Recent Stories
Inception
Presents of Mind: Christopher Nolan gives the gift of another brainy blockbuster with
For weeks – nay, months – I played along with the coy refusals by writer/director Christopher Nolan and the cast members of Inception to reveal too much about its premise. I resisted the urge to ...
THE TWILIGHT SAGA - ECLIPSE
Bloodless Wonder: Bringing in a horror director still doesn’t make
They keep trying, the producers of the Twilight films; you’ve got to give them that. For 2008’s Twilight, they hired Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen) to direct, suggesting they were aiming for edgy teen drama. Then they ...
Toy Story 3
We Are Family: Toy Story 3 soars on the wonderful heartbreak of intimate connection, a compelling account of the joys, and difficulties, of letting go.
“You’ve got a friend in me,” go the lyrics to the Randy Newman tune that has been crooned in all of Pixar’s magical Toy Story films, including the brand-new Toy Story 3. It’s a catchy ...
Shrek Forever After
Just Like Starting Ogre: Shrek Forever After throws out the films’ history – and it’s an improvement.
Many of us have suspected it all along, but with Shrek Forever After, it becomes official: The Shrek film series is actually a sitcom. Since time immemorial – okay, since the late ’70s – there ...
Babies
Natal Habitat: Babies observes cultural differences – and overly-precious cuteness.
In the new French-produced documentary Babies, the filmmakers attempt to observe the many unique cultural components of early childhood development and parenting by… Oh look at that one play with the goat! Isn’t that just ...
The Men Who Stare At Goats
True Lies: 'The Men Who Stare at Goats' succeeds at silliness but fails at journalism.
“More of this story is true than you would believe,” reads the caption at the beginning of The Men Who Stare at Goats, but let’s be real: No one involved in this movie goes on ...
District 9
Illegal Aliens: District 9 is a sci-fi allegory with political pretensions.
It’s worth noting that co-writer/director Neill Blomkamp sets District 9’s pivotal event – the arrival of a derelict alien spacecraft over Johannesburg, South Africa, leaving more than a million extraterrestrial refugees – in the 1980s. ...
Julie&Julia
Hail to the Chef: Meryl Streep cooks up a great performance, but Julie&Julia lacks spice.
It only took 30 years, but Meryl Streep has done it: She’s the queen of summer movies. I know: the audacity, right? This is the time of year, after all, when youth is supposed to ...
Julie & Julia
Hail to the Chef: Meryl Streep cooks up a great performance, but Julie & Julia lacks spice.
It only took 30 years, but Meryl Streep has done it: She’s the queen of summer movies. I know: the audacity, right? This is the time of year, after all, when youth is supposed to ...
The Ugly Truth
Sally Forced: The Ugly Truth is that an uptight heroine doesn’t make a romantic comedy.
Twenty years ago American moviegoers were introduced to Sally Albright in When Harry Met Sally. As played by Meg Ryan, she was a sunny but tightly-wound city girl who found a perfect foil in loosey-goosey ...
