I was afraid that the success of the Twilight films would lead to a rash of adaptations of other young adult supernatural series to the big screen. Hopefully, Beautiful Creatures will put an end to any plans beyond what’s already in production. This ambitious film with great production values falls flat for a number of […]
Writer/director Don Coscarelli has a good pedigree and cult following with previous favorites Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep. Those films found a perfect mixture of camp and horror. In an attempt to adapt David Wong’s novel of the same name, Coscarelli has lost his way, his touch or both. Dave (Chase Williamson) meets with skeptical journalist […]
When it comes to horror films I can be as stingy as ole’ Jack O’ Lantern. For me the best horror films need to go beyond the easy fright. They need to crawl beneath the skin and into the deep emotional psyche. That requires a solid, believable story line to go along with the creepy […]
There was something in the previews of Life of Pi that kept me from rushing to see it. To be honest, it looked a bit too fantastical for my tastes. I saw it last night and now lament every single day of having not experienced this wondrous story. The film is about Pi Patel—now older—telling […]
One trend you can follow is just how long certain art house films hang around seemingly well past the typical run length. Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of those films. It’s been out locally now for quite a long while. I was intrigued by the previews and the incredibly solid reviews including several […]
Calvin Weir-Fields (played by Paul Dano) is potentially America’s next great literary wonder. He had the fortune (or misfortune depending on your perspective) of writing a beloved book with his first effort out of the gate at 19 years old. Now, several years later, he’s stuck with a seemingly endless case of writer’s block while […]
has some wonderful moments — but there’s just not enough meat in the middle.
Most of us have grown up with Daniel Radcliffe. He’s played Harry Potter in eight films spanning 10 years which would seem one sure way to be typecast. I thought I’d only seen him in those films but a look back shows that I also saw him in 2001’s excellent film, The Tailor of Panama. […]
I’ve had a bit of a love-hate relationship with director Martin Scorsese‘s films over the years. I tend to find lots of things I simply don’t like about many of the films he’s known for. Sometimes you just don’t connect with someone else’s vision. As a result I really have to be wowed by a Scorsese […]
Woody Allen movies are generally a hit-or-miss affair to the extreme. When they hit they really resonate and create wonderful lasting memories that can be shared with new viewers time and again or even with a bunch who’ve already seen the film a dozen times. When they miss they miss so completely that you wonder […]
Last week I caught the last move of the 2010 season—a film up for an Oscar for Best Animated Film confusingly called, The Illusionist. While commenting about it to others they, of course, think I’m talking about the Edward Norton film from a few years ago. This one is a foreign film about an elderly […]
I decided to check out an American remake of a foreign favorite called Let The Right One In and renamed here to Let Me In. The most accurate single word I can use to describe the movie would absolutely have to be “dark”. Everything about this film is dark, subdued, shadowy, etc. It’s essentially the […]