Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, pt 1. is a good film–a solid film, giving a good arc and screentime to all three of the main characters, and a host of others. There’s plenty of action, but this film also takes time to develop the story and the characters. I stood in line at the [...]
Archive for the ‘movie review’ Tag
Desperate Times Call For Desperate Magic: A Review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Leave a comment
Inception: the Idea trumps Character (movie review) 3 comments
Inceptionis a solid movie, full of complications, a lot of thrill, and most importantly, some good ideas. While it also has a couple of interesting characters in DiCaprio and Murphy, the rest of the cast fulfills their positions dutifully, easy to interchange and forget. It’s a caper film–with the majority of the movie about [...]
Is There No Wonder in Wonderland? A Review of Burton’s Alice in Wonderland 4 comments
What do you want when you get down the rabbit hole? Burton begs this question in his version of Alice in Wonderland. Folks will probably enjoy the visuals–they are delightful to watch. But in this age of CGI, there’s not as much fanfare left for special effects. It’s coming down quickly to who tells a [...]
The Wolfman: A Waning Version of the Original 3 comments
The Wolfman,(2010) directed by Joe Johnston, starring Benicio Del Toro, is a remake of The Wolfman, (1941) directed by George Waggner, and starring Lon Chaney, Jr. You know that. My biggest question through the movie is WHY REMAKE IT? The first half hour is a snoozer, merely a recap of the film you’ve already seen. [...]
Avatar: A Second Chance to Get It Right 1 comment
In my last post, I reacted to critics who were convinced there was a racist motif in play in Avatar. But I’d like to talk about what Avatar is all about: Second Chances. The movie is riddled with “seconds”— a twin who takes over for his brother when his brother is killed, a man who [...]
PUSH is surprisingly good, an Indie film for Heroes watchers 2 comments
Imagine if Sophia Coppola, of Lost in Translation, had directed a sci-fi thriller and you can imagine the quirky,smart, place- layered PUSH, a movie now available on DVD. PUSH is set in Hong Kong, which is hugely in its favor, and allows the nature of Hong Kong to decide scene shots and plot development. [...]
Wolverine: You can’t hurt him, so you can’t hurt us Leave a comment
While Wolverine looked promising, it was a confusing mess of action with never a moment of tension. The problem was established early–in the credits–and this hindered us from caring about the characters. If you make your characters indestructible, then you eliminate us from caring. It was the problem with Superman many years ago–he had no [...]
To Watch or not to Watch: a review of the Watchmen 2 comments
My title refers not to whether or not you should watch the film, but about the dilemma of the characters–to watch over others or not. You should see the film. It’s good to understand the gritty basics of superheroes and why they do what they do, and what kinds of mortals these heroes be. I’ve [...]
The City of Ember: Clever Assignments For Everyone 1 comment
The City of Ember is a great fun family film, full of clever, unlockable mysteries. It comes with a map, all torn up and faded; it comes with a “ticking clock”–the fear that the city will wind up in the dark; and plenty of menacing obstacles. The ending leaves you wishing to be back in [...]
The Science Fiction Western Musical You Might Have Missed 1 comment
It was 2001, and a lot was going on in the world, so you might have missed this movie. I bought American Astronaut because I heard great reviews. It was a Sundance Festival Official Selection, and in Toronto as well. It’s won numerous awards. Black and white, some great cinematography moments. See the trailer here. [...]
