The new Star Trek film does an excellent job of paying tribute to the existing canon while freeing itself from all previous content to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before. And nerd-dom has a new captain.
If I had become a film buff in my youth instead of my adulthood and pursued an educational and career trajectory similar to that of my film-loving peers in this town (Hollywood), I might have learned to become more critical about the films I see and far more cynical about the industry than I actually am.
Long before I became a film buff, if I saw a movie with a friend and he criticized the plot, theme or dialogue of a flick I found entertaining, I’d reply something like, “It’s just a movie. It was entertaining; that’s what matters.” I reserved my critical judgment for literature. So, now, while my cinematic critical capacity has increased, I still retain another important capacity, to enjoy a well-made movie with a weak (or contrived) story, provided it keeps me entertained.
My mother began her “higher learning” at a later age than most. I was in junior high school when she attended Sarah Lawrence studying philosophy and I was in high school when she attended the school of anthropology at the University of Virginia. I got to meet a lot of interesting people associated with academia: students, professors, writers, thinkers and do-ers. Generally at that age, I was bored by their discussions, uninterested in their high-art movies, theatre, and book readings, but there was one morsel of media with which we all could concur, one passive activity which satiated a teenager’s desire for adventure as well as an anthropologist’s hunger for discovery, a sociologist’s curiosity about humanity and a philosopher’s quest for truth — we could all agree on Star Trek. [Read more →]
After appearing in more than one hundred films, Sir Michael Caine dropped his usual fee to star in the low budget Is Anybody There?, because it was the only screenplay he had ever read that made him cry. Films about vital people experiencing aging and dementia tend to provoke that reaction. This film is somewhat predictable, but the magical setting and stellar performances by leads Michael Caine (Clarence) and young Bill Milner (Edward) turn what could be a clichéd tearjerker into a life affirming meditation on death and aging. [Read more →]
Wolverine Origin (graphic novel) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine don’t have much in common. They deal with different stories in different ways. The book is great and the movie is okay. [Read more →]
If you check out the various lists touting the greatest movies of all time, you’ll notice that the top spot varies between two films, The Godfather and Citizen Kane. Which is the best? Well, for me, the answer is obvious, because one of those movies changed my life and the other did not, and that’s the measure of a movie’s greatness. Every time you see a movie, you are changed a little bit, but some movies, rare movies, can change your life. [Read more →]
As the fascinating new documentary Tyson reminds us, Iron Mike refuses to have a happy ending. He earned 100 million dollars…and squandered 100 million dollars…and earned another 100 million dollars…and wasted it again. (When he complains about Don King stealing tens of millions from him, one sympathizes but can’t help thinking, “So with your spending habits and general knack for shrewd decision making, that would have kept you out of the red for, what, another month?”) He keenly understands his mistakes, but keeps making them. [Read more →]
Megan Holley heard a story on NPR about two women who started a crime scene cleaning business. By the time Holley arrived at work, she knew this story had to be a movie, and wrote her first screenplay. After winning a local screenwriting contest, she earned a trip to Sundance and a movie deal. Some political pundits say that the public’s optimism and hope during these bleak economic times may actually lead to better economic times. Fortunately for all of us, optimism and hope paved the way to a new career for Holley, and for Sunshine Cleaning’s lead character Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams). [Read more →]
Who is the greatest director of all time? Coppola? Spielberg? Scorcese? Chaplin? Fellini? Ford? The question may be as subjective as “what is the greatest movie of all time?”, but I submit for your approval… Akira Kurosawa. Why Kurosawa and not Orson Welles or Alfred Hitchcock? Because Kurosawa was able to do more with less! [Read more →]
Over thirty years have passed since All the President’s Men, and we now have State of Play, a political thriller where a suspicious character is actually using a room in the Watergate. While the state of the political scandal remains as strong as ever, the same cannot be said for our nation’s newspapers. Just as I really began to register the decline of the Philadelphia Inquirer, I received a notice that the newspaper can no longer give discounts to subscribers. While some of the characters in State of Play wonder if anyone still reads the newspaper, in this film the printed word trumps the blog. [Read more →]
