Who is Salt? The trailers have been posing this question for months, and it’s not likely you’re going to leave with a whole lot of defined answers. Salt is a gloriously preposterous espionage action/thriller, owing its very existence to the Bond and Bourne franchises. As directed by Philip Noyce, working… Continue reading
Now you’re messing with my childhood! That was my initial response to the news of a Karate Kid remake. While I hardly hold the 1984 original on the same pedestal as many others my age, I regard it as one of the finest “underdog” movies ever. It was formula (though… Continue reading
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
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
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
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
Water and Chap Stick may be difficult to come by in the post-apocalyptic world of The Book of Eli, but ammunition certainly is not. 2010’s first big-budget action film is all over the place in terms of emotions and intentions, but it’s still pretty entertaining and boasts some decent effects… Continue reading
Michael Cera has made a considerable living over the past few years by playing lonely introverts entranced by the idea of relationships, more importantly sex. For the first half of Youth in Revolt, it’s business-as-usual for the actor he drops hip dialogue with his signature dry delivery. It’s funny, but… Continue reading
Above all else in Capitalism: A Love Story is the scene in which Michael Moore goes home to Flint, Michigan right after the auto industry collapse. Detroit has been eviscerated in the aftermath of the GM collapse, and as longtime documentary filmgoers remember, it was GM that was the subject… Continue reading