geoffrey Rush, basked in an earthy, streetwise, guru-like aura, portrays Logue with a gentle, yet thorough, patience for this virtuous new student, who, despite his important lineage, is downright stubborn and pigheaded. The best parts are the initial “courtships” between George (nicknamed “Bertie”) and Logue, the first not wanting help and the latter keeping at it. The actual lessons, once underway, are shown in a creative montage. Then a peripheral element involving George’s flaky brother, newly crowned King Edward, takes away from the personal mainline story but matters more after Edward, choosing love over hierarchy, hands his title to George: who now needs a teacher more than ever.<br /> <br /> The climax is the big speech, as England wages war on Hitler’s Germany. And when George, with his "coach" by his side, sits before a looming microphone: it feels like one of many cinematic underdog-versus-antagonist bouts: but with a bit more social, and a lot more historic, overall significance.

biopic, colin firth, courtroom drama, england, geoffrey rush, helena bonham carter, oscar nominated, tens

THE KING'S SPEECH

year: 2010 rating: ***1/2 Having won the big Oscars: best picture, best director, and best actor, the simplicity of this film will sur...

THE FIGHTER

<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pomIc8gDqEk/Tdv5um-rjVI/AAAAAAAABpE/E68IrEXo6BI/s1600/rrr.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610352339952831826" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pomIc8gDqEk/Tdv5um-rjVI/AAAAAAAABpE/E68IrEXo6BI/s200/rrr.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 141px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>THE FIGHTER<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2010<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Mark Wahlberg, Chritian Bale, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ****<br /> <br /> <div> </div> Within the first ten seconds it's apparent, as the film begins with pseudo documentary footage about two brothers – one, Dicky Eklund, a has-been boxer who had, years earlier, knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard and the other, Micky Ward, a climber in a slump – that Christian Bale (as Dicky) not only deserved the Oscar but is so in-character, it seems too real a performance to be one at all.<br /> <br /> But that shouldn't take away from the quieter, soft-spoken Micky, played with deft subtlety by Mark Wahlberg, who absorbs his older bro’s training and experience to continue fighting, although it’s not easy: Dicky’s an emaciated, motor-mouthed drug-addict with wily charm, and can’t be bogged down to any structure – which is what Micky needs to move to the next level i.e. win an important fight.<br /> <br /> Melissa Leo, as the brother’s gloriously cranky mother, a character filmed to be loved, plays more for an audience than the frighteningly genuine Bale… though her frantic diatribes are something to admire. The only drawback is that the documentary approach (a film being made of Dicky within the actual movie), while balancing the street savvy structure, makes more mainstream moments – like Micky’s relationship with a local girl, a police chase, and the falling out (and reconciliation) between brothers – seem somewhat contrived in comparison.<br /> <br /> But this is a great film that envelops boxing as if it were not only a sport and/or devise, but a character in itself: Bale and Wahlberg, both inside the ring and out, impeccably channeling that medium.

biopic, boxing, christian bale, courtroom drama, docudrama, mark walhberg, melissa leo, oscar nominated, tens

THE FIGHTER

title: THE FIGHTER year: 2010 cast: Mark Wahlberg, Chritian Bale, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams rating: **** Within the first ten seconds...

127 HOURS

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZNLNe87VkE/TdssyuzLjQI/AAAAAAAABok/jY8YNOGYtXE/s1600/127-hours-james-franco-006.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610127010887863554" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZNLNe87VkE/TdssyuzLjQI/AAAAAAAABok/jY8YNOGYtXE/s200/127-hours-james-franco-006.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 154px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>127 HOURS<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2010<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> James Franco<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***1/2<br /><br />A cross between ALIVE (a young man surviving nature) and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (he films himself), James Franco plays mountain climber Aron Ralston, who solos on a hiking trip in the Utah Mountains: documenting it with a small video camera. On the way to his destination, he runs into two beautiful girls – the last of humanity he’ll see for a few harrowing days in which, after venturing off alone, he falls down a crevice: a boulder wedging him inside with no chance of escape. Director Danny Boyle shows dreamlike flashes of Ralston's childhood mixed with delusional fantasies, all working to bridge the long 127 hours until the inevitable, gruesomely desperate task to survive: occurring in less than a minute. Although there are a bit too many flashbacks, taking away from the extremity of the situation, it all works as a mind-trip outdoor odyssey: proving a creative director, and a talented actor, can keep a story interesting in an extremely limited location.

courtroom drama, danny boyle, james franco, oscar nominated, survival

127 HOURS

title: 127 HOURS year: 2010 cast: James Franco rating: ***1/2 A cross between ALIVE (a young man surviving nature) and THE BLAIR WITCH P...

