The Lookout: Keep Your Eyes Peeled

"The Lookout is one of the year’s most exciting films; a rousing, supremely entertaining crime thriller about a bank heist. But what the marketing doesn’t divulge is that it’s much more than just a genre picture. In fact, it’s an intense character study about a young man coming to terms with a self-induced disability."

Click here to read my entire review at the [with]tv blog

The Invasion: Insomniacs Wanted

"There may be enough unexpected startles to appease a Friday night crowd in this final, fragmented version but the unfulfilled mixture of camp and terror constantly reminds the audience of just how much the film is a shamble."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Delirious: Bohemian Like You

"Delirious’s formalist schizophrenia leaves one uncertain if the film is intended to be farce or fairy tale, but Buscemi’s dynamite performance makes it worth seeing anyway."

Click here to read my entire review in The L Magazine

Death at a Funeral: Puts the Fun Back in Funeral

"...a biting comedy that thrashes all around the world of morbidity while staying just fanciful enough not to become moribund."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Rocket Science: A for Effort

"Quirky coming of age tales are a dime a dozen in the world of American independent cinema, but Rocket Science – the story of a stuttering high school student who decides to join the debate team – is worthy of singling out from the rest of the crowd."

Click here to read my entire review at the [with]tv blog

You Kill Me: Drinker's Remorse

"...the undeniable fact of the matter is that the film is ultimately a strong look at the effects of alcohol. It has the power to be both a harbinger for those just embarking down that road and also a motivational tool for those seeking help."

Click here to read my entire article on the [with]tv Blog

Bratz The Movie: No Boys Allowed

"The female-skewed story and the barrage of inexperienced actors, mind-numbing pop music and obvious humor render the film inaccessible to males of any age. "

Click here to read my entire review in The L Magazine

Hairspray: Singin' and Dancin' it Old School

"It’s difficult to harbor much ill will for this good-natured and fast-paced spectacle."

Click here to read my entire review in The L Magazine

Cashback: Satisfaction (not) Guaranteed

"...more palatable in 30-minute doses on the BBC than in a 102-minute sitting in the cinema."

Click here to read my entire review in The L Magazine

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry: Too Late for an Annulment?

"But offensive material notwithstanding, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry still fails to measure up to most of the box office superstar’s previous work."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Rescue Dawn: History Rewritten

"... a tense and thoughtful prison escape film with an acute awareness for nature. Think The Great Escape meets The Discovery Channel. "

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Vitus: Flight of the Prodigy

"...it’s the heart-warming story of a boy and his grandfather that helps keep this slight symphony off the ground. "

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Evan Almighty: God Says Go Green

"....Evan Almighty is a fast-paced family comedy with some very funny laughs and a warm-hearted message."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

June Recap

Bug - ***

Two lonely southerners get holed up in a dingy motel room where their individual neuroses become entwined over a possible infestation. Part psychological thriller, part horror film and part Tennessee Williams play, it’s not so much scary as it is uncomfortably unsettling. An odd choice for legendary American director Friedkin who brings pizzazz but doesn’t shed the story’s theatrical roots as much as he should. Boldly devoted and uncensored performances by Judd and Shannon make this bizarre little film worth experiencing.


Chalk - **1/2

Frederick Wiseman’s High School meets NBC’s The Office in this insightful yet uneven “mockumentary” about teacher experiences in a fictional high school. First time filmmaker Mike Akel has an acute attention for classroom minutia but this attempt at social realism is offset by broad comedic sequences including an out of place (albeit very funny) climax in which the teachers participate in a slang spelling bee.


Knocked Up - ****

An aimless schlub (Rogen) and a statuesque beauty (Heigl) share a drunken one night stand that results in an unplanned pregnancy. Move over Garden State, Generation Y has found their true heir to the Graduate’s throne. Knocked Up brings us back to a time when comedies could be both riotously funny and intensely meaningful. Writer/director Appatow may lack the visual flair of Mike Nichols but he makes up for it in the clear adoration of his actors. The talented ensemble – who possess the ability to launch comedic zingers and heartfelt admissions in the same breath – helps Appatow find a way to unearth and examine the state of the modern day relationship without the nastiness of Neil Labute (The Shape of Things), the sugar coating of Richard Curtis (Love Actually) or the inexperience of Adam Herz (American Pie). AO Scott of the NYTimes calls the film “an instant classic” and I dare say he is right. Knocked Up is one of the most important comedies of the decade.


