Monthly Archives: January 2013

Perhaps the time is right for a glib, predictable and comforting sermon about life after a layoff. “The Company Men” will connect with anyone for whom “the new reality” of today’s economy hits close to home.  But anyone looking for … Continue reading →

“Welcome to the Rileys” is a movie about life after death.  Not the supernatural sort, but the life that those left behind choose to live after a loved one dies. Well cast and nicely acted, it’s another piece of the … Continue reading →

What I was saying about this New York Times story the other day re: China’s involvement in/censorship of Hollywood product continues to bear fruit. Even James Bond, who didn’t do much that would offend Chinese sensibilities in “Skyfall,” has fallen … Continue reading →

It’s movie Thursday on the Open Mike radio show, so I’ll be talking Oscars and Arnold, Marky Mark and Mama with Mike Bianchi and Brian Fritz at about 745. You can listen online, or tune to 740 The Game on … Continue reading →

Director worship is very much in evidence with reviews of this weekend’s movie releases. Critics don’t care for the Hughes brothers — Allen “Book of Eli” Hughes in particular. So “Broken City” is cut no slack. They love South Korean … Continue reading →

t’s coming back, going into a lot more theaters. And that means a lot of confused filmgoers, or a lot more than there were when “Beasts of the Southern Wild” was a limited release/film festival sort of movie, sought out … Continue reading →

“Mama” breaks a lot of horror movie rules, right off the proverbial bat. It gives us a long back-story opening, and brings up much more back story as the tale progresses. It over-explains. It reveals its supernatural menace, not just … Continue reading →

In “The Last Stand,” Ahhh-nuld parties like it’s 1989. Or tries to. This is retro “Raw Deal” era Schwarzenegger, a modern day Western with the aging action hero as the sheriff dead set on stopping the army of an escaped … Continue reading →

Aura is 22, fresh out of college with a degree in film theory and no direction, no sense of how to “get started” on life, career, etc. She’s just been dumped by her college beau, and she’s moved back to … Continue reading →

Ivan Reitman — whose directing career (“Ghostbusters”) is so long in the tooth that he actually has a son, Jason, directing Oscar-worthy comedies — has his best outing in decades with “No Strings Attached,” an amusing flip of the “friends … Continue reading →