Perhaps no other filmmaker understands the working class as much as Mike Judge. His 1999 home video hit, Office Space, has become virtually a documentary since its release ten years ago. Anyone who works from a cubicle farm understands why. In Extract, a noticeably less-focused effort with scattershot laughs, Judge… Continue reading
Public Enemies is Michael Mann’s best film since 1995’s Heat, but it’s not without its faults. What is refreshing is to see an old-school gangster flick with a stellar cast. This is a very intriguing portrait of John Dillinger, the famed bank robber and the FBI’s first-ever “Most Wanted” man.… Continue reading
Somewhere around the two-hour mark of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a character requests that a plan be made concise and to-the-point. I’d like to think that’s a wink from the trio of screenwriters to the audience, because next to nothing in Transformers 2 makes any sense. Perhaps that is… Continue reading
The Hangover is a breathless stroke of comedic genius; one of those movies where, when it comes out on DVD and you have a bunch of friends over, you won’t be able to watch just one scene. In what seems like a tight 100 minutes we have a ridiculously off-the-chain… Continue reading
Star Trek is a first-class piece of entertainment, and that goes for more than just the Star Trek core base. This is an action-adventure film done in classic style, and one that will be accessible to anyone. Take it from me, as someone who has never seen an episode of… Continue reading
Here’s the simplest way to put it: if you liked the over-the-top, brutal finale of Pineapple Express, you’ll most likely find yourself enjoying Observe and Report, a file that is plenty mean-spirited in its own right. Sometimes aiming for straight gross-out gags and other times targeting oddly-timed and prolonged verbal… Continue reading
If The Haunting in Connecticut feels familiar, you’re not alone. It seems like the fast track to getting a story from the written page to the screen is claiming paranormal phenomena in an old house, whether it’s true or not. No less than seven films and TV shows regarding The… Continue reading
Watchmen arrives to theaters with much fanfare, which is to be expected since a big-screen adaptation of Alan Moore’s mid-80’s source material has been in development basically since the source material was released. Director Zack Snyder and screenwriters David Hayter and Alex Tse have braved the unenviable task of translating… Continue reading
I suppose there’s no good time to release The International these days. After all, who wants to watch a movie about corrupt banks that siphon money for nefarious purposes at the expense of their clients? Sounds a lot like real life to me. While the subject matter does hit a… Continue reading
Friday the 13th may be the only film I can think of that could roll the credits after the first twenty minutes and have most people leave happy. The following seventy minutes are basically a drawn-out version of the first twenty, but I’ll be damned if this movie isn’t way… Continue reading