Ocean’s Thirteen - **

An admirably good natured improvement upon the unwatchable Twelve but the lackadaisical atmosphere surrounding the cash cow production is oppressive. Soderbergh deserves credit for experimenting formalistically in some way with every single shot, even if only one in every ten works. One section of the film featuring forced social commentary on Mexican working conditions through a factory uprising feels more like prep work for his planned Che Guevara biopic than the makings of a witty heist film. With the incomprehensible plot, infuriatingly coded dialogue and the smug performances, it kind of feels like being at a party for two hours and not feeling like you’re cool enough to be there; perhaps more distractingly, not being able to understand exactly what about these people and places is so cool.


Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - **

A bland third entry in the enormously successful and otherwise consistently entertaining Pirates franchise. The plot is virtually incomprehensible and completely unnecessary anyway. The first two hours serves no bearing on the final forty-five minutes and while the same can be said of the far superior Dead Man’s Chest, at least that sequel remembered to provide humor and excitement and not just empty pirate chatter. The final five minutes – in which Jack Sparrow (Depp) gets to showboat without plot constraints – are by far the most exhilarating moments in the film.


Waitress - *1/2

Adrien Shelley’s light, homegrown script is ruined by her own frustratingly amateurish direction as displayed in the film’s ugly aesthetics, blatantly artificial lightning, haphazardly incorporated music and limp attempts to comment on generic conventions. Virtually unbearable if not for Nathan Fillian’s oafish charm and Andy Griffith’s sly old coot.

Shrek the Third: An Ogre the Hill Franchise?

"Perhaps the reason I am able to enjoy Shrek the Third so much stems from never loving Shrek the first enough to be disappointed by a sequel."

Click here to read the entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

That Thing You Do!: Extended Cut

"It’s difficult for me to approach the new extended cut DVD of That Thing You Do! without stooping to rabid fanboy zeal as it is a film I unabashedly cite as one of my favorites of all time."

Click here to read the entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

The Ex: Suspicious Minds

"A dark comedy that’s never as mean as it wants to be, the snide humor and pratfalls start out pretty favorably but as the film progresses, the laughs peter out at an unforgiving rate."

Click here to read my review at TheCinemaSource.com

Lucky You: For Love or Money?

"The offbeat decision to stage a poker film under the auspices of a chick flick (or is it the other way around?) has made for a marketing nightmare for Warner Brothers but it has also made for a compellingly watchable fairy tale – the only way to describe it because the Las Vegas depicted in Lucky You only exists in the magical world of movies."

Click here to read my review at TheCinemaSource.com

Jindabyne: Apathy Indicted

"Jindabyne may not be an easy film to like, but it is an important one to experience. "

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

I also participated in a round table interview with the film's stars, Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne, last week. Articles on both celebrities can be found at the following links.

Laura Linney

Gabriel Byrne

Hot Fuzz: Armed for Laughs

"Hot Fuzz may resonate most strongly with rabid fans of the buddy-cop genre due to its hard-edged and in-character aesthetics but its high-spirited zest will appeal to film lovers of all shapes and sizes."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Live Free or Die: Give My Grievances to the Granite State

"The performers and the filmmakers’ intentions are in the right place but Live Free or Die never picks up enough steam to really elicit the kind of guffaws that the talent promises."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

The Hawk is Dying: Animadversion on Wings

"...director Julian Goldberger raises the question, how long can a movie featuring an off-kilter Giamatti running around with a frenzied hawk on his shoulder exist before devolving into self-parody? The answer is, surprisingly long."


Click here to read my review at TheCinemaSource.com

Maxed Out: Debt of Dishonor

"...in the end, I can’t deny that I did come away with a stronger impulse for being weary of credit card companies in the future. "

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

300: Spartan Aesthetics

"...every single element is so explicitly artificial that the viewer is forced to question everything, even the tiny ripples of inflation and deflation on Butler’s sizeable six-pack while he barks orders."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

A Good Year: Sour Grapes

"What was a quaint, modern-day fairy tale on page has turned into a glib, overcooked film so hung up on causality that it lacks any of the organic grace present in Mayle’s prose. "

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

The Number 23: Literature & Paranoia

"Despite the generic constraints becoming oppressive in the conclusion, The Number 23 still serves as a kooky entry in the realm of late night Sci-Fi channel repeats. Secondly, and more subtly, it manages to effectively create a recognizable depiction of what it can be like to find oneself consumed by an engrossing book."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Norbit: The Fat Lady Just Keeps Singing

"Not only is Norbit a vile, unfunny, and all-around-awful movie, it effectively impugns many of Murphy’s substantial comedic achievements over the past twenty years."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Because I Said So: Dismal Weening

"From the opening scene, the plotting is of the sitcom variety and anyone who can blithely make it through these torturous first twenty minutes of contrivance should really start demanding more from their movie-going experiences."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Seraphim Falls: The Good or the Bad?

