Rarely have I rolled my eyes, or wanted to gag, more than while watching New Year’s Eve, director Garry Marshall’s nigh unbearable Valentine’s Day follow-up, a movie seemingly constructed to be the Gone with the Wind of soft-serve rom-com mash-ups, and run nearly as long.
Read More Abigail Breslin, Ashton Kutcher, blu-ray, comedy, David, DVD, Garry Marshall, Hilary Swank, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Heigl, New Year's Eve, Robert De Niro, romance, Sarah Jessica ParkerHaving seemingly fallen off the Hollywood map after their 2007 remake of The Heartbreak Kid, the Farrelly Brothers return in a big way with Hall Pass, a raunchy and very funny comedy starring Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis in which the filmmakers once again mix over-the-top toilet humor with lots of heart.
Read More blu-ray, comedy, David, DVD, Farrelly Brothers, Hall Pass, Jason Sudeikis, Owen Wilson, R, romanceBlue Valentine is now out on DVD. I worked with the writer-director, Derek Cianfrance, and one of its editors, Jimmy Helton, here at the Video Station circa 1997. It was great to work alongside of them, and in those days, Derek was a young guy working on his first big project, Brother Tied. Brother Tied [...]
Read More blu-ray, Blue Valentine, Derek Cianfrance, drama, DVD, Jimmy Helton, Michelle Williams, R, romance, Ron Patane, Ryan GoslingThis started out as a smarmy review of No Strings Attached. I’m not proud, I pre-judged the movie based purely on Ashton Kutcher. I don’t like him. Can you really blame me?
Read More Ashton Kutcher, blu-ray, comedy, DVD, Greta Gerwig, Kevin Kline, Mindy Kaling, Natalie Portman, No Strings Attached, Noah, R, romanceA woman dies in a car crash and her husband and their two daughters try to get on with their lives. The younger daughter, Mary, has nightmares about her mother’s death, screaming out for her. The father, a professor, accepts a position teaching for a year in Genoa, hoping the change will help them all [...]
Read More A Summer in Genoa, Catherine Keener, Colin Firth, drama, DVD, Michael Winterbottom, Perla Haney-Jardine, R, romance, Willa HollandMinutes ago, a small child did the conga all the way down the stairs to bring me a DVD box. He was no slouch, there was some passion there. He kept doing the conga as his mother paid for his movie. I mention this so my next line makes a little more sense. I Love [...]
Read More blu-ray, comedy, drama, DVD, Ewan McGregor, I Love You Phillip Morris, Jim Carrey, R, romanceI would have to agree with the theory that Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie were nominated for Golden Globes for their performances in the critically-maligned The Tourist because the foreign press just wanted them at the ceremony, as the film more than lives up to its reputation as a preposterous piece of international intrigue.
Read More action, Angelina Jolie, blu-ray, David, drama, DVD, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Johnny Depp, paul bettany, PG-13, romance, Steven Berkoff, The TouristHow Do You Know was a real disappointment. You’d think that a cast that included Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, and Jack Nicholson, could pull off a decent Rom Com, but alas, this was a poorly scripted effort, the plotline was not well-developed, and the only actor who even began to inhabit his role [...]
Read More blu-ray, comedy, drama, DVD, How Do You Know, Jack Nicholson, James L. Brooks, Janusz Kaminski, joyce, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, PG-13, Reese Witherspoon, romanceWhat was first an 88-minute French film called Pour Elle is now a 133-minute, big-studio thriller starring Russell Crowe and directed by Paul Haggis that, despite needing a bit of trimming, turns out to be a solidly entertaining effort.
Read More blu-ray, crime, David, drama, DVD, Elizabeth Banks, Lennie James, Liam Neeson, Paul Haggis, romance, Russell Crowe, The Next Three Days
