RIO, an animated film about a snow-bound rare blue macaw and his human companion both finding love, is such a perfect little film that hearing a sequel was on the way filled one with trepidation. Fortunately RIO 2 bucks the usual law of diminishing sequel returns with a great story, even better new dangers, and… Read More »
NEIGHBORS
It has been said that some of our contemporary malaise stems from the fact that we have, as a culture, lost the traditional markers to separate childhood from adulthood. The bar- or bat-mitzvah is not the assumption of adult responsibility so much as a party. The confirmation is a new set of clothes and spiritual… Read More »
BLENDED
Its never easy to see innocent children dragged into the madness of adults. Their fresh little faces and trusting innocence exploited by hard-hearted cynicism. And so it is with BLENDED, another in a seemingly endless series of Adam Sandler flicks designed to pay for his vacations. The venue this time is Africa, and the story,… Read More »
A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST
The late, lamented biologist Stephen Jay Gould, who popularized science for the masses and made the opabinia the favorite fossil, after the trilobite, for some of us, was a proponent of the punctuated equilibrium theory of evolution. Rather than a steady-state and gradual process, evolution was a thing of fits and starts, pushed by a… Read More »
ADAPTATION
ADAPTATION is the story of one man’s epic quest to adapt the unadaptable. In this case, turning THE ORCHID THIEF by Susan Orlean, into a feature film. The problem is that the non-fiction book is a rambling account of a rogue orchid hunter with the history of orchid mania and a glimpse of contemporary Seminole… Read More »
22 JUMP STREET
Schmidt and Jenko are back, and we should all rejoice. 22 JUMP STREET starts out every bit as funny as 21 JUMP STREET was, and then keeps upping its game. Once more co-written by co-star Jonah Hill (Schmidt), it is an inspired bit of whip-smart silliness that refuses to take itself seriously. On the other… Read More »
TAMMY
There is a reason that the trailers for TAMMY show star/co-writer/co-producer Melissa McCarthy at her manic best. Those are, without doubt, the best moments of the film. Its not that McCarthy isnt equally adept at a poignant sort of drama, with which TAMMY is, unfortunately, rife. I have no doubt that one day McCarthy will… Read More »
SEX TAPE
The protagonists of SEX TAPE are a happily married couple, deeply in love and deeply committed to one another and their two kids, but, after 10 years or so of marriage, the fiery passion they enjoyed in the first flush of lust/love, and before discovering how versatile a ladys lady parts are, has become a… Read More »
CLOSET, THE
French filmmaker Francis Veber is one of the finest filmmakers working today. The reason, I suspect that his is not a household name here in the United States like, say, Truffaut or Goddard, is that Veber has chosen to use comedy to examine the human condition. Yet there is more about what it’s like to… Read More »
ROCK STAR
Mark Wahlberg looks yummy in tight leather pants and thats a good thing because theres not much else to recommend his latest flick, ROCK STAR. Its the standard tale of the dangers of getting what you wish for, of the hollowness of a life of too much sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Fortunately, he… Read More »
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