Just in time for prime political season comes this Congressional comedy from Jay Roach, best known as the director of all three Austin Powers comedies and the first two Fockers family comedies. A highbrow he is not, much to the detriment […]
Continue reading »Category: Recent Releases
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) ☆ ☆
Marc Webb’s reboot of the Columbia Pictures / Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy is entertaining enough, yet its very existence is troubling. Let me address that for a moment. Raimi’s trio of webbed movies were released in 2002, ’04 and ’07. Thus, […]
Continue reading »To Rome with Love (2012) ☆ ☆
Woody Allen’s latest is a mixed bag. It combines classic whimsy with gorgeous Continental scenery (many of his most recent films have been shot on location in Europe), typically Allenesque neurotic characters and a genuine interest in promoting romance and […]
Continue reading »The Watch (2012) ☆
There are films, and then there are movies. The Watch is definitely a movie, and not a very good one. The initial distinction involves seriousness of subject or purpose, though there are movies that are quite serious, or at least seriously […]
Continue reading »People Like Us (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆
Often one movie’s premise will remind me of another’s, and such is the case with the unusual family drama People Like Us, in which someone discovers, upon the death of a parent, that he has a grown sibling, in this […]
Continue reading »Brave (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆
It has taken Pixar a dozen movies before the wildly successful animation company has finally employed a female protagonist. This 12 – 1 ratio may be reflective of the industry in general, though it is probably still low; in other […]
Continue reading »Prometheus (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆
I’ve delayed reviewing Prometheus for a week or so, hoping that time would deepen my perspective of it. My quandary is that while I absolutely applaud it as intelligent science-fiction (which has become ever more rare these days), I actually did […]
Continue reading »Moonrise Kingdom (2012) ☆ ☆ 1/2
As a general rule I enjoy quirky, different movies like Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom because their originalities put typical Hollywood product to shame in terms of quality and impact. That is again true in this case, though I must admit that […]
Continue reading »Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆
I’m a sucker for big apocalyptic melodramas — there is no greater drama in my view than the end of our civilization — yet I also enjoy subtler takes on the psychology of cataclysm, and in that regard this movie […]
Continue reading »Crooked Arrows (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆
As inspirational sports movies go Crooked Arrows is fairly standard, what with its troubled coach, players who find it difficult to play as a team, unlikely rebound from adversity and ultimate triumph against all odds. What distinguishes this movie as something […]
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