Movies
Short Reviews
Les Misérables
January 10th, 2013
This film version of the popular French Revolution musical (based on the classic novel) is destined for Oscar nods. That being said, it doesn’t exactly work. Read more »
Short Reviews
Jack Reacher
January 10th, 2013
This new Tom Cruise vehicle does its work sleekly and well. However, to be honest, it’s a little hard to watch given recent news events. Read more »
Short Reviews
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
January 10th, 2013
This first of three movies to be extracted from J.R.R. Tolkien’s slim novel is moderately engaging. Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), a homey hobbit ill-suited to dangerous adventures, gets mixed up in just such a quest. Read more »
Short Reviews
The Guilt Trip
January 10th, 2013
Barbra Streisand returns to the big screen here, and the result is not bad. Streisand plays Joyce, the long-widowed mother of inventor Andy (Seth Rogen). Read more »
Short Reviews
Django Unchained
January 10th, 2013
Quentin Tarantino returns to the big screen with his long-anticipated and extremely controversial slave revenge Western film. Read more »
Movies
Fractured ‘Promise’
This Matt Damon vehicle is a little too eco-friendly for its own good
January 10th, 2013
For a fellow who’s just been promoted to vice president of land management by his multibillion-dollar natural gas company, the character played by Matt Damon in Promised Land is awfully wussy. He turns into a puddle whenever he’s bested by the opposition: a likable environmental activist portrayed by John Krasinski. What’s up? Mr. Corporate Slicko has never been trained in countering the other side’s arguments? Read more »
Movies
Daring But Boring
On film, Cirque du Soleil looks gorgeous but lacks the wow factor of live Vegas shows
January 3rd, 2013
Cirque du Soleil movies are a lot like ballet films—long on beauty and artistry, short on story. Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away is a 3-D catalog of the wonders of the Cirque company’s Las Vegas shows, from Criss Angel Believe and Mystére to O and Viva Elvis (which closed last August). It is a feast for the eyes and an appreciation of the accomplished art of the jugglers, tumblers, mimes, contortionists, acrobats and aerialists who have made Cirque a global brand. Read more »
Movies
A Cinematic Dumpster Dive
Gauging potential hits and misses of the chilly winter season
January 3rd, 2013
The first months of the year are known as the “dump months” in Hollywood. It’s a bleak stretch for cinephiles, traditionally packed with movies that studios dislike, and want to release with little fanfare. In the Hollywood ecosystem, the dump months serve an important purpose; not only is winter often a low point for movie revenue, regardless of content (the top-grossing film of January generally earns half of the haul brought in by December’s top grosser), but padding theaters with celluloid sacrifices allows for all-important Oscar coverage to dominate the news cycle. Read more »
Short Reviews
Playing for Keeps
December 20th, 2012
This romantic comedy follows onetime Scottish soccer star George (Gerard Butler), who finds himself down and nearly out. Read more »
Movies
Don’t Make This a Hobbit
Spreading Tolkien’s slim novel into three films makes for a better bottom line than viewing experience
December 20th, 2012
The Hobbit, the first of three movies to be yanked out of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel of the same name, comes from Mister Middle-earth: Peter Jackson, who thrilled Tolkien fans worldwide with his lavish screen version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Read more »