AMERICAN DRIVE-IN

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--eFfWOdeDpg/TdrLNOkK73I/AAAAAAAABoc/eRy1XKqSG4Y/s1600/American%252Bdrive%252Bin%252BEmily%252BLongstreth.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610019713951919986" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--eFfWOdeDpg/TdrLNOkK73I/AAAAAAAABoc/eRy1XKqSG4Y/s200/American%252Bdrive%252Bin%252BEmily%252BLongstreth.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 145px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> AMERICAN DRIVE-IN<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>1985<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Emily Longstreth, Joel Bennett, Patrick Kirton, Danny Nucci<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***1/2<br /><br /><div></div>An eclectic bouquet of characters, from geeks to sluts to thugs to nuts, go to a drive-in where there’s a horror movie playing, which, centering on a midget and an axe-wielding psycho, is as interesting as the real thing. This is a funny, and completely entertaining, experience you can literally call a drive-in flick. Starring the gorgeous Emily Longstreth, neatly balancing good girl, annoyed girlfriend and damsel in distress as a gang of thugs (led by scene-stealing Joel Bennett), who followed her and a wimpy boyfriend into the theater, attempt to get her alone: but she's tough as nails. Other characters include a would-be mayor, his horny daughter and curious son, two old ladies and a car-load of sexed-up vixens, to name just a few. The non-stop interplay between all the participants, leading to a pandemonium-style climax, flows terrifically in this underrated cult film that deserves a bigger following.

comedy, drive-in, eighties, emily longstreth, ensemble, exploitation, indie

AMERICAN DRIVE-IN

title: AMERICAN DRIVE-IN year: 1985 cast: Emily Longstreth, Joel Bennett, Patrick Kirton, Danny Nucci rating: ***1/2 An eclectic bouquet ...

DUE DATE

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OTEwgB2LD_I/Tdqy-tOsMKI/AAAAAAAABoE/yalLS3ZqNag/s1600/Due%252BDate%252BBanner%252BPoster.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609993076206219426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OTEwgB2LD_I/Tdqy-tOsMKI/AAAAAAAABoE/yalLS3ZqNag/s200/Due%252BDate%252BBanner%252BPoster.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 172px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>DUE DATE<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2010<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Robert Downey Jr., Zack Galifianakis, Juliette Lewis<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>**<br /><br /><div></div>Although technically not a remake of John Hughes’s PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, it’s a replica of the 1980s road trip misadventure involving two polar opposites: one a cynical, stuffy businessman, unsuccessful in taking a plane and reluctantly hitting the road with a talkative, overweight boob: to make it on time for… no, not Thanksgiving, but the birth of his child. Zach Galifianakis makes for a unique (and uneven) bad luck charm, constantly putting uptight Robert Downey Jr. through hell. Downey’s performance is stilted and stuffy, and that’s not just his character channeling through. His constant reminders on how much Galifianakis irks him hinges on intrusive narration.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cuK2qUdjIPI/TdqtAOfHmRI/AAAAAAAABn0/WSEb4Qvpzko/s1600/ddd.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609986505243597074" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cuK2qUdjIPI/TdqtAOfHmRI/AAAAAAAABn0/WSEb4Qvpzko/s200/ddd.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 182px;" /></a> And many of the perilous situations, like an escape from a Mexican border station and a DIE HARD style car crash, are too unrealistic for an odyssey we’re supposed to relate with. The looming due date... Downey’s destination and the entire plot of the film... is an afterthought with no real sense of urgency. And like several 80’s comedies (BREAKFAST CLUB, REVENGE OF THE NERDS and 9 TO 5 come to mind), marijuana breaks the ice: so perhaps this is a celebration of that entire era, on purpose.

comedy, road movie, robert downey jr., tens, zach galifianakis

DUE DATE

title: DUE DATE year: 2010 cast: Robert Downey Jr., Zack Galifianakis, Juliette Lewis rating: ** Although technically not a remake of John...

