IRON MAN II

One of the reasons I preferred “Iron Man I” to “The Dark Knight”–that other superhero blockbuster from 2008–was that it was lighter, brighter, more fun. Sure, the Batman flick was a fine piece of filmmaking, but it was too dark, too complicated, too–well, as the Joker himself might have noted, too SERIOUS.
Now, “Iron Man [...]

SHUTTER ISLAND

In Martin Scorcese’s latest, “Shutter Island”, Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Teddy Daniels, a federal agent sent to an offshore asylum to investigate the disappearance of an inmate, a young woman who was put away after drowning her three young children. Before you can say, “Don’t visit Ward C!”–which happens to be where the dank [...]

OH, OSCAR, OSCAR, OSCAR…

Twice as many Best Picture nominees (for the first time since 1943, there were ten). Twice the usual number of hosts.
So–was the 82nd annual Academy Awards twice as good?
Well…no.
Neil Patrick Harris got the show off to an appropriately rousing start with his opening number (somebody has GOT to write this Broadway vet a musical [...]

A SERIOUS MAN

Larry Gopnik, the lead character in the Coen brothers’ bleak new movie, “A Serious Man”, lives the life of Job. His wife, ready to shack up with their recently-widowed neighbor, has demanded a divorce; his tenure request at work (he’s a college physics professor) looks like it might be denied; his deeply depressed, unemployed [...]

THE HURT LOCKER

A bomb lies menacingly in the middle of a dusty Iraqi street. A soldier–a member of an elite squad of Americans who defuse bombs where- and whenever they find them–approaches it slowly, cautiously, decked out in enough protective gear to make Iron Man swoon with envy. Eventually, he reaches the device, takes a gander [...]

IT’S OSCAR TIME!

Ah, spring (well, almost)–when a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love, a sports fan starts dreaming about hot dogs, beer, and baseball, and Hollywood begins buzzing about…the Oscars!
Yes, the Academy Awards are almost upon us again, and this time–in one category at least–there is more to choose from than ever. The powers-that-be [...]

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Quentin Tarantino could have spelled the title of his latest blockbuster using ancient hieroglyphics, and “Inglourious Basterds” still would have been exactly what it is: a magnificent movie.
Brad Pitt stars at Lt. Aldo Raine, the Southern-fried, smart-alecky leader of a group of heavily-armed, vengeance-seeking Jews who dart from place to place during World War II [...]

PRECIOUS

“Precious” is unrelentingly grim and often hard to watch — but, like a three car pile up on the side of the road, you can’t turn away from it, either.
Kudos to the actors, some of whom are almost unrecognizable. As the lazy, foul-mouthed mother from hell, stand-up comic and talk show host Mo’Nique is wincingly [...]

THE ROAD

Yes, “The Road”–based on the Cormac McCarthy novel–is as grim as advertised. Yes, you might feel the need for a long, hot shower after you’ve seen it.
But it’s also a powerful, heartbreaking, and–ultimately–uplifting film.
Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee play a father and son who, as the movie begins, are in the middle of a [...]

THE BLIND SIDE

We wish we could tell you that we were blindsided by “The Blind Side”, that we went in expecting to see one of those syrupy-sweet, feel-good movies, and ended up seeing something else.
We wish we could…but we can’t. It was, regrettably, as soft around the edges as we thought it would be.
Sandra Bullock stars [...]

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