Monthly Archives: January 2013

“Life of Pi,” Yann Martel’s fantastical folk parable about faith and spirituality makes the journey to the big screen more or less intact, a meditative Ang Lee survival-at-sea adventure with many of the same virtues and shortcomings of the novel.

“Her and I have this witty banter thing,” single-mom Kim (Krysten Ritter) blurts out to her date as a way of explaining a little verbal snit-fit she’s shared with gal-pal Deena (Kate Bosworth. “It’s nothing serious.” There’s fact and fiction … Continue reading →

 The leading man’s too short, barely suggesting the height that his contemporaries said made him “tower o’er other men.” And his voice, researched and accurate as it may be, is not the Abe Lincoln that’s been inside our head for … Continue reading →

Chatting with Brian Fritz this AM on the Open Mike radio show on 740 The Game, and we’ll talk up the new Matt Damon/John Krasinski/Hal Holbrooke Rosemarie DeWitt drama about fracking — “Promised Land,” and a couple of vintage films … Continue reading →

 As anybody who’s watched The Discovery Channel knows, if you’re looking for moonshine, the place to start is in the foothills of south central and southwest Virginia. As the new movie “Lawless” makes clear, ‘shine was never a passing fancy … Continue reading →

By Pixar’s own standards, “Cars,” the scenic animated amble on the backroads of the Roadrunner’s desert southwest, was the company’s worst film. Laugh-starved, lacking much in the line of action, it was a triumph of toy sales and product tie-in … Continue reading →

“Dangerous Minds,” “Stand and Deliver,” “Lean on Me” — movies about heroic teachers changing students’ lives, and all movies shown in Miss Elizabeth Halsey’s seventh grade English class at John Adams Middle School.

It’s been thirty years since Alfred Hitchcock died, and more than fifty years since his most famous film — “Psycho.” So while his name, reputation and image remain in the public consciousness, generations have grown up not knowing much more … Continue reading →