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES

<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5bKLTU0UpDo/TdhIljd-fTI/AAAAAAAABns/7dUoQITgrP8/s1600/o-preview-for-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides-super-bowl-tv-spot.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609313145903283506" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5bKLTU0UpDo/TdhIljd-fTI/AAAAAAAABns/7dUoQITgrP8/s200/o-preview-for-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides-super-bowl-tv-spot.jpg" style="float: right; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 168px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Johnny <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Depp</span></span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Penélope</span></span> Cruz<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>**<br /> <br /> Camera-loving Johnny <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Depp</span></span> returns as the flitting, rum-drunk Captain Jack Sparrow in this fourth installment that attempts a brand new start.<br /> <br /> Jack’s lovable first mate is imprisoned, and after an amusing courtroom ruse, and learning of a map leading to the Fountain of Youth, there’s an adventurous escape (or two) and somewhere in-between, our prancing hero meets both his long lost love <span style="font-style: italic;">and </span>match: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Penélope</span></span> Cruz as a con-artist with wits equaling beauty.<br /> <br /> Jack’s double-crossed and becomes a slave on a pirate ship captained by none other than Blackbeard, who, while looking formidable and frightening, does little more than spout exposition about the Fountain and confusing “instructions” on how to make it work.<br /> <br /> There’s a nifty battle of pirates verses mermaids: evil fanged fish with the speed of raptors. But when the ship lands on the Fountain-bearing island, the already flawed romp hits a wall and never recovers. Tedious bouts of dialog replace sporadic action, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Depp's</span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">charismatic</span> jester seems out of place within the prolonged, plot-heavy third act.<br /> <br /> And not to forget a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">peripheral</span> love story between a young handsome missionary (filling the Orlando Bloom void) and a pouting, elfin mermaid... although by the end you'll want to.

action, disney, geoffrey rush, johnny depp, tens

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES

title: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES year: 2011 cast: Johnny Depp , Penélope Cruz rating: ** Camera-loving Johnny De...

KRISTEN WIIG IN BRIDESMAIDS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2ZfO_6pbz7s/TdbAloAuwHI/AAAAAAAABnU/WlxwSC4d4_U/s1600/Bridesmaids110211142633bridesmaids-movie-5-600x398.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608882138564706418" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2ZfO_6pbz7s/TdbAloAuwHI/AAAAAAAABnU/WlxwSC4d4_U/s200/Bridesmaids110211142633bridesmaids-movie-5-600x398.jpg" style="float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 169px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rating: ***1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> <strong>title:</strong> BRIDESMAIDS<strong><br />year:</strong> 2011<br /> <strong>cast:</strong> Kristin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Wiig</span>, Rose <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Byrne</span><br /> <br /> <div> </div> Men, don’t sweat: if your girlfriend or wife drags you along, you’ll have fun. The story involves Saturday Night Live’s Kristin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Wiig</span>, a single woman unlucky in love but not love making… the film begins with a spicy romp with banal stud Jon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Hamm</span>, who asks her to leave in the morning... thus the misadventure begins. Her best friend Maya Rudolph is getting married and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Wiig</span>’s asked to be the maid of honor, but she’s not alone. There’s the painfully perfect Rose <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Byrne</span>, Rudolph’s workplace crony, who sneakily challenges <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Wiig</span> and Rudolph's lifelong friendship... Leading to the question: who’ll influence the bridal shower theme?<br /> <br /> The rivals are not only competing for the bride-to-be’s friendship, but the respect of the other bridesmaids as well, including hefty scene-stealer Melissa McCarthy. And of course, a love-interest is always essential and friendly cop Chris O’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Dowd</span> fills that <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">peripheral</span> space with ease as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Wiig</span>, the every-woman's comic, is given a platform for spontaneous humor and, when things pile up, nervous breakdowns, making this a frantic romp with hit-and-miss jokes but more importantly, an interesting ensemble within a universal story of love and friendship that either sex can relate to.

comedy, kristin wiig, melissa mccarthy, rose byrne, tens

KRISTEN WIIG IN BRIDESMAIDS

Rating: ***1/2 title: BRIDESMAIDS year: 2011 cast: Kristin Wiig , Rose Byrne Men, don’t sweat: if your girlfriend or wife drags ...

THE BEAVER

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3iDcX8bj1B0/TdDQDzVplSI/AAAAAAAABnE/V_yD-w3HsaM/s1600/The_Beaver_movie_stills_7.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607210299815466274" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3iDcX8bj1B0/TdDQDzVplSI/AAAAAAAABnE/V_yD-w3HsaM/s200/The_Beaver_movie_stills_7.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 188px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> THE BEAVER<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> *<br /><br />The story of a depressed family man, played by Mel Gibson, using a beaver hand puppet to cope with everyday life – allowing it to talk for him with a voice resembling Michael Caine – spends little time setting up what drove him to this strange behavior for it to seem either shocking or humorous to his family, employees, or the audience. All we get is five minutes of the main character looking sullen, drinking, and waking up hungover: then he's using the puppet for no explained, or even creatively unexplained, reason whatsoever. The painfully melodramatic acting from Gibson and director Jodie Foster is nothing compared to an extremely useless, and horrendously pretentious, subplot of their oddball high school son courting a pretty girl who practices the “art” of graffiti. And the puppet itself fails both as a quirky comedic devise or, when Gibson’s psychosis mounts to self-inflicted violence, an effective symbol of mental illness. An incredibly bad film, almost beyond description.

drama, jodie foster, mel gibson, tens

THE BEAVER

title: THE BEAVER year: 2011 cast: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin rating: * The story of a depressed family man, played by Mel ...

