Posted on 19 December 2009
The General is considered one of the greatest films ever made, ranking in at number 18 on the most recent AFI list. We agree. However, bringing a silent film starring Buster Keaton from 1927 to high definition and Blu-ray posed some challenges, and producer Bret Wood let us in on the process, while offering thoughts [...]
Posted on 08 December 2009
For as dark as these Harry Potter film adaptations are becoming, they are still not afraid to laugh. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and Ron (Rupert Grint) remain light-hearted friends, wrestling over the better of two potion textbooks when they arrive late to class. Ron also becomes affected by a love potion, which is aided by a [...]
Posted on 24 November 2009
Funny People, up to a certain point, is Judd Apatow’s masterpiece. That point is easy to pick out. In it, George Simmons (Adam Sandler) attempts to rekindle a past relationship with Laura (Leslie Mann).
They sit outdoors of Simmons’ mansion, one built from the millions of Hollywood dollars earned through starring roles in dopey comedies. All [...]
Posted on 03 November 2009
Scream is timeless. It was a perfect satire of a genre that lost any spark of originality decades before. Scary Movie doesn’t seem to understand that.
By parodying specific horror movies, Scary Movie is now hopelessly dated, and the pop culture references now terribly unfunny (as opposed to just unfunny when the movie was released). The [...]
Posted on 02 September 2009
Gladiator opens with a massive battle between the Romans and the last of a barbarian horde. It is seven minutes in, and director Ridley Scott has the audience in his hands.
The battle is huge, with catapults flinging flaming ammunition at a nearly defenseless army. Swords clash, blood flows freely, and the intensity does not let [...]
Posted on 17 August 2009
It is hard to fathom a movie with more hype behind it than The Dark Knight. This is the point where the comic book movie has truly come into its own, surpassing the usual boundaries to become something more. This is not a perfect film by any stretch, but it’s a great, involving thrill ride.
Director [...]
Posted on 12 August 2009
Face/Off is a monumentally stupid movie. It followed another John Woo and John Travolta monumentally stupid movie, Broken Arrow. At least Broken Arrow stuck to the basics to set up its action. Face/Off is famous for the idiotic concept of face swapping, admittedly original yet completely absurd.
Travolta and Nicolas Cage face off (heh) without any [...]
Posted on 15 July 2009
History of Violence opens in a idyllic small town, where the local sheriff eats at the town diner. Here works Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen), your average father and husband, living inside a home with a white picket fence.
It is perfect, comfortable, and familiar. The setting is brilliant, drawing the audience into a pristine family, and [...]
Posted on 11 July 2009
Con Air is one of those movies that created a slew of action movie parodies. It’s so absurd, the dialogue so ridiculous, and the premise so utterly incoherently preposterous, you can’t help but laugh. You know what though? It’s enormously entertaining.
Con Air follows a group of the most politically correct villains in the history of [...]
Posted on 09 June 2009
A tense, well thought out thriller, Patriot Games is high on the list of the Tom Clancy adaptations to the screen. While it may not be accurate to the novel in a number of ways, this is still fine movie making aside from a clustered and overly long start up.
Patriot Games offers a lot of [...]