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Movies
Enterprise Gets a New Crew for a Familiar Ride
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
If J.J. Abrams aimed to boldly go where no man has gone before with Star Trek, his long-anticipated franchise reboot that traces Capt. James T. Kirk’s roots back to his wildly undisciplined youth, give him some credit. While there’s no denying his contribution to the cult phenomenon dreamed up by Gene Roddenberry is cleverly executed, this latest Star Trek sometimes feels more like a winking homage than a new beginning. More
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Movies
Man on the Run
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Aliens have a long, grisly history of invading our planet, bent on eradicating our species and denuding our land of its life-giving resources. They tried it in 1953’s War of the Worlds, and they tried again in this spring’s Monsters vs. Aliens. The twist in Aristomenis Tsirbas’ Battle for Terra, an animated 3-D adventure not produced by either DreamWorks or Pixar, is brilliantly simple: this time, we’re the aliens. More
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Movies
It Just Gets Worse
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.
Those who thought Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand was as bad as it gets shouldn’t see X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Incredibly Gavin Hood (Rendition) has taken the crown from Ratner for creating the worst X-Men film. Wolverine is sloppy, poorly paced and full of every cliché a superhero/action movie could have. Sure, it has its moments of fun, mainly due to the characters of the X-Men universe and by the (mostly) talented actors who play them, but those who said there’s more stories to tell about these characters won’t convince anyone with this film. More
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Movies
The Little Garden That Could (or Not)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s Oscar-nominated follow-up to 2002’s OT: Our Town, his documentary about a Compton high school attempting to stage its first play in over 20 years, chronicles a South Central Los Angeles farming community’s struggle to save its land from a millionaire developer. The stage is set for a power struggle rife with moral outrage, and The Garden delivers that in spades, but Kennedy’s second effort is as much a compelling, seamlessly crafted underdog tale as a revealing glimpse behind the curtain of big-city politics. More
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Movies
Boy Meets Girl, Boy Uses Girl, Boy Makes Amends
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.
There is an audience for Matthew McConaughey’s romantic comedies -- I know this because Hollywood keeps making them -- but I am not a part of it. I have enjoyed him as a rugged, Indiana Jones-style adventurer in Sahara, and as a fast-talking agent with a conscience in last year’s Tropic Thunder. But even his low-key charisma and pearly white smile couldn’t redeem cynical exercises like Fool’s Goldor How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. More
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Movies
Some Dreams Never Die
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
The story of this metal band may look like a real-life Spinal Tap and, actually, it’s not too far off. Sacha Gervasi’s directorial debut documents Canadian band Anvil as they enter their golden years, nearly 30 years since their debut in the early 80s, still searching for their big break. More
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Movies
Dysfunction in the 70s
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Lymelife, while filmed with love, precision and supported by an amazing cast, ultimately offers nothing that hasn’t been seen before. It follows two upper-middle class Long Island families as they struggle to attain the American Dream. It’s a beautiful, well-acted film that never quite finds its footing and it’s a shame because it has so much potential. More
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Movies
Not Quite a Symphony
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Nothing says “Oscar bait” like a “based on a true story” film centered on the redemptive friendship between a lonely, divorced writer and a mentally ill, homeless musician. Add to that Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winners in front of and behind the cameras and you have a seemingly perfect formula for Oscar success. Unfortunately, Joe Wright’s (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice) third film, The Soloist, from a screenplay by Susannah Grant and based on Steve Lopez’s newspaper series and the subsequent non-fiction book, is hitting movie theaters two months after Oscar statues have been handed out. More
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Movies
For People Who Love Movies
The longest running film festival in the Americas is back for its 52nd iteration. Truly, the San Francisco International Film Festival is a festival programmed by those who love film for people who love film. Once again, the crack team at the San Francisco Film Society has assembled a stellar mix of films, tributes, ‘big nights’, musical performances, and just about everything in between. More
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Movies
Corporate and Political Deception
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
While State of Play has a lot of great talent they, unfortunately, don’t have much to work with. Do we really need another mediocre yet star-studded political thriller? At best, this film is perfect for a lazy Friday night on the couch. More
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