Mr. Brooks is a trainwreck, but not in the ‘I cannot turn away as this fast-moving train slams into another fast-moving train’ way. It’s more like ‘I have come upon the bloody, fiery wreckage of a wrecked train, and I can just make out some of the mechanical and body parts in this mess, and … Continue reading
Bug is an extremely unpleasant movie. Not necessarily gross, although there’s some stuff in there that made me wince. What makes Bug so unpleasant is the grimy immediacy of its environments, the inexorable downward trajectory of its story and the shocking emotional intimacy it creates with its deranged characters. What makes Bug so special is … Continue reading
I’ve had it with anime. I’ve had it with sitting through modestly well-animated movies that make no sense, that feature juvenile stories and characters and that I’m supposed to judge on a different level than I would judge any other film from any nation. It isn’t like live action Japanese films are regularly baffling in … Continue reading
Angel-A is one of the most gorgeous movies I have ever despised. Luc Besson’s black and white photography makes love to Paris, highlighting not just the beautiful architecture and geography of the city, but also the very soul of it. Angel-A does for Paris what Woody Allen’s Manhattan did for that city. But all of … Continue reading
The very concept of a film trilogy engenders certain expectations. When a studio stretches a tale over six hours or more, we hope for a certain fluidity from one chapter to the next, for plotting, action and character arcs that are consistent both within each film and across the entire span. Few series ever truly … Continue reading
Towards the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Captain Barbossa cackles something to the effect of ‘I know the real secret to immortality, me mateys!’ (or something similarly salty dog). Could the secret be ‘Get involved in a seemingly endless series of Disney blockbusters’? Because as POTC: AWE comes to its credits, … Continue reading
I am annoyed by the condescending attitude most of the good reviews of Night Watch had. The writers were not, I felt, judging the film on its own terms but in light of it being made in backwards Russia. The whole thing had a quality of cheering loudly for the kid coming in second at … Continue reading
BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!LABEL: Time LifeMSRP: $18.98TRACKS: 20 Who’d have thought that "geek musical" would become a subgenre on Broadway? The unusual success of Spamalot caused, if nothing else, a mayfly Internet meme about unlikely properties being adapted for musical theater. Usually, the related jokes ended with something along the lines of "Whoa, … Continue reading
The trouble with the Shrek movies is that their admirable message of self-acceptance is drowned in a deluge of pointed pop culture references that’s essentially the result of one rich white guy (former Disney CEO Michael Eisner) snubbing another rich white guy (Jeffrey Katzenberg, former heir to Eisner’s throne and now the "K" in Dreamworks … Continue reading
Once is the kind of movie that ruins it for other movies. Once isn’t just a nearly perfect little film, it’s effortlessly so, and you walk out wondering why more movies can’t just be this good. Glen Hansard, who sings for the Irish band The Frames in real life, is The Guy, an Irish busker … Continue reading