Since her career’s inception, writing an erotic novel at age 17 that was then banned in France to those under the age of 18, director Catherine Breillat has explored our sexual nature and our need to be in control, like no other film maker. Coldly clinical analyses of human nature, like the work of Stanley [...]
Read More Bluebeard, Catherine Breillat, Daphne Baiwir, Dominique Thomas, DVD, Fantasy, Lola Creton, UnratedIn director Tim Burton’s marvelous version of Alice in Wonderland, 6-year-old and very sleep-deprived Alice has continuing strange dreams of a white rabbit (Michael Sheen), a giant rabbit hole, a mad tea party, and plants and animals that can talk. About 13 years later, a less than enthusiastic Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is being forced to [...]
Read More adventure, Alan Rickman, Alice In Wonderland, Anne Hathaway, blu-ray, Crispin Glover, DVD, family, Fantasy, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Michael Sheen, PG-, Robin, Tim Burton, VivianThe moment a sweet old lady with razor-sharp teeth started spewing obscenities and crawling on the ceiling, I knew I was in for a good time with Legion, an angels-at-war horror flick starring Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid that one could sum up as The Prophecy meets Assault On Precinct 13.
Read More action, Adrianne Palicki, blu-ray, Charles S. Dutton, David, Dennis Quaid, DVD, Fantasy, Jon Tenney, Kate Walsh, Kevin Durand, Legion, Lucas Black, paul bettany, R, thriller, Tyrese GibsonIt’s a peculiar thing to review a movie that has grossed enough money to launch the space shuttle twice or to build a complete Virginia-class nuclear fast attack submarine. Is there actually a point in doing so? If I say it’s overrated will that stop anyone from renting it? If I say it’s underrated will [...]
Read More action, adventure, Avatar, blu-ray, DVD, Fantasy, James Cameron, PG-13, Sam Worthington, Sci-Fi, willFor those of you who are not in a book club, The Lovely Bones is the story of a 14-year-old girl who is murdered in a cornfield near her home in 1970′s Pennsylvania. She narrates her tale and watches her family cope from the “in-between”–a perfect place to hang out before one lets go and [...]
Read More drama, DVD, Fantasy, Mark Wahlberg, Peter Jackson, PG-13, Rose McIver, Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones, thriller, VarlaDisney makes a much-heralded return to its 2D hand-drawn animation roots with The Princess and the Frog. The return to a medium considered dead (at least in the eyes of dimwitted studio execs) is historic enough. But it also marks the debut of Disney’s first black princess, Tiana. The setting for the story, New Orleans [...]
Read More animation, blu-ray, Disney, DVD, family, Fantasy, G, Musical, romance, The Princess and the Frog, willRobert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart again suffer mightily as a tortured teenage vampire and his seriously sulky soul mate in this follow-up to 2008’s toothless Twilight, but not nearly as much as the audience does in enduring 130 minutes of dreadful dialogue, awful acting and co-star Taylor Lautner and his amazing abs.
Read More blu-ray, Chris Weitz, David, drama, DVD, Fantasy, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Rosenberg, Michael Sheen, New Moon, PG-13, Robert Pattinson, romance, Stephenie Meyer, Taylor Lautner, TwilightFirst of all, anyone worried about this film staying true to the art of the original should know that author Maurice Sendak gave his full approval to director Spike Jonze, writer Dave Eggers, and their conceptual interpretation of his classic of childrens’ literature Where the Wild Things Are. This is not the Sendak book I [...]
Read More adventure, Alex, blu-ray, Catherine Keener, Dave Eggers, drama, DVD, family, Fantasy, Forest Whitaker, James Gandolfini, Karen O, Lauren Ambrose, Maurice Sendak, Max Records, Paul Dano, PG-, Spike Jonze, Where The Wild Things AreAnybody reading this who knows the name Hayao Miyazaki probably won’t need any convincing from me to check out his latest film Ponyo. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Japanese master animator, he is widely and ever-increasingly recognized as one of the greatest filmmakers working today, and you owe it to yourself [...]
Read More adventure, animation, blu-ray, Cate Blanchett, DVD, family, Fantasy, G, Hayao Miyazaki, Joe Hisaishi, Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, Ponyo, Tina Fey, willRicky Gervais‘ The Invention of Lying is a comedy that takes place in an alternate reality in which the human species has never discovered how to deceive one another. In this reality, Coca-Cola’s advertising slogan is “Please continue buying Coke–it’s very famous” and its competitor’s is ”Pepsi–when they don’t have Coke.” Films are produced, but without any capacity [...]
Read More comedy, DVD, Fantasy, Fionnula Flanagan, Jennifer Garner, PG-13, Ricky Gervais, romance, The Invention of Lying, will