The primary fear with a movie like Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time, other than the fact that it’s another film based on a video game, is that it will take itself too seriously. Nothing can sink a would-be summer diversion more than self-importance, and while Prince of Persia… Continue reading
Looking back at the archives from my review of 2008’s Sex and the City film, I came across this sentence: “the fact of the matter is that this review doesn’t matter.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement for my writing, but it’s still how I feel about this series. I bent… Continue reading
The bar for Saturday Night Live-inspired films is set appropriately low. After all, for every Blues Brothers or Wayne’s World (the diamonds of the genre), there’s a The Ladies Man, Superstar, A Night at the Roxbury, Coneheads, or many other failures. That MacGruber is as consistently funny and inspired as… Continue reading
So it’s come to this? Remakes, or my personal favorite, “re-imaginings,” a mere three years after the original came out? Seriously? It’s true; this is an American remake of the 2007 film, Death at a Funeral, directed by none other than Frank Oz. I will own up to having not… Continue reading
Well, at least I know what setting $70 million ablaze looks like in 3D. That’s about all that’s to be gained from this 2010 version of Clash of the Titans, an ugly, joyless clunker that could only have been made better if it were an April Fool’s joke. No such… Continue reading
I thought I had seen absurd comedy. Until this week, I hadn’t seen Hot Tub Time Machine. I can only begin to imagine the pitch meetings for this movie. Or maybe it was just one meeting. “We have an idea for a movie: four guys will travel back to the… Continue reading
The Bounty Hunter is an abominable waste of time. Here we have a film with two stars that have no chemistry, no laughs, no romance, and boring “action” sequences. Coming up with justification for its existence is nearly impossible. The premise would seem to offer up some promising black comedy… Continue reading
Of all the Judd Apatow-era imitators, She’s Out of My League is one of the better ones. On the surface it’s the perfect male college flick (what average guy doesn’t dream about landing the hot girl?), but screenwriters Sean Anders and John Morris, scribes of the significantly more disgusting 2008… Continue reading
A quick search on IMDb reveals that no less than twenty-three adaptations, including this one, of Alice in Wonderland have been produced over the years. That would at least partially explain why Tim Burton’s big-budget refitting feels so familiar, but it doesn’t quite explain why it’s so bland. On paper… Continue reading
Shutter Island is a solid psychological drama anchored by a great lead performance by Leonardo DiCaprio, masterful and patient direction by Martin Scorsese, and a genuinely creepy atmosphere that permeates every scene. To say this is Hitchcock-esque is an understatement. I wish the whole thing had been shot in black… Continue reading