PRIEST

<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mz4wN7c7eK0/Tc90NKG8wVI/AAAAAAAABm0/vrOrWmXayJ4/s1600/Priest%252BMovie.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606827830500180306" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mz4wN7c7eK0/Tc90NKG8wVI/AAAAAAAABm0/vrOrWmXayJ4/s200/Priest%252BMovie.jpg" style="float: right; height: 149px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>PRIEST<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Paul Bettany, Karl Urban<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> **<br /> <br /> It usually takes five or six comic books to equal one film. This seems like a stretched-out single issue of a story hardly setting up characters within a two minute trailer-like intro. Then plunging us straight into a cold world where icy religion reigns, and priests, trained to slay, are forced into denial.<br /> <br /> Gone are the films when vamps were dark-haired men with capes. Although there is one human neck-biter; Karl Urban’s “Black Hat” is the Lee Van Cleef to priest vamp slayer Paul Betanny’s Clint Eastwood… the latter a man (with a permanent cross tattoo on his forehead) in search of the bloodsuckers who killed his brother and sister-in-law, and kidnapped his niece. Tagging along is Cam Gigandant, the niece’s boyfriend, part punk, park gunslinger, all attitude. And they have to kill many vampires, each resembling Gollum born with a hyperactive frog's DNA.<br /> <br /> The Western theme, with the good guys going from town-to-town in an apocalyptic wasteland, is marred by cheesy, monotone-delivered dialog and rushed action scenes. But the finale involving our heroes out to blow up a fast moving train makes this, at best, a semi-enjoyable bite from the neck of a numbskull.

action, brad dourif, horror, karl urban, paul bettany, post-apocalyptic, tens, vampire

PRIEST

title: PRIEST year: 2011 cast: Paul Bettany, Karl Urban rating: ** It usually takes five or six comic books to equal one film. This s...

PATTY HEARST

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4zp5NhMcBxo/Tc20TAT_VuI/AAAAAAAABmk/ENDZQ5cC14c/s1600/Patty_Hearst_1988_big_poster.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606335349740492514" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4zp5NhMcBxo/Tc20TAT_VuI/AAAAAAAABmk/ENDZQ5cC14c/s200/Patty_Hearst_1988_big_poster.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 143px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>PATTY HEARST<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>1988<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Natasha Richardson, Ving Rhames, William Forsythe, Olivia Barash<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>***1/2<br /><br />Writer/Director Paul Schrader brings a gritty punk rock vibe to the Patty Hearst story which, based on her novel, follows the spoiled girl’s kidnapping by the S.L.A., headed by Ving Rhames, providing more monologues than a Shakespearean bard. The first act’s filmed with a mysterious, shadowy structure showing Patty inside a closet, the antagonists sporadically opening the door, filling her with threats and eventually, insight. This leads to the second act as a jaded Hearst joins the gang, robbing banks and blowing shit up. Other members include sly, cat-like Olivia Barash, a gossipy Dana Delaney, a moody William Forsythe and his tough "moll" Frances Fisher; the latter duo, in act three, on the run with the heiress-turned-fugitive after the others are killed in a bloody raid. Paul Schrader’s documentarian-style direction is fast and slick, and the script never gets one-sided. Although based on her own propaganda, the film shows Hearst, played wonderfully by Natasha Richardson, as someone who could be telling it like it was, or stretching her own truth. Either way, it’s a story that’s intensely brought to life by a cinematic maverick, born to recreate such a controversial biopic.

biopic, drama, eighties, olivia barash, paul schrader

PATTY HEARST

title: PATTY HEARST year: 1988 cast: Natasha Richardson, Ving Rhames, William Forsythe, Olivia Barash rating: ***1/2 Writer/Director Paul S...

