Movies
Movie Review
Fun With Numbers
Freakonomics is a best-selling book turned documentary
September 30th, 2010
A compilation of four mini-documentary chapters, respectively directed by Morgan Spurlock, Alex Gibney, Eugene Jarecki, and the duo of Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, Freakonomics is a mixed-bag adaptation of the popular book by Stephen J. Dubner and economist Steven D. Levitt. The charismatic authors supply humorous commentary spiced with personal anecdotes about their data-supported topics. Read more »
Movie Review
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga Hoole (PG)
★★☆☆☆
September 30th, 2010
Lush animation can’t disguise a tone-deaf narrative. The fumbled story is about two young owl brothers (Soren and Kludd) who are kidnapped by a Nazi-like army of owls. The stunning visuals are so at odds with the poorly executed tale that the film is rendered nonsensical. As for the film’s timid 3-D effects, once again filmmakers are afraid to “break the window.” Read more »
Movie Review
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (R)
★★☆☆☆
September 30th, 2010
Woody Allen’s study of infidelity is a roulette-wheel of vaguely unlikable Londoners. Roy (Josh Brolin) flirts with Dia (Frieda Pinto), while his wife, Sally (Naomi Watts), works for a charming Antonio Banderas. Sally’s mom (Gemma Jones) has split with her husband (Anthony Hopkins), who loves a prostitute. Plot treads dangle like spaghetti, and these characters merit little empathy. Read more »
Movie Review
You Again (PG)
★☆☆☆☆
September 30th, 2010
A defective formula comedy, You Again is a complete flop. Kristen Bell falls flat as Marnie, a PR exec who discovers that the cheerleader who bullied her in high school—J.J. (Odette Yustman)—is about to marry her brother (James Wolk). The fact that J.J.’s mother is a former high school rival of Marni’s mom (Jamie Lee Curtis) promises laughs that never come. You Again is an embarrassment to everyone involved. Read more »
More Fun Than Facebook
The Social Network is a tech-wave feast
September 30th, 2010
Tech geeks won’t be able to prevent themselves from outbursts of clapping, laughter and bladder leaks while watching The Social Network, David Fincher’s fast-paced drama about the meteoric rise of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg has, of course, famously derided this quasi-biopic as fiction. And although he is portrayed as an acid-tongued, fast-twitch cyberpunk who wilts every lesser intellect around him, perhaps he needn’t worry about his image. Napster co-founder Sean Parker (played dynamically by Justin Timberlake) comes across as a much bigger genius-idiot-douchebag than Zuckerberg (a better-than-expected Jesse Eisenberg). Read more »
Movie Review
Alpha and Omega (PG)
★★★☆☆
September 23rd, 2010
A gentle courtship guide for youngsters, this is a free-spirited animated comedy with acrobatic chase sequences. The cast of voice actors—including the late Dennis Hopper, Justin Long and Hayden Panettiere—give lively performances. This film strikes a balance between goofy adventure and sincere emotion. But the filmmakers play it too safe to ever “break the window,” so the 3-D effects go largely unnoticed. Read more »
Movie Review
Double Dip
Wall Street sequel as doomed as Bernie Madoff
September 23rd, 2010
“Slick” is one word that describes Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Oliver Stone’s sequel to his 1987 morality tale about greed and self-destruction among stock market wheelers and dealers. Another word is “unnecessary.” Read more »
Movie Review
Buried (R)
☆☆☆☆☆
September 23rd, 2010
This is easily the worst film of 2010. The only thing that keeps you awake while you’re watching Ryan Reynolds unconvincingly “act” like he’s trapped in a buried coffin are the insipid cell phone plot points. Reynolds plays an American truck driver in Iraq, whose enemies have buried him alive. He has phone conversations with the FBI, his employers, a ransom-demanding Iraqi and family members Read more »
Movie Review
Easy A a Solid B
Emma Stone scores high marks in her first feature film
September 23rd, 2010
Make way, there’s a new princess of comedy and her name is Emma Stone. Who knows what it is about young redheaded actresses and high school—a la Molly Ringwald and pre-druggie Lindsay Lohan—but the formula seems to work. As Stone’s ingénue debut, Easy A easily shines thanks to its smart writing and charismatic cast. Read more »
Movie Review
Devil May Care
This horror movie-turned-morality tale succeeds at neither
September 23rd, 2010
If M. Night Shyamalan’s name as the originator of Devil’s story isn’t enough to alert would-be viewers to its tritely clichéd aspirations, then suffering through this tedious piece of supernatural/religious pap should do the trick of keeping those poor souls away from his work forever more. Five people from various dubious backgrounds get stuck in the elevator of a Philadelphia high-rise office building just moments after someone committed suicide from the 35th floor. Read more »
