STAR WARS EPISODE I:  THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D, to give it its fully identifying title, has the distinction of being the most successful movie ever made that is generally agreed to be terrible.  Over $900M in tickets have been sold for Phantom Menace since its opening in 1999 (that number will go over […]

> Saoirse Ronan stars in Joe Wright’s HANNA, opening April 8. See It On Any Screen Saoirse Ronan only appears in the first 50 minutes or so of Joe Wright’s film of the Ian McEwan novel ATONEMENT, playing the young Briony Tallis (after that, her character ages into Romola Garai, and then Vanessa Redgrave).  This […]

> As has been reported, there really was an ambulance outside the Ryerson Theatre in Toronto after the midnight premiere of Alexandre Courtes’ THE INCIDENT, there to rescue at least one person who had fainted during the movie.  Of course, this may just mean that Toronto Film Festival patrons have delicate sensibilities–an idea supported by […]

  POINT BLANK – Worth a Ticket:  A Thrill-Ride with Subtitles   The most gripping Hollywood thriller of the summer is… in French.  (But not for long.)  This isn’t a complete surprise:  POINT BLANK‘s director/co-writer Fred Cavaye may not be a household name, but he made the film Anything For Her, the 96-minute thriller that […]

    HAYWIRE:  Worth A Ticket – For the Gasp-Inducing Fight Scenes Alone   You might think that if a major, celebrated filmmaker were to take the extraordinary step of announcing, years in advance, that he had set the time for his retirement from movies, and that, even though he was only middle-aged, he would […]

  Whatever one can say about Chris Columbus–and there’ll be plenty of less than glowing words about him below–he’s the man who cast Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as the leads in 2001’s HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE, and for that Warners should name a building after him.  The three grew over […]

> The problem with 2011 on screen was more the pervasive mediocrity than an overload of terrible movies, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some awful films to be found–and, if possible, avoided.  Here are 10 or so: 10.  ONE DAY:  Admittedly, a cheat:  One Day wasn’t a complete disaster–it was far less painful to […]

  DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK – Not Even For Free:  No, Really–Don’t Be Afraid     FilmDistrict has gone out of its way to identify co-writer/co-producer Guillermo del Toro with DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, to the extent that from the marketing, one could easily fail to realize that the movie is […]