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 horrors of living in a surveillance society have been predicted and estimated for decades, and now that we’re actually in one I suppose we can take a step back and look at things objectively. Eagle Eye attempts to exploit the fact that the technology exists to track any human… Continue reading
Something has happened to the Farrelly Brothers since 2005’s Fever Pitch, and that something is named Judd Apatow. While the Farrelly’s laid the groundwork for the contemporary raunch-fest with a heart, Apatow has brought it full circle with the likes of The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. The… Continue reading
I was always into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters, not so much the Transformers. I vividly remember some of my elementary school friends bringing over their Transformers, and we’d morph and battle them all day long. I was a sucker for durable plastic toys, as was any 8-year-old… Continue reading
As a fan of the first two Shrek films, even I can attest to the notion that DreamWorks is really pushing their luck with a third installment. Hollywood has proven time and again that the old saying, “quit while you’re ahead,” means nothing to them. One can really only approach… Continue reading
That Disturbia is being compared to Hitchcock’s Rear Window goes without saying. I guess you just can’t have a housebound Peeping Tom spying on his neighbors without that comparison, but it becomes clear very early on that Disturbia doesn’t have Hitchcockian aspirations. This is a teen-friendly thriller beginning to end,… Continue reading
Bill Condon’s Dreamgirls is a stunning cinematic experience. Vibrant, energetic, and exploding with life, Dreamgirls is another one of those increasingly rare examples of why we go to the movies in the first place. The musical genre is one of the hardest sells in Hollywood, despite its occasional comeback over… Continue reading
Aardman Animations made one of last year’s finest films in Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Constructed with glorious stop-motion animation and a strong sense of dry wit, the film blindsided me with its ingenuity and spirit. Tragically, Aardman’s production warehouse burned to the ground shortly after the… Continue reading
“Every jackass thinks he knows what war is, even if he’s never been in one.” So begins Flags of our Fathers, easily one of the year’s finest films. Based upon the book of the same name by James Bradley (son of John Bradley, one of the six men who raised… Continue reading
There is a scene in DreamWorks Animation’s Over the Hedge when Hammy (voiced by Steve Carell), an already-hyperactive squirrel, chugs a can of the most caffeinated cola on the market. Time literally stands still, everyone else moves in slow motion, and Hammy accomplishes his mission. This scene alone is worth… Continue reading