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Movies
Should Have Stayed Lost
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
There are only two reasons to see Land of the Lost: Will Ferrell and Danny McBride. This isn’t a shining moment in either’s career, but they are both inherently funny and manage to lift up an otherwise disastrous film into watchable territory. The blame on this one doesn’t fall with its stars but rather director Brad Silberling who concocts a story of perpetual plot conveniences devoid of almost any character development. The only conclusion is that all those involved wanted to have fun making a multi-million dollar film while caring less about how it turned out. More
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Movies
The Japanese Way of Death
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
People hate the thought of dying so much, it's no wonder whole industries exist to either help us delay the inevitable with medicines or tart us up with embalming fluids when it's our time to lie six feet under. The Japanese are no exception. Any culture that turned the act of pouring a cup of tea into an intricate ceremony long on symbolism could certainly turn a wake into a meaningful ritual that helps families say sayonara to their loved ones. Departures ("Okuribito") provides an illuminating, touching, yet not humorless look inside a little-known profession, even for the Japanese. More
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Movies
Pixar Triumphs Again
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
If there’s one thing to bet on in Hollywood, it’s Pixar. They are, without a doubt, the most consistent filmmakers out there. While everyone has their preference as to their favorite Pixar film, Up is just another home run in the greatest winning streak since the days of classic Disney animated films. More
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Movies
One Hell of a Return
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Ah, those gypsies and their mystical curses. What will they think of next? Nothing good, I suspect. Ancient curses and supernatural spells have long given filmmakers license to indulge their most exotic fantasies, inspiring scenarios so deliriously macabre they seem more surreal than shocking. And perhaps no American director has proved more adept at playing on our fascination with the occult than Sam Raimi. More
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Movies
Have You Been Conned?
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
Rian Johnson achieved cult status with his low-budget take on classic, straightforward film noir in Brick. Not only did it have a great story but it was also set in a contemporary high school, the last place you’d expect to have a high stakes detective story. So as with any blooming writer/director, the bar is set high for his follow up effort. Fortunately for Johnson, and fans of Brick, he proves that even with a Hollywood budget he can still deliver one hell of a film. More
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Movies
It’s Not Personal - It’s Business
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
There is nothing warm, fuzzy or even erotic about Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, a movie bound to be remembered as much for its leading lady’s other on-screen exploits -- she’s world-famous porn star Sasha Grey -- as for its clinical depiction of a high-priced Manhattan escort as a passionless pro. More
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Movies
Yet Another Unnecessary Sequel
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.
Two-and-a-half years ago, Night at the Museum, a lackluster, family-oriented fantasy adventure, became a surprise hit, making $250 million in North America alone and $574 million worldwide. A sequel was, of course, inevitable and a sequel is what family audiences will get this weekend with the awkwardly titled Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Not all sequels, however, are made equal. More
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Movies
Machines Dehumanize
Terminator Salvation holds the rare distinction of being both a prequel and a sequel, set 34 years after James Cameron’s 1984 original, whose backstory it seeks to explain, and picking up more or less where Jonathan Mostow’s underappreciated Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines left off. More
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Movies
A Bore of Biblical Proportions
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.
Rarely before has wordy exposition been employed more excessively and to lesser effect than in Angel & Demons, Ron Howard’s middling follow-up to The Da Vinci Code. For those craving action and suspense, there’s little to be found here, despite a whirlwind denouement that sees our hero, Harvard professor and renowned symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), racing around Rome in search of an Illuminati killer. More
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Movies
Portrait of a Fighter Unhinged
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Former heavyweight champion turned cautionary tale Mike Tyson has been described as a lot of things -- a thief, a rapist, an animal and, during his professional heyday, the most terrifying fighter on the planet -- but rarely has he been presented as sympathetic. More
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