THOR

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rJK-Sw8dZCg/Tc2DZMVM6HI/AAAAAAAABmM/xdNP9_YrIs0/s1600/Thor-Movie-Wallpaper-7-1024x768.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606281579976255602" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rJK-Sw8dZCg/Tc2DZMVM6HI/AAAAAAAABmM/xdNP9_YrIs0/s200/Thor-Movie-Wallpaper-7-1024x768.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 152px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>THOR<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***1/2<br /><br />Seems strange Kenneth Branagh would direct a Marvel Comics adaptation? Well the main setting’s a lair within the fantastical world in Asgard that, resembling a giant stage, has intense actors shouting about honor and battle. Thor, played with gusto by Chris Hemsworth, is an overly confident son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) who, along with a small group of warriors… including passive brother Loki… goes to battle with evil “frost giants.” This displeases pop, who sends Thor and his hammer separately to earth. The hammer, like King Arthur’s sword, is planted into the ground with no one able to lift it. Nearby, Thor’s discovered by a group of scientists – one older man and two beautiful girls including love-interest Natalie Portman, aiding our godly-powerless but humanly-badass hero in recovering the blade.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xpu6AKkv6s8/Tc2Ddm9AXdI/AAAAAAAABmU/pymi8MQ1Q4I/s1600/0002-thor-movie-image.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606281655842004434" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xpu6AKkv6s8/Tc2Ddm9AXdI/AAAAAAAABmU/pymi8MQ1Q4I/s200/0002-thor-movie-image.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 189px; height: 200px;" /></a> The best moments have Thor adapting to the small town setting; in one scene, storming into a pet store, he demands a horse. Then as he fist-fights soldiers and battles a giant metallic robot, the action, with abundant but never intrusive CGI, delivers. Meanwhile, back at the sky ranch, after brother Loki’s realized as the main villain, a redeemed Thor returns to fight him. At this point we yearn for more fish-out-of-water adventures on Earth, but thankfully, the film ends soon after… seeming like a slightly prolonged short story adapted to the big screen, making for simplistic, fun fare – which is a good thing. After all, it’s a comic book origin… not Shakespeare.

action, anthony hopkins, blockbuster, marvel comics, tens

THOR

title: THOR year: 2011 cast: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman rating: ***1/2 Seems strange Kenneth Branagh would direct...

TRON: LEGACY

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AEkLA2LZmGo/Tc2B8UFLriI/AAAAAAAABl8/SRb4-LGb9q0/s1600/229553_2105592081807_1305660700_32698215_929333_n.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606279984328715810" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AEkLA2LZmGo/Tc2B8UFLriI/AAAAAAAABl8/SRb4-LGb9q0/s200/229553_2105592081807_1305660700_32698215_929333_n.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 166px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> TRON: LEGACY<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2010<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Sheen<br />r<span style="font-weight: bold;">ating:</span> **<br /><br />Part THE MATRIX with shades of THE DARK KNIGHT, this sequel to the Disney classic starts with effective action scenes as Sam Flynn, slacker son of Jeff Bridge’s technological genius Flynn (missing for years), plays a risky prank on the new uptight heads of ENCOM. Then, upon returning to pop’s 1980's arcade (Bruce Boxleitner providing exposition), he’s sucked into the computer world resembling a digital Gotham City. A flying disc battle initiation is great; one-on-one, it’s easy to keep score... yet the light cycle grid "game," involving too many players, is difficult to follow. But we do know that CLU, played by a youthfully restored Jeff Bridges, is now the dictator (liken to David Warner of yesteryear) and wants Flynn Junior dead.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PNsMAHXSKKA/Tc2CTEPtDEI/AAAAAAAABmE/4KHe8xf8iyI/s1600/lightcycle.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606280375214869570" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PNsMAHXSKKA/Tc2CTEPtDEI/AAAAAAAABmE/4KHe8xf8iyI/s200/lightcycle.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 140px;" /></a> And when son finds dad in a mountainous hideout/bat cave, the film hits a wall and never recovers. A bearded, wizardly Jeff Bridges provides a weak backstory about CLU turning evil for no reason whatsoever. This followed by a glitzy battle in a discotheque with pulsating rave music. And more long bouts of dialog follow, leading to a quick, dull climax. The character-driven original, though technologically dated… made when home computers were rare… brought the viewer to a fantastic otherworld with an unflagging pace. But now, since computers are common, it all resembles a video game… and a boring one at that.

disney, jeff bridges, science-fiction, sequel, tens

TRON: LEGACY

title: TRON: LEGACY year: 2010 cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Sheen r ating: ** Part THE MATRIX with sha...

LUST FOR LIFE

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tXJjDqfnvEk/TciatJpFYdI/AAAAAAAABkk/X2tL3OCO11I/s1600/van%252Bgogh1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604899836735611346" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tXJjDqfnvEk/TciatJpFYdI/AAAAAAAABkk/X2tL3OCO11I/s200/van%252Bgogh1.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 198px;" /></a><strong>title:</strong> LUST FOR LIFE<br /><div><strong>year:</strong> 1956<br /><strong>cast:</strong> Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald<br /><strong>rating:</strong> ****<br /><br />What could have been a typical old school biopic, stretching the truth for mainstream audiences, is a very effective study of Vincent Van Gogh, played nicely by Kirk Douglas, and his art. From his beginnings as a hopeful missionary to his search for a new style of painting, we get to see Van Gogh’s actual portraits, serving as a reminder both for his genius and a device for an impending insanity that, while seeming more passionately grandiose than desperately sad, envelopes the man’s story and why it’s being told. Scenes involving Van Gogh rooming with boisterous rival Paul Gauguin (Anthony Quinn) is memorable, but the moments with the artist alone, staring at the real life backdrops of his paintings, makes this an important, and effective, classic. </div>

anthony quinn, biopic, everette sloane, fifties, kirk douglas

LUST FOR LIFE

title: LUST FOR LIFE year: 1956 cast: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald rating: **** What could have been a typical old school ...

