Review: Men, Women and Children
No one hits a home run every time he or she steps up to the plate, not even mighty writer/director Jason Reitman, who has brought us winners like Thank You for Smoking, Juno and Up in the Air. I think it’s safe to say that although he really tried to make a statement about our…
Review: A Walk Among the Tombstones
Ring Ring “Hello…” “Honey, it’s for you! It’s Liam Neeson. He says he will find you, and wants to negotiate a kidnapping…Like we haven’t heard that before.” Like we haven’t seen almost everything in A Walk Among the Tombstones before. I mean, really, how many times must we endure Neeson playing the former law enforcement officer…
Review: Fort Bliss
I admit that military movies are not usually my thing. The ravages of war are just too severe for me—they almost always graphically depict hundreds of people getting blown up or shot, and no matter if they’re the “good” guys or the “bad” guys, I just can’t get over the fact that they’re somebody’s parents,…
Review: Dolphin Tale 2
Dolphin Tale 2 is sure to make a big splash with audiences–the fact that it shows wholesome, smart, thoughtful teens, rather than the f-bombing, sex crazed, post apocalyptical warriors is enough to make it praiseworthy in my book. But, surprisingly enough, there’s more to this film, inspired by real life happenings at Florida’s Clearwater Marine Aquarium, than…
The Skeleton Twins
Attention everyone! The Oscar race officially begins with the release of the wonderfully poignant The Skeleton Twins. You heard it here first. Knowing that this tender movie stars Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader as complicated twins, with a little Luke Wilson and Ty Burrell thrown in on the side, you might think this dark “dramady” would…
Life of Crime
This is a classic Elmore Leonard tale, adapted from his novel The Switch. Full of hardened but sympathetic criminals, crazy eccentrics, corrupt businessmen, ambivalent lovers and dames of distinction, you’ll find Life of Crime a darkly amusing diversion. The casting is smart and intriguing. We have Tim Robbins (when did he become John Voight?) as…
Guardians of the Galaxy
Make way for the next big Super Hero franchise, Guardians of the Galaxy will blast its way into your heart and stay there — for at least three more episodes, according to moi. Who can resist a sassy super raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a powerful talking tree (Vin Diesel), a green, not blue super heroine (Zoe…
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
From time to time, I have guest reviewers do the honors. This one is by my husband, Miles Doppler, because he is such a Sin City fan. It also helps that I happen to agree with his assessment. The story goes that when director Robert Rodriguez first met Sin City author and artist Frank Miller,…
The Giver
Jeff Bridges and the rest of us have been waiting for more than 20 years for the film version of this original young adult dystopian future saga, which long preceded (and perhaps inspired) The Hunger Games and the Divergent franchises. It seems “The Dude” has been trying to make this movie for two decades, with…
'Louder Than Words' With David Duchovny Now On DVD
From time to time I’ll be filling you in on interesting Home Entertainment releases. You’ll note that films new on DVD almost always drop on Tuesdays. Sometimes they’ll be giant blockbusters finally released for home viewing, sometimes they are independents that might not have made it to a theater near you, and sometimes they’re newsworthy films that go straight to DVD.…
