The modern Western tends to be a sweeping, poetic epic – the genre is not commercially viable, so when people make Westerns they make them with the most artistic of intentions. Which is too bad, because the Western is a fun genre, one that lends itself to action and exciting gunplay. Sure, the best of … Continue reading
Un Film Un Gross Un Per Screen Un Total 1 Fantastic Four 2 $57,400,000 $14,498 $57,400,000 2 Ocean’s Thirteen $19,105,000 (-47.1%) $5,359 $69,810,000 3 Knocked Up $14,535,000 (-26%) $5,000 $90,482,000 4 Pirates 3 $12,024,000 (-43.1%) $3,611 $273,757,000 5 Surf’s Up $9,300,000 (-47.3%) $2,633 $34,671,000 6 Shrek the Third $9,007,000 (-41.2%) $2,569 $297,249,000 7 Nancy Drew … Continue reading
Earlier this week I ran an interview with Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers cartoon as well as the new Michael Bay movie. In the intro to that interview, I said this: “Cullen’s Prime is good voice work, and it doesn’t have the over the top silly quality of Frank Welker’s … Continue reading
Even though it’s probably a damning commentary on the psyche of America that audiences (or, at least, filmmakers) seem so eager to revisit the blockbusters of their youth with late-in-the-day sequels like Rocky Balboa, John Rambo and Indiana Jones 4, I still get a little giddy when I hear talk of a Beverly Hills Cop … Continue reading
When Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 came out there was a ripple of hope in my liberal circle of friends: this movie was going to make a difference. After four years of dealing with a man who was manifestly the worst president in history, a year after getting into a war that we knew was a … Continue reading
It’s easy to find commentary about the one-note nature of summer films. Doesn’t take a think tank to understand that May through July are given over to sixteen year old boys, with the occasional nod to 30-year old boys through a film like Ocean’s Thirteen. Counter-programming is an easy way for a studio to make … Continue reading
There is no movie here. The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer does many things most movies do in that it features a variety of characters striving to attain a variety of objectives, many of which are in direct opposition to one another. This is called conflict, and, in a classical narrative motion picture, … Continue reading
I only just saw Brick recently. I’m embarrased about that, but also relatively OK with my lateness, because it’s one of those movies that’s so good I actually get a little angry. How dare some kid show up and mix all these elements together so they make perfect sense? As someone who writes the occasional … Continue reading