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Every time I’ve chopped wood or watched anyone else do it, the basic motion is the same. The axe hangs slack, then swings back and behind the body in a sweeping arc over the head and down, splitting the log in two and embedding itself slightly on the block. It is a movement that mixes [...]

I was a bit apprehensive before watching The Time Traveler’s Wife. Would it err more on the side of thoughtful “what-if” time-travel movie (yes!), or mushy, obnoxious romance (boo!). Well, as it turns out, it lands somewhere in the middle, but I’d call it a happy medium. Aussie Eric Bana (Munich, Star Trek) does a [...]

“I have two luxuries to brood over in my walks, your Loveliness and the hour of my death. O that I could have possession of them both in the same minute.”  – John Keats in a letter to Fanny Brawne
How blessed we are to still find films that whisper to us. I first approached Jane [...]

Ricky 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 [...]

Julie & Julia is a very good movie. There are two parallel storylines: One is the story of Julia Child, the renowned chef, and the other is of Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams), a government cubicle worker who decides that the best way to get herself out of her doldrums will be to prepare [...]

What is love all about anyway? Comedian/writer/musician Charlyne Yi and director Nicholas Jasenovec teamed up to examine this question in this eclectic film. It’s a blend of comedy, drama and documentary footage that blurs the line between fact and fiction. The movie’s main plot takes the form of a “documentary” production in which Yi, playing [...]

I goofed. I thought I was signing up to review A Christmas Tale with Catherine Deneuve, but I accidentally signed up to review Four Christmases instead. I’m not a big fan of slapstick humor or “physical” humor, and hated I Love You, Man. So you can see already that I have little credibility when it [...]

The only real reasons to endure this predictable and needlessly foul-mouthed, R-rated romantic comedy from director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) are stars Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler and the fact that it’s not set in New York City.
Heigl plays the smart but romantically-challenged producer of a morning TV show in Sacramento who responds not well [...]

Whatever Works is the new comedy written and directed by Woody Allen. Starring Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the mind behind Seinfeld) as nihilistic Boris Yellnikoff, Whatever Works is the culmination of Woody Allen philosophy, uncertain affairs of the heart, and the coincidental workings of the universe. What I mean by that is, Whatever [...]

I have a certain fondness for movies or TV series set in San Francisco, not only because I grew up in the East Bay and so was able to visit the city often, but because it’s not Los Angeles or New York City. In any case the place makes an ideal setting for this quiet [...]