Robert Rodriguez’s film delivers imaginative action
Machete features a creative cast, bloody scenes and obvious political statements.
Wacky characters and plot infuse life into movie
Soul Kitchen focuses on restaurant-owner Zinos’ many recently formed complications.
Latest from Pixar is a real keeper
It seems that the only thing the gifted storytellers at Pixar Animation Studios can do better than craft a gorgeous and heartfelt narrative is introduce new strains of guilt to moviegoers.
Remake of hit show from the 1980s misses the mark
Hollywood has been catering to 1980s nostalgics lately. With its recent remakes of and belated sequels to ’80s films, Hollywood has been looking backwards, hoping to capitalize on childhood nostalgia with increased ticket sales. The latest example of this trend is Joe Carnahan’s The A-Team, and while it might not be the finest film ever […]
Spin-off fails to recapture Brand’s eccentric humor
Two years ago, Forgetting Sarah Marshall made for another hit in the series of Judd Apatow-produced comedies. Penned by star Jason Segel, the film introduced audiences to the rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). With its witty jokes and subtle gags, Forgetting Sarah Marshall proved hilarious and showcased Brand’s scene-stealing Aldous as a breakout character. […]
Disney action-adventure flick falls short of precedent
From its aggressive advertising campaign to the conspicuous use of a colon in its title, it’s obvious that Disney hopes to create another Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster franchise like Pirates of the Caribbean with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The May 28 release combines flashy visual effects, chiseled muscles and vaguely Arabic imagery to […]
No fairy tale ending for film franchise
With Friday’s release of Shrek Forever After — according to the film’s promotional subtitle, “The Final Chapter” in the hugely profitable four-part franchise — DreamWorks proves itself not above kicking a dead donkey. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas return to give voice to their now-familiar characters in the fourth installment in […]
Reprise pairing of actor and director works again
Ten years ago this month, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, that year’s Academy Award winner for best picture, first appeared in theaters. So if Friday’s release of Robin Hood — another action-adventure period piece starring notoriously temperamental Australian thespian Russell Crowe, with Scott again at the directorial helm — awakens in you an uneasy sense of decadal […]
Korean western film takes pastiche to another level
The Good, the Bad, the Weird really moves. Oozing style from every frame, Kim Jee-woon’s Korean western starts with a thrilling train robbery in Japanese-occupied China and rarely slows down. Here is a film that understands the simple pleasure of a moving camera and moving characters. Kim’s movie is an absurd, gorgeous mash-up of Western […]
Indie film Paper Man should be recycled
Paper Man is a movie about emptiness. Though it’s not really a good film, it’s not really a bad one either, and that might be the point. Jeff Daniels plays Richard, the film’s main character who has a few problems. He is trying to write a novel after the complete failure of his last one, […]