BODY DOUBLE

<div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IzDBT86bS8k/TcgvrYFr_tI/AAAAAAAABjs/X3KAfwoh6Es/s1600/body-double-1984-04-g.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604782158509768402" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IzDBT86bS8k/TcgvrYFr_tI/AAAAAAAABjs/X3KAfwoh6Es/s200/body-double-1984-04-g.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 145px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" /></a><strong>title:</strong> BODY DOUBLE<br /><strong>year:</strong> 1984<br /><strong>cast:</strong> Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, Dennis Franz<br /><strong>rating:</strong> ***<br /><br />Suspense maverick Brian De Palma followed up his big budget/big name mob epic SCARFACE with a small thriller starring talented "no name" Craig Wasson, a claustrophobic b-list actor housesitting a domed high-rise: quickly introduced to a telescope with a naked woman on the other side. The voyeuristic life gets the best of Wasson, who, like James Stewart in Hitchock's REAR WINDOW, sees more than expected. Two gorgeous ladies (one being a porn star played by Melanie Griffith), a deformed "Indian" psychopath, and lots of near-death experiences makes for a combination of DRESSED TO KILL and Paul Schrader's HARDCORE that, while often meandering, has something intriguing around every corner. De Palma fans won't be disappointed, while others must submit to survive.</div>

brian de palma, craig wasson, eighties, larry flash jenkins, melanie griffith, suspense

BODY DOUBLE

title: BODY DOUBLE year: 1984 cast: Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, Dennis Franz rating: *** Suspense maverick Brian De Pa...

YOUNG DOCTORS IN LOVE

<div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RM4jRe4GHqc/Tcg3G-MU1EI/AAAAAAAABj0/hXg98KU19lw/s1600/YOUNGDOCTORS.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604790329176020034" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RM4jRe4GHqc/Tcg3G-MU1EI/AAAAAAAABj0/hXg98KU19lw/s200/YOUNGDOCTORS.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 178px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" /></a><strong>title:</strong> YOUNG DOCTORS IN LOVE<strong><br />year:</strong> 1982<br /><div><strong>cast:</strong> Michael McKean, Sean Young, Harry Dean Stanton<br /><strong>rating:</strong> ***<br /><br />Garry Marshall's hospital comedy, where an ensemble of interns strive for love and advancement, works and it doesn't. As a joke-after-joke "Airplane!" clone it isn't funny enough, but the characters are involving: like Michael McKean is an uptight intern with a troubled past who falls for gorgeous Sean Young, and vice versa. Other stories include Dabney Coleman, as the jerky chief of staff, going broke or a mob boss stalked by a zany hitman (Michael Richards), while the mobster's son (Hector Elizondo), in drag, is hit on by a love-lorn intern. Many other stories occur while Sean Young's dying of a rare disease - and only McKean, with a phobia to operate, can save her. Since you'll care about these people, the many missed jokes won't matter. </div></div>

comedy, dabney coleman, eighties, garry marshall, harry dean stanton, larry flash jenkins, michael mckean, michael richards, sean young

YOUNG DOCTORS IN LOVE

title: YOUNG DOCTORS IN LOVE year: 1982 cast: Michael McKean, Sean Young, Harry Dean Stanton rating: *** Garry Marshall's hospital...

SILENT MOVIE

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qI_mgD1OIaI/TcWcwJSPYGI/AAAAAAAABjU/yieCZfA5YC0/s1600/silent-movie.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604057662272528482" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qI_mgD1OIaI/TcWcwJSPYGI/AAAAAAAABjU/yieCZfA5YC0/s200/silent-movie.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 178px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>SILENT MOVIE<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 1976<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Mel Brooks, Dom Deluise, Marty Feldman, Burt Reynolds, James Caan<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***1/2<br /><br />Mel Brooks makes a silent movie (with title cards and all) about a has-been director with a crazy idea: to make a silent movie. Brooks, along with Dom Deluise and Marty Feldman, drive around seeking big stars for their picture: Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Paul Newman, and Liza Minelli: all victims of the trio's non-stop physical comedy. Harold Gould as a keystone corporate villain and Bernedette Peters as the love interest snag the hijinks a bit, but the action always finds new ground. Not hilarious like BLAZING SADDLES, but you'll be entertained.

burt reynolds, comedy, dom deluise, james caan, mel brooks, paul newman, seventies, slapstick

SILENT MOVIE

title: SILENT MOVIE year: 1976 cast: Mel Brooks, Dom Deluise, Marty Feldman, Burt Reynolds, James Caan rating: ***1/2 Mel Brooks makes a ...

