I hate Bradley Cooper. I really do. Why, you might ask? Oh, I won’t beat around the bush at all. I hate him because he’s a handsome bastard and makes all the ladies go gaga. I’m 36, rock the love handles and my hair is turning grey, while Mr. Cooper is 36, svelte, has a hairdo that reminds Pat Riley of the golden years, and is one of only a handful of men who can routinely not shave and still look …
Category: Reviews
I want to hate Red Riding Hood in the worst way. I really do. I want to pounce on director Catherine Hardwicke’s film and pummel it with accusations of zero creativity and kick it with the judgmental boot of milking the Twilight crowd for all they’re worth, but I just can’t muster the malice to point an accusing finger, mostly because I never found myself checking my watch during the 120 minute nouveau retelling of the classic Brothers Grimm folk tale. Trust …
I don’t know a lot, but I do know that alien movies and military flicks are usually nothing short of awesome, so how a movie that is heavy on both, with a meaty middle of explosions and bullets to boot, turns out so painstakingly dull, lifeless and downright boring has got me scratching my head and shaking my fist. Curse you Battle: Los Angeles! You were supposed to be my unofficial cinema start of summer, but now you’re nothing more …
Morning Glory is, without reservation, the most charming, smile-inducing movie I’ve seen in 2010 and nearly everything good in the movie happens because of the charisma, both standalone and shared, Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes) and Harrison Ford (Extraordinary Measures) bring to their roles as a newbie morning show producer and an aging, old-school, prima donna newsman. None of this should be a surprise to anyone familiar with director Roger Michell, helmsman of the charming Notting Hill and Venus, and screenwriter Aline Brosh …
Due Date, starring Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 2) and Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), is essentially a modern retelling of the 1987 John Hughes classic, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. In that hilarious odd couple comedy, Steve Martin was a road weary salesman struggling to get home for Thanksgiving and, at the same time, trying to rid himself of a well-meaning but lecherous misfit, played by John Candy. The movie is memorable for the “where are your hands” motel scene, as …
I oftentimes find myself grossly swindled by movie trailers, but in the case of Clint Eastwood’s new “supernatural” thriller, Hereafter, the plodding, head-scratching trailer matched the contents of Dirty Harry’s movie to the letter. I read a review this morning opining that only Clint Eastwood could have directed such a lovely movie about life-after-death, but I wholeheartedly disagree on both points: This isn’t a movie about life-after-death (more on that later), and Clint Eastwood absolutely couldn’t be the only director …
After seeing Red, the new action comedy based on the comic book series of the same name, I just have six words on the tip of my tongue: Helen Mirren is one hot grandma. I know people who are 65 years old, just like Mirren, who look like they’re already have one foot in their casket, whereas Mirren could don a bikini and turn heads at the beach. But let’s be honest, Helen Mirren isn’t just a pretty face and …
Life As We Know It isn’t an average, ho-hum movie by any fault of its lead actors, the lovely Katherine Heigl (Killers) and the dreamy Josh Duhamel (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), both of whom, while not close to Oscar-worthy, can succeed when blended with the right co-star. These two have great chemistry in Life As We Know It, but the movie barely grunts out a C grade because it’s schizophrenic. Is it a romcom? A dramedy? A serious film? …
The American is a masterful, intelligent movie built on the trust that director Anton Corbijn has in the audience’s brainpower. This well-placed faith allows us to peacefully enjoy the somber pacing and quiet details of The American, a far cry from most movies that force-feed viewers plot and character. In fact, watching The American is like reading literary fiction, particularly the kind that transports and leaves you feeling breathless. The portrait Corbijn paints is so vivid we can feel the …
From Old School to Elf to Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and even Land of the Lost (I think I might be one of a handful who actually enjoyed this movie), Will Ferrell has proven to be one of the funniest actors of the last decade. Mark Walhberg is in the same boat talent-wise. He’s no Oscar winner (literally), but he’s capable and solid, especially in The Departed, Three Kings and Boogie Nights. You’d think with these two …