When I sat down to watch Burlesque I expected to find a vanity project. Cher, tired of playing Vegas to make ends meet, needed to throw herself back into the spotlight. Christina Aguilera never made as big a splash as Britney and wanted more, more, more. What I found was a beautifully done (gag) engaging [...]
Read More Burlesque, Cam Gigandet, Cher, Christina Aguilera, drama, DVD, Kristen Bell, Musical, PG-13, romanceI really did enjoy spending 98 minutes watching You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. We see Woody Allen here doing what he does best: using his satiric lens to depict the most human emotions and experiences. His humor is unmistakable, and if you’re a fan, you’ll probably like the film enough to appreciate a [...]
Read More Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, comedy, Freida Pinto, Gemma Jones, Josh Brolin, joyce, Naomi Watts, R, romance, Woody Allen, You Will Meet a Tall Dark StrangerThe premise of Never Let Me Go, at least superficially, is not an unfamiliar one. The idea of human clones being bred solely to serve as organ donors has made fertile fodder for dystopian sci-fi nightmares for decades, at least as far back as Parts: The Clonus Horror (1979). But while these films usually explore [...]
Read More Andrew Garfield, blu-ray, Carey Mulligan, drama, DVD, Kazuo Ishiguro, Keira Knightley, Never Let Me Go, R, romance, willHollywood loves to make high school sex comedies based (loosely) on classic works of literature. Clueless was adapted from Austen‘s “Emma”, and 10 Things I Hate About You is a retelling of Shakespeare‘s “The Taming of the Shrew”. When these sort of movies happen, we can only hope that the writers involved keep the original [...]
Read More Amanda Bynes, comedy, Easy A, Emma Stone, Patricia Clarkson, PG-13, romance, Stanley Tucci, Thomas Haden Church, willCyrus got a lot of positive press, and a good number of critics liked it. It has all the ingredients for getting a big thumbs up from me, too, but it just didn’t go down so easily. The directors, brothers Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, also gave us The Puffy Chair, which was a staff [...]
Read More blu-ray, comedy, Cyrus, drama, DVD, Jay Duplass, John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, joyce, Marisa Tomei, Mark Duplass, R, romanceThe star-crossed exploits of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen continue in Eclipse, the third installment of the teen-friendly vampire franchise that makes itself infinitely more tolerable than its predecessors by dialing down the angst and ramping up the action.
Read More blu-ray, Bryce Dallas Howard, David, David Slade, drama, DVD, Fantasy, Kristen Stewart, PG-13, Robert Pattinson, romance, Twilight Saga: EclipseA woman meeting her husband in Cairo for their first trip to Egypt arrives to find he’s been delayed. Understandable, given that the Middle East is always in flux and he’s a UN official working in Gaza. A former colleague of her husband is at the airport to meet her and help her get settled. [...]
Read More Alexander Siddig, Cairo Time, drama, DVD, Patricia Clarkson, PG-, romance, Ruba Nadda, Umm KulthumGoing the Distance was just an okay romantic comedy. I didn’t love it by any means. I didn’t feel any great chemistry between the stars, Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, even though they have been an on-again, off-again couple for a while. I really liked Drew in He’s Just Not That Into You (a much [...]
Read More blu-ray, comedy, Drew Barrymore, DVD, Going the Distance, joyce, Judd Apatow, Justin Long, Nanette Burstein, R, Robert Evans, romanceEat Pray Love was okay. It seems like it could have been a lot better, somehow. Perhaps if the main character, Liz, had been played by someone else. Perhaps if the movie had gotten direction from someone other than Ryan Murphy. Something just fell a little flat in the cinematic retelling of the story in [...]
Read More Billy Crudup, drama, DVD, Eat Pray Love, James Franco, Javier Bardem, joyce, Julia Roberts, PG-13, Richard Jenkins, romance, Ryan Murphy, Viola DavisLove Ranch is the story of the Mustang Ranch brothel, which opened in the Nevada desert in the late 1960′s. Taylor Hackford (Ray) directs his wife, Helen Mirren (Oscar for The Queen), and Joe Pesci (Oscar for Goodfellas) in an unevenly entertaining film. I say unevenly because I suppose your reaction will depend upon your [...]
Read More Bruce, comedy, drama, DVD, Gina Gershon, Helen Mirren, Joe Pesci, Love Ranch, romance, Taylor Hackford