In general, don’t child actors end up messed up enough? How on earth do you get over knowing your father tried to sell you? I mean, what would Punky Brewster have done? I am sure she would have had a lot of takers — and her parents would have walked away with way more than $300K. [Read more →]
Do not be fooled by the coming attractions or the television commercials, or by the fact that the writer/director Greg Mottola directed Superbad. I incorrectly assumed that Adventureland belonged in a category with the spate of recent funny, but trivial comedies. While Adventureland has some funny moments, this look at a 1987 college graduate’s summer job at an amusement park is understated and smart. [Read more →]
It’s a slow time for movie releases. The top Box Office Hit is Fast and Furious, a sequel to The Fast And The Furious. I guess this movie is just too fast and furious to bother with the word “the.” As well as it’s doing in the theaters, it obviously won’t be too long before they release another sequel, maybe Fasurious? While it disturbs me to see this movie being held in such high esteem across the U.S., it actually provides me with some optimism. People must still have money to burn, and until they cannot afford to pay for Vin Diesel’s acting, I don’t think it’s fair to call what we’re in “a depression.” [Read more →]
“That was the worst movie I have ever seen.” I overheard an older woman deliver this verdict at the end of the film Surveillance as attendees at the Philadelphia Film Festival and cinefest 2009 rushed out of the theater to their next films. I am not surprised by her pronouncement, but I do not know what she expected. Did anyone think that director and co-writer Jennifer Chambers Lynch‘s first film in fifteen years (she directed and wrote the screenplay for the controversial Boxing Helena in 1993) could be anything other than a dark and creepy offering? [Read more →]
A “man date” (not to be confused with what the electorate gave President Obama) is a platonic social outing with another male that may lead to friendship. So why does Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd), a young, handsome realtor engaged to his attractive girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones), need to go on “man dates”? [Read more →]
Cinema This Week: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
A few weeks back, I was biking home over the Manhattan Bridge, when I noticed the bridge was closed to car traffic. There was a movie shoot occurring. It’s not uncommon to see film and television shoots around the city, but one that has the permission to shut down a major river crossing is somewhat rare, so I actually stopped. That’s when I noticed Denzel Washington performing a scene from the re-make of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, directed by Tony Scott and set to be released this year. [Read more →]
I must confess that:
1. I know many magicians.
2. I have performed mentalism.
3. I saw the Amazing Kreskin perform a scaled-down version of his show in a seedy, off the Strip casino in Las Vegas.
4. I love John Malkovich.
But while my interest in the subject matter and lead actor may have enhanced my enjoyment of the film, you do not need to know anything about magic or Kreskin to appreciate the The Great Buck Howard. [Read more →]
Sometimes when I’m riding my bike, I like to sing. Often on the way to work, when I catch all green lights going down hill, and I have the wind at my back, as I’m speeding through traffic with the open road ahead of me, I will scream at the top of my burning lungs, Wagner’s The Ride Of The Valkyries. I’m also a great admirer of Benjamin Franklin, as well as the rest of the founding fathers. And I can’t help but sing when most R. Kelly songs come on the radio. So, what do Franklin, Wagner, and The Pied Piper of R&B have in common? They are all people who have created great things, while also being major assholes. [Read more →]
After rushing to theaters for a pre-Academy Awards rampage that included Slumdog Millionaire, Doubt, The Reader, Gran Torino, The Wrestler and Rachel Getting Married, I decided it was time for a palate cleanser. I thought He’s Just Not That into You might be just the spoonful I needed. [Read more →]
I am a man. I’m not a woman, and I’m not a boy anymore. I am a man, and it is noticeable in several areas of my life. The movie-watching experience is one of those areas. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a macho man who can only watch action movies and slapstick comedies. I cried watching Terms of Endearment and I loved Thelma & Louise, but I often find myself at odds with a woman over our opinions of a movie. [Read more →]
