Archive

THE BIJOU RETROSPECTIVE: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1)”

Posted July 14, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> When the announcement was made that Warner Bros would split HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS into 2 full-length movies, there was a certain amount of cynicism about studio greed–and, indeed, why not pick up an extra billion or so if the opportunity arises?  But really, J.K. Rowling’s novels have all been stuffed so […]

Full Story »

Archive

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Cowboys & Aliens”

Posted July 29, 2011 by Mitch Salem

  COWBOYS & ALIENS – Watch It At Home:  Genre Mash-Up Zaps Itself In the Foot   It’s admirable, in a way, that for much of its length, COWBOYS AND ALIENS is willing to be more of a western than a scifi extravaganza, even though scifi is a safer commercial bet.  The problem is that […]

Full Story »

Archive

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Carnage”

Posted November 6, 2011 by Mitch Salem

  CARNAGE:  Watch It At Home – Polanski and All-Star Cast Miss the Bullseye   The trick about CARNAGE, which is based on the Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, is that despite its pedigree, and the big names usually associated with it, it’s more of a game than a revelation.  The […]

Full Story »

Archive

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES” – Take the Train

Posted May 20, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> Watch It At Home; Dreary Franchise Moviemaking. In the 137 minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean:  On Stranger Tides, the 4th installment in Disney’s hugely successful franchise (and yes, you have to sit through all 10 minutes of end credits for a not-crucial coda scene), there is exactly one inspired idea.  About halfway through, […]

Full Story »

Archive

THE BIJOU @ TIFF: Fernando Meirelles’ “360”

Posted September 10, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> If Arthur Schnitzler had only been a member of the WGA in 1900, when he wrote the play La Ronde, and he’d had the benefit of the format rights guild members receive today, he and his descendants would be very rich indeed.  Schnitzler’s concept, a series of sequences in which, initially, Person A meets […]

Full Story »

Archive

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Morning Glory”

Posted March 22, 2011 by Mitch Salem

  On Homevideo and VOD:  At Home In Your Home Morning Glorydidn’t make Rachel McAdams into the new Julia Roberts/Katherine Heigl/Sandra Bullock (it grossed around $53M worldwide), despite the strong pedigree of having been written by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada), and directed by Roger Michell (Notting Hill). It’s not really a romantic […]

Full Story »

Archive

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Colombiana”

Posted August 26, 2011 by Mitch Salem

  COLOMBIANA – Not Even For Free:  Even the Body Count Is Dull   For a movie from the Luc Besson House of Action, COLOMBIANA is surprisingly listless and dispirited.  Besson first came to prominence as a director, with pictures like Subway and The Big Blue to his credit; then in 1990, he hit the […]

Full Story »

Archive

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Young Adult”

Posted December 8, 2011 by Mitch Salem

YOUNG ADULT: Worth A Ticket – Theron + Oswalt = The Real Thing   Charlize Theron plays the hell out of her character Mavis Gary in the new YOUNG ADULT.  Theron has had a curious Hollywood career, with the usual big-budget flops (remember Aeon Flux?) mixed with a clearly wholehearted commitment to difficult, independent projects […]

Full Story »