The question that comes to mind while watching the first big action sequence in WANTED is how in the heck are these folks going to top this? Automobiles do things Newtonian physics can barely account for and so do the people driving them. It, like the other chase scenes in this big, messy, gloriously over-the-top… Read More »
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL — DVD
You couldnât possibly have Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford and his fedora. You also couldnât have INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL without the rip-snorting special effects that keep the fantasy-adventure sprinting along at its delightfully breakneck pace. The special 2-disc DVD release offers both. First and best, though, thereâs the film… Read More »
CHARLIE ST. CLOUD
CHARLIE ST. CLOUD is a middling, innocuous film, rife with woozy golden sunlight and swelling syrupy music invoked to create the emotions that the film itself fails to ignite. For all the distraught characters, the film itself deftly sidesteps any attempts to explore the further reaches of passions, of romance or of grief, instead opting for… Read More »
THE EXPENDABLES
Its comforting to know after experiencing THE EXPENDABLES that Sylvester Stallone will once again find himself on the list of Razzie nominees for 2010, and because he is the director, co-writer, and co-star, it will be in multiple categories. It doesnt get back the time spent watching this generic action flick, but it does provide… Read More »
TANGLED
If THE LITTLE MERMAID dreamed of being somewhere up there, Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), the heroine of Disneys latest animated musical, TANGLED, dreams of being somewhere down there. Out of the tower, that is, where she has been kept since being kidnapped from her royal parents as a baby by a Gothel (Donna Murphy), scheming woman… Read More »
LOOPER
The sign of a great film is not just the story it tells. Its the way that story is told, with an attention to the tiniest detail that makes each second of screen time, the tiniest bit of action part of a whole that is holographic. Each element is a reflection of that whole that… Read More »
LAST STAND, THE
And so Arnold Schwarzenegger has returned to the silver screen after his sojourn in the theater of politics. The action star of dozens of blockbusters has wisely chosen for his vehicle a flick that acknowledges that he will not again see 40, nor even 50. Sort of. While this is an Arnold who wears reading… Read More »
JACK THE GIANT SLAYER
It is an age when fairy tales are retold with a modern spin, and spun out of control in an effort to be hip. Not so with JACK THE GIANT SLAYER, a retelling of that beanstalk tale that is pure perfection. It embraces the pure spirit of adventure to be found in a story with… Read More »
THE ITALIAN JOB
THE ITALIAN JOB has its share of action, but strictly speaking, this re-telling of the 60s flick of the same name, is a frothy caper story. The framework is the intricate plotting of not one, but two heists, with the real focus on the motley crew involved in pulling it off. It begins in the… Read More »
Berry, Halle – MONSTER’S BALL
Few performances have blown me away the way Halle Berry’s did in MONSTER’S BALL. As Leticia Musgrove, the tormented widow of an executed felon unwittingly involved with one of the prison guards who oversaw the execution, she fights inner demons with exquisitly calibrated, raw emotions that show both her character’s toughness and vulnerability. I spoke… Read More »