Posts Tagged ‘Articles’
 

 

ARCHIVE REVIEWS: “Prince of Persia” and “Moon”

> SOURCE CODE is this weekend’s major live-action opening, so here’s a look at some recent work by its star Jake Gyllenhaal and its director Duncan Jones. Gyllenhaal has had a curious Hollywood career thus far, and ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

“KUNG FU PANDA 2” – Black Belt

> Worth A Ticket; This franchise has been working out. Over the past few years, DreamWorks Animation has been emerging a bit from its place as the jokey, insubstantial sidekick to Pixar’s superhero studio.  How To Tr...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

LIMITED RELEASE: “The Double Hour,” “Incendies” & “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”

> Plot spoilers are even more problematic when it comes to limited releases, because by definition they’re only being seen by a few people in certain selected locations, and–if they’re good–will ideally ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID–RODRICK RULES: Shortbus

> Not Even For Free It was a feel-good story last weekend when the expensive shambles called Sucker Punch went down, defeated by the relatively low-budget family comedy DIARY OF A WIMPY KID:  RODRICK RULES.  (Mitch Me...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

“THE TREE OF LIFE” – God, Man & Terrence Malick

> Worth A Ticket; An often stupendous achievement that courts ridicule–and sometimes earns it. Terrence Malick’s THE TREE OF LIFE is at once the filmmaker’s most emotionally grounded and dizzyingly ambitious f...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE REVIEW: “For a Good Time, Call…”

> There’s a principled discussion to be had about whether the Sundance Film Festival should be featuring movies that are essentially low-budget Hollywood entertainments made outside the studio system. But that discussion ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

PROM: Bland-Land

> Not Even For Free; No Pig’s Blood At This Shindig. The relationships we have with the stars we watch are no less real for being imaginary, and that’s particularly true for television stars, whom we often watch inh...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

INSIDIOUS: What’s That Noise?

> Worth a ticket. The director and writer of Saw, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, combine again to bring us–hey, where are you going?  No, seriously:  don’t run away.  Leaving aside that Saw is rather u...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

LIMITED RELEASE: “Beautiful Boy”

> Watch It At Home:  Much sadness, little insight. BEAUTIFUL BOY is less interesting than you’d think it would be.  The premise is certainly arresting:  Shawn Ku’s first film (written with Michael Arm...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE REVIEW: “Liberal Arts”

> Josh Radnor’s writing/directing debut happythankyoumoreplease, which played Sundance a couple of years ago, was a promising, entertaining NY-set romantic comedy-drama that hailed from the Woody Allen division of indie f...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE BEAVER: Chew On This

> Watch It At Home:  Gibson Delivers, The Movie Wobbles As you may have heard, the new comedy-drama THE BEAVER stars a guy named Mel Gibson, who used to be a big-time movie star.  (It’s actually a surprise to re...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SOURCE CODE: If At First You Don’t Succeed…

> Worth a ticket. They say that the definition of madness is repeating the same action with the expectation of a different result.  But that diagnosis doesn’t allow for this:  a man (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up an...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE REVIEW: “Red Lights”

> Or if the title were a Jeopardy answer, the question would be: what should writer/director Rodrigo Cortes have paid attention to, before he typed “The End” on his script Red Lights wouldn’t have been a festi...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SOMETHING BORROWED: The Weekend’s Not-Thor

> Watch it At Home;  Something Acceptable. As romantic comedies with Kate Hudson go, SOMETHING BORROWED isn’t so bad.  After her spectacular debut in Almost Famous, Hudson’s become something of a brand nam...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE BIJOU: “SUPER 8” – Spielberg Much?

>   Watch It At Home:  That’s MR. Spielberg To You JJ Abrams’ SUPER 8 is the Beatlemania of Steven Spielberg movies.   Abrams is no doubt absolutely genuine in his reverence for classics from the 1970...
by Mitch Salem