"These performances, combined with the ambiguity of their characters’ intentions, hint at something really special but the film isn’t quite able to perform as a whole."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

I also had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable interview with the lead actors earlier this week.

Click here to read my interview with Pierce Brosnan

Click here to read my interview with Liam Neeson

Catch and Release: Dead in the Water

"There’s a lot of room for quaint pleasantries andhonest, human drama but things evidently became very artificial en route to the big screen. "

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Extras: Squirming Riotously

"While Extras is probably more Curb Your Enthusiasm than The Office in its commingling of improvisation and celebrity self-sacrifice, it still operates in the same realms of foot-in-mouth comedy perfected in The Office."

Click here to read my entire DVD Review at the TheCinemaSource.com

Fantasy Oscar Ballot

On the eve of the announcement of the official Oscar Nominations, I figured I'd take a page out of my good friend/fellow critic John Young's book and post a list of names I would vote for in the top eight categories.

Best Picture
Half Nelson
The Departed
The Queen
Little Children
Children of Men

Best Actor
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Aaron Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Daniel Craig, Casino Royale
Greg Kinnear, Little Miss Sunshine

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Kate Winslet, Little Children
Gretchen Mol, The Notorious Bettie Page
Meryl Streep, Devil Wears Prada

Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Brad Pitt, Babel
Michael Sheen, The Queen
Bill Nighy, Notes on a Scandal
Clive Owen, Inside Man

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Diane Lane, Hollywoodland
Emily Watson, The Proposition
Toni Collete, The Night Listener

Best Director
Alfonso Cuaron, Children of Men
Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Ryan Fleck, Half Nelson
Todd Field, Little Children
Steven Frears, The Queen

Best Original Screenplay
Russell Gewirtz, Inside Man
Peter Morgan, The Queen
Rian Johnson, Brick
Guillermo Del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth
Ryan Fleck & Anna Bowden, Half Nelson

Best Adapted Screenplay
Todd Field & Tom Perrotta, Little Children
William Monohan, The Departed
Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger & Tom Tykwer, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Frank Cottel Bryce, Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story
Armistead Maupin, The Night Listener

As for predictions, the only risky pick I'll make is that DiCaprio gets snubbed for both performances and both Gosling and Cohen make it into the finalists. Very unlikely, yes, but what the heck.

Alone with Her: A Stalk to Remember

"It’s certainly an experiment of sorts and for what it is, it’s rather interesting, although it will probably play best on the small screen."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Top 10 of 2006

1. Half Nelson

2.The Departed

3. The Queen

4. Little Children

5. Brick

6. Children of Men

7. Cars

8. Tsotsi

9. Casino Royale

10. Inside Man


Read my List with Commentary at TheCinemaSource.com

Idiocracy: Confederacy of Dunces

"While the film lampoons and indicts the audience that revels at the crotch-bruising and dimwitted dialogue, it also distances the (intended) audience that abhors these recent trends by subjecting them to so much of it, even if it is with ironic intent."

Click Here to Read my Entire Review at TheCinemaSource.com

The Dead Girl: Morbid Malaise

"The biggest problem with The Dead Girl is that it doesn’t offer anything rewarding for the viewer other than the novelty of each individual story."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

We Are Marshall: Mob Mentality at its Finest

"Audiences may be skeptical about the need for yet another football movie this year but We Are Marshall nonetheless offers an entertaining piece of uplifting football jingoism. "

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Rocky Balboa: One Night with the Champ

"... getting to see Rocky train one last time is probably the three most invigorating moments from any film released this year."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Venus: Eros & Death

"...Venus is a romantic comedy - of sorts - and every frame of the film relies upon O’Toole’s performance, even the ones he’s absent from physically. "

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

The Painted Veil: Unmasked Prestige

"In a time when so many movies rely on fractured editing and narrative incomprehensibility, it’s wonderfully refreshing to see a film with such a straightforward and reverent approach to filmmaking."

Click here to read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Charlotte's Web: Spinning its Legs

"On the whole, there isn’t anything that parents will find offensive and young children will definitely be entertained by the plights of Wilbur and his furry friends but experienced viewers will quickly realize that Charlotte’s literal web weaving is far more enthralling than the film’s figurative web weaving."

Read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

Apocalypto: Tribal Lunacy

"Apocalypto is old-fashioned storytelling at its most basic level. Moreover, it’s a largely successful piece of filmmaking..."

Read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com

The Nativity Story: Preaching to the Choir

"...Other than some of the beautiful vistas, there isn’t anything in this big screen production that you can’t already see on the History Channel or your standard Visual Bible video series..."

Read my entire review at TheCinemaSource.com