Q & A

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ts17ZFXa5fE/TcJH7V6VzUI/AAAAAAAABjM/zGCBxOaUhBg/s1600/qa-dvd.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603119971222015298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ts17ZFXa5fE/TcJH7V6VzUI/AAAAAAAABjM/zGCBxOaUhBg/s200/qa-dvd.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 136px; height: 200px;" /></a><strong>title:</strong> Q & A<strong><br />year:</strong> 1990<br /><strong>cast:</strong> Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante, Luis Guzman<br /><strong>rating:</strong> **<br /><br />Nick Nolte’s racist killer cop steals the show. That’s until Timothy Hutton, as the New York police department's idealist D.A., starts moving in. Then Nolte becomes a villain who must be stopped, turning his devilish manipulator into an over-the-top serial killer. Director Sidney Lumet revamps his SERPICO and PRINCE OF THE CITY agenda, showing a few good cops swimming in a barrel of snaky corruption. Armand Assante is effective as a drug kingpin who openly questions Nolte's "self defense" killing of a lowlife, causing his sycophant cop buddies to realize the truth. But it’s Timothy Hutton’s forced Brooklyn accent, and the horrendously melodramatic scenes with his ex-fiance - now bedded down with Assante - that turns a semi-entertaining (yet highly manipulative) crime drama into daytime soap.

cop, crime/melodrama, nick nolte, nineties, sidney lumet, timothy hutton

Q & A

title: Q & A year: 1990 cast: Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante, Luis Guzman rating: ** Nick Nolte’s racist killer cop st...

TUT AND TUTTLE WITH CHRIS BARNES & OLIVIA BARASH

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PPCT-7XDTBg/UIzM1ZdgieI/AAAAAAAAPQU/uDoKfCwKCyg/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PPCT-7XDTBg/UIzM1ZdgieI/AAAAAAAAPQU/uDoKfCwKCyg/s640/Picture+1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1979 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Originally titled TUT AND TUTTLE and changed to THROUGH THE MAGIC PYRAMID or THE TIME CRYSTAL on reruns and video, the story centers on Chris Barnes aka Tanner Boyle, the scene-stealing scrapper from THE BAD NEWS BEARS, whose favorite curio, a crystal pyramid, takes him to ancient Egypt where a young pre-King Tut, speaking in a laidback Califorina accent, is in danger of royal climber Vic Tayback, who kidnaps the young leader... So Barnes and faithful ingenue Olivia Barash, as Tut's sister, roam the Egyptian ruins: happening upon an assortment of Variety Show hams seeking their moment in the sun. The best scenes involve the duo's trek throughout the Egyptian exterior (actually Los Angeles) without adult interruption: battling bad guys using rocks and football tactics.<br /> <br /> Directed by Ron Howard in the late-70s following his Roger Corman hot rod ventures, this artifact is worth discovering: the laughs are almost non-stop and few are intentional. And the pre-teen Barnes being unsuccessfully seduced by a horny harem of twenty-something ladies is very... memorable.<br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zYTTFaYqhyQ" width="480"></iframe>

adventure, children, chris barnes, made-for-TV, olivia barash, ron howard, seventies

TUT AND TUTTLE WITH CHRIS BARNES & OLIVIA BARASH

year: 1979 rating: *** Originally titled TUT AND TUTTLE and changed to THROUGH THE MAGIC PYRAMID or THE TIME CRYSTAL on reruns and video...

SOYLENT GREEN

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Myuo68cjnts/Tb3cM4HEZhI/AAAAAAAABis/pWFU8urafXU/s1600/gal_soylentgreen.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601875625297339922" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Myuo68cjnts/Tb3cM4HEZhI/AAAAAAAABis/pWFU8urafXU/s200/gal_soylentgreen.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 174px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> SOYLENT GREEN<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 1973<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Edward G. Robinson<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>****<br /><br />Like SILENT RUNNING, this science-fiction cult classic has a big time environmental message, yet never gets preachy. The investigative action, through the eyes of Charlton Heston's wily cop character, is always intriguing: there's a secret being withheld and the murder of an important man (Joseph Cotten) could be connected. The future, where overpopulation and lack of food causes the government to dole out a wafer substance called "Soylent Green," seems claustrophobically real despite some dated sets and costumes. And with actors like Heston, Joseph Cotten, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Conners, and Edward G. Robinson, this is a gem with a twist ending that, although you might see it coming, is still quite good: if not for the fact Heston gets to scream it at the top of his lungs!

action, charlton heston, edward g. robinson, joseph cotten, leigh taylor-young, science-fiction, seventies

SOYLENT GREEN

title: SOYLENT GREEN year: 1973 cast: Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Edward G. Robinson rating: **** Like SILENT RUNNING, this scie...

