Alice Sebold wrote a gripping, affecting novel about a young girl whose life is ended far too soon by a man with a devastating and interminable itch: he rapes and murders young girls. Peter Jackson, whose extensive resume includes the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, is an adept director, a man with visions of [...]
Stories are told and retold for a number of reasons, not the least of which is their ability to move and inspire. True stories have a resonance which is somewhat different than their fictional counterparts. These stories are historically based in a way that fictional stories may not be, and we tune into the characters [...]
No time is wasted. In a way. We are hurled right into the middle of the dilemma of Henry (the time traveler) and Clare (his wife). An explanation is given, but not at first. We’re left to deal with the confusion in much the same way Henry and Clare are, that is to say, holding [...]
Yes, I saw it in 3D. Or, rather, I saw it in Real-D 3D. All the better for it. This film is visually stunning, and having spent half a billion dollars, I would certainly hope it would at least be that. Unfortunately, that’s about all this one has going for it: lots of money and [...]
Bruce Willis is cast in a movie for two reasons: it’s an action-packed film, and he’s got star-quality. This one is no different. Willis is the virtual hero in a film about virtual reality. There’s little new here. However, the film points out some of the ethical issues with such a world, built as it [...]
X-Men. You know them. I know them. We all know them. But do we know them? That seems to be the point of the individual characters’ movies, beginning here with the saga of Wolverine, from childhood to adulthood, to a kind of maturation which shows his strengths, his flaws, his background and history, his desires. [...]
Quick review: a film is the telling of a story, a work of art, and hopefully, a compelling and inspiring adventure, of which the words artistic, aesthetic, and ambitious, among others, would not be out of the question. A movie, however, is chiefly entertainment, spectacle, “fun,” and is typically lacking in depth, substance, and subtlety, [...]
I was right. Clive Owen has been pigeonholed. Typecast. Whatever you want to call it. When Jason Statham gets typecast, the world keeps on spinning none the wiser. But Clive Owen is a very good, talented, subtle actor, whose abilities lend themselves to movies with meat on their bones. He’s a businessperson who needs money, [...]
Clive Owen is beginning to get typecast. If that doesn’t tell you what this movie is going to be like, then you haven’t been paying attention. He’s got a gun, a mission, and a bad attitude. I’m not saying it doesn’t work; I’m only saying I wish he would take more movies like Children of [...]
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There are many clearly warranted criticisms of this movie: an overly contrived plot, Jim Carrey playing a parody of himself, a somewhat sloppy dialogue at times. But all this doesn’t keep Yes Man from its three-fold mission: to put butts in seats, to make people laugh, and to leave people with a somewhat [...]