Monthly Archives: January 2013

Rapunzel, the girl locked in a tower with only her long, golden locks for company, gets a sassy, spirited screen treatment from Disney with “Tangled,” an animated fairytale musical from Not Pixar corner of the company. Disney has turned her … Continue reading →

With “The Illusionist,” fans of the late, great and generally silent French comic Jacques Tati have what is, in essence, his final film. It’s an animated farce in the Tati style , based on a Tati  (“Mon Oncle,” Monsieur Hulot’s … Continue reading →

Two broken souls meet and try to connect in Philip Seymour Hoffman’s screen directing debut, “Jack Goes Boating.”  Hoffman, working from the Bob Glaudini play which he also starred in, conjures up a modern day “Marty” about fragile, damaged people … Continue reading →

Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, is the smartest guy in the room.  He used to be the smartest “kid” in the room, though he aged out of that. Kind of. But the questions posited by David Fincher’s  brilliant film, … Continue reading →

One savvy fan of both “Star Wars” and (maybe) J.J. Abrams has concocted this send-up of what Abrams will make “Star Wars” look like, a fan video with “flare.” Lens flare. Funny.  

Back when “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” came out, it was hard to focus on anything but the film’s shortcomings. Director Chris Columbus, as he has proven in films before and since, has little sense of urgency — no … Continue reading →

“Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” rode its pitch and its TV commercials– NOT its reviews — to a soft $18 million opening weekend. Not great for a 3D film, OK for a 3D splatter action comedy. That puts it at … Continue reading →

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is going to rue the day they didn’t recognize Ben Affleck with a best director nomination. That old maxim, “Best directors direct best pictures” is going to be turned on its ear … Continue reading →

I was a fan of “Old Boy.” I also enjoyed Park Chan-Wook’s entire “Vengeance” trilogy — “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” being the last of those. And “Thirst” gave me the creeps, big time. Now, as Spike Lee finishes the American/Hollywood … Continue reading →

“Crash,” the surprise Best Picture Oscar winner from few years back, was the reminder anybody following the Oscars needed that the largest voting bloc in the Academy is actors. The Screen Actor’s Guild had honored “Crash” with a bit of … Continue reading →