I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L_4lRtVEhIM/Tb3XqfRHLYI/AAAAAAAABik/TnAbcrzVLBY/s1600/224370_194187510625537_106638979380391_501170_6711405_n.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601870636466515330" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L_4lRtVEhIM/Tb3XqfRHLYI/AAAAAAAABik/TnAbcrzVLBY/s200/224370_194187510625537_106638979380391_501170_6711405_n.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 124px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 1967<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Peter Sellers, Leigh Taylor-Young, Joyce Van Patten, David Arkin<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> **1/2<br /><br />Clever but familiar premise has Peter Sellers as an uptight lawyer going through an early mid-life crisis after meeting a young gorgeous hippie girl, Leigh-Taylor Young, and, after ditching his wedding to annoying fiance Joyce Van Patten, he becomes a full-blown hippie. Soon he learns the easygoing lifestyle is anything but, and perhaps his uptight ways are best for him. And that's the fun part, as Sellers begins to doubt his choices with niche expressions that always keep you guessing. And while Sellers has his moments, Leigh Taylor-Young steals the movie, perfectly balancing street-smart charm and naivete. But a dated soundtrack, sounding like a game show, and lack of any solidly funny moments, keeps it at an even buzz throughout.

david arkin, joyce van patten, leigh taylor-young, peter sellers, psychedellic, sixties

I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS

title: I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS year: 1967 cast: Peter Sellers, Leigh Taylor-Young, Joyce Van Patten, David Arkin rating: **1/2 Cleve...

THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W9qmXgmOChY/Tb3Ri-iYNJI/AAAAAAAABic/ojxpKAMerBw/s1600/226162_194187417292213_106638979380391_501162_2482481_n.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601863910351713426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W9qmXgmOChY/Tb3Ri-iYNJI/AAAAAAAABic/ojxpKAMerBw/s200/226162_194187417292213_106638979380391_501162_2482481_n.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 170px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 1971<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Robert DeNiro, Leigh Taylor-Young, Jerry Orbach, Lionel Stander<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> **<br /><br />It's too bad this film, while centering on goofball criminals including Jerry Orbach trying to kill rival boss Lionel Stander, is a train wreck because the side story dealing with Orbach's beautiful sister Leigh Taylor-Young (using an Italian accent effectively), and her affair with Sicilian bicyclist/kleptomaniac Robert DeNiro, is quite nice. Both stories seem separate, and only really connect at the end, as DeNiro's arrested and put on trial for... well it's doesn't matter as there's no real plot in this hijinx caper, attempting Charlie Chaplan and failing profusely. But center on the gorgeous Taylor-Young and a very young DeNiro, who a few years later would play a Sicilian in THE GODFATHER PART II, and you'll be fine.

comedy, jerry orbach, leigh taylor-young, mob, robert deniro, seventies

THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT

title: THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT year: 1971 cast: Robert DeNiro, Leigh Taylor-Young, Jerry Orbach, Lionel Stander rating: ...

CURLY SUE

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RR7-s2tSTR4/Tb3CuFPHvkI/AAAAAAAABiU/LM1qmYipzSw/s1600/Curly_Sue_231784s.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601847608454135362" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RR7-s2tSTR4/Tb3CuFPHvkI/AAAAAAAABiU/LM1qmYipzSw/s200/Curly_Sue_231784s.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>CURLY SUE<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 1991<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Jim Belushi, Alisan Porter, Kelly Lynch, John Getz, Fred Dalton<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> *<br /><br />Curly Sue will steal your heart... till you don't have one anymore. And then, heartless, you'll seethe in anger watching one of the worst examples of class envy ever made. For in Chicago, Illinois, there are only two kinds of people: the rich... Kelly Lynch as a bad lawyer turned good, and John Getz as a bad lawyer turned even worse; and the poor... our heroes Jim Belushi, a con-man vagabond with a ten year old daughter, Curly Sue, in toe: helping him scheme people out of money. It's when you see a horrible movie by a lightweight director like John Hughes that you realize his brilliance otherwise. Using the close-up punch in the face gag (think UNCLE BUCK socking the clown) more than a dozen times, and with music so pulsating with contrived sympathy, this Hughes mess (his last directed project) isn't only unfunny, but has no plot whatsoever. But perhaps there's a theme: bums have hearts of gold, and anyone with money can be redeemed: if only they realize the theme of this movie. Blech!

CURLY SUE

title: CURLY SUE year: 1991 cast: Jim Belushi, Alisan Porter, Kelly Lynch, John Getz, Fred Dalton rating: * Curly Sue will steal your hea...