The Tourist
A math teacher from Wisconsin visits Italy in order to mend a broken heart and crosses paths with a mysterious woman. “Travel romance with thriller elements” is a light, frothy romp that harkens back to films like Charade and North by Northwest. The Tourist is nowhere near as inspired as those classics, but it is […]
Megamind
Animated comedy about an evil supergenius who, bored without purpose, feels compelled to create another rival after he defeats his righteous nemesis. Will Farrell is excellent as the titular villain. His mispronunciation of simple words is genuinely humorous and provides several laughs. He’s the best thing in the film. But it’s as if the producers […]
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Wry ensemble film begins by paraphrasing Shakespeare with the quote, “Life was full of sound and fury, and in the end signified nothing.” With a meek start like that, the director has all but guaranteed a trivial movie to follow. Woody Allen’s umpteenth reflection on cheating and relationships follows a pair of married couples. As […]
Machete
Trashy actioner about a highly skilled former Mexican Federal turned renegade. He’s hired by a shady businessman to assassinate a senator campaigning against illegal immigrants. Unfortunately director Robert Rodriguez’s tribute to 70s exploitation films like Death Wish fails when it plays it conventionally straight. This would have worked better as unadulterated parody, but it frequently […]
Biutiful
Unrelentingly bleak drama about a father with a terminal illness trying to set his affairs in order, even if it means breaking the law. The slums of Barcelona are the backdrop for this chronicle of random events near the end of a man’s life. The many characters and catastrophes initially lack focus to tie them […]
The Illusionist
A painfully slow, uneventful, but very pretty animated film. An aging magician bonds with a young girl who is one of the few people still captivated by his tricks. With virtually no dialogue, this drama is essentially a silent film. The story is a melancholy mood piece, the entire plot carried by musical cues. Every […]
Secretariat
Following the death of her mother, a Virginia housewife agrees to take over her feeble father’s stables, despite having no knowledge of horse-racing. Walt Disney Pictures has a workmanlike approach to producing these uplifting sports dramas. They’ve tackled baseball (The Rookie), hockey (Miracle), golf (The Greatest Game Ever Played), basketball (Glory Road) and football (Invincible). […]
Another Year
Happily married husband and wife attend to the emotional problems of their various friends, colleagues, and family over the course of a year. Director Mike Leigh’s movies are a mixed bag. They’re big on characterization and small on plot. On the one hand you get a beautifully composed, character driven drama filled with nuanced personalities. […]
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Oliver Stone’s sequel is a needlessly complicated bore that is inferior to the original in every way possible. The convoluted plot concerns young proprietary trader, Jake Moore who happens to be dating Gordon Gekko’s estranged daughter. Jake is out for revenge after his mentor, Louis Zabel, commits suicide as a result of a hostile takeover […]
Animal Kingdom
Following the death of his mother, 17 year old “J” goes to live with his grandmother, the matriarch of an infamous crime family, and her three criminal sons. Australian drama is presented in layers gradually peeled away one by one as we uncover the truth about this diabolical clan. We discover in horror the evil […]