American Sniper Review
At last, Clint Eastwood is back in fine form with American Sniper, a gripping, must-see movie based on the true experiences of U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in the country’s military history. Even if you don’t like war movies (I find them particularly hard to watch), this riveting, harrowing and important film will make you…
Review: Unbroken
Unbroken has a massive built-in audience: There are the millions who read Laura Hillenbrand’s riveting book, millions more who like a good American war story, and then there are those who are fans of Angelina Jolie’s work. I fall into two of those three categories, and was hoping that Unbroken would be brilliant. Louis Zamperini. the Olympic champion,…
Night at the Museum 3 Review
If you and your family have a tradition of going to see a movie on Christmas day and there are kids involved, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is your best bet. Funny, friendly and fanciful, it has all the giggles and excitement young audiences could want, plus a good helping of amusement for the grownups. Your other…
Review: Big Eyes
When you hear Tim Burton has made a movie about the bizarre couple responsible for those painfully schticky big eyed waif posters and paintings that were so hot in the ’50’s and ’60’s, you think, “YES! This movie has potential!” And when you hear Burton has cast Christoph Waltz as Walter Keane, who took all the…
Hollywood's Favorite New Last Minute Luxury Gift
The men of Beverly Hills who need a last minute gift for their chic mothers-in-law, or a stocking stuffer for their well-heeled wives, are running over to the Beverly Hills Beauty Lounge, which is esthetician-to-the-stars Vida Emanuel’s newly opened beauty spa and anti-aging boutique. Among other elite procedures, they can get a gift certificate for a 24-Karat…
Annie Review
Wow. I hate to dog pile on Sony at this difficult time, but the new Annie is arguably one of the worst movies of the year. If only it could have been pulled from release instead of The Interview! I envision horrified executives, after watching the final cut, taking a meeting and asking each other, “Is…
Critics Choice Nominations Announced: How Do You Think I Should Vote?
And so it begins. The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), of which I am a voting member, has announced this year’s Critics Choice nominations for The 20th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. “Birdman” leads this year with 13 nominations. The winners will be revealed at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, which will broadcast live on A&E from the Hollywood Palladium on…
The Hobbit: The Batttle of the Five Armies Review
Like most who have read and loved Tolkien, I had mixed emotions going into The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: I was both tired of and frustrated by the exploitative expansion of a short book into three long films, but still a bit sorry knowing that this would be the final chapter and…
Woo Hoo! Another Season of the Fargo TV Series is (Partially) Cast
Anyone who is familiar with my taste in television knows how much I loved FX’s Fargo TV series, based on the Coen Brothers classic film of the same name. I was not alone–the miniseries received 18 Emmy nominations – the second highest total of any program on television this year – and won three awards, including…
Seattle Celebrates the Holidays on Snowflake Lane
Just got back from Seattle doing an HGTV.com piece on one of the greatest, biggest holiday street shows in the country, Snowflake Lane at the Bellevue Collection in Washington state. For those of you not familiar with the area, Bellevue is to Seattle what Beverly Hills is to Los Angeles. They shut down an entire street every…
