Director Rob Zombie’s biggest mistake in 2007’s remake of “Halloween” was in his desire to “explain” Michael Myers. Most of the narrative was spent building an unimaginative trailer trash mythology, which in turn drained off what made Myers so uniquely
The “Final Destination” series really does have a genius concept. You cast a group of a half-dozen or so very killable twentysomethings, stage a big, gory opening set-piece where they’re the only ones who escape a grisly death, and then
In the late 1960s there were young people in college and starting families, young people far from home fighting and dying for the sovereignty of our allies in Vietnam, young people just starting to see results from their brave and
I’m not someone with many hopes and dreams, 17 years of bill collecting will do that to you, but for me sitting across from The Mighty Robert Osborne and guest programming an evening of Turner Classic Movies would be like
Acting’s in the eyes and regardless of the role Jimmy Cagney’s eyes always screamed “caged.” Whether playing George M. Cohan or some middle-aged Coca-Cola executive, watching Cagney is like watching the lit fuse of a firecracker and whether it was
The first reaction to a story like this is get wrapped ’round the axle of HBO’s hypocrisy, so let’s get that out of the way: Of course no Republican who had behaved in the same manner as “sex columnist” Dan
Not sure which is more revolting, Scorsese’s determination to cast Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Sinatra or his determination to do to The Voice what he and Leo did to Howard Hughes: reduce and distill a great man who accomplished great
At this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Wanda Sykes labeled Rush Limbaugh a terrorist and “joked” about her desire to see his kidneys fail. Not only does she not regret wishing the talk show host dead, in an interview with
Transcending what objectively qualifies as “a great movie,” there is a rarer film still — a special kind of drug, tonic, and comfort blanket that guarantees a couple hours of escape from punishing reality. In 1999, “Office Space” died at
This is an amazing story. Not because Kourtney Kardashian, a reality television star, chose not to abort her child, but rather her willingness to candidly discuss the evolution of her thinking as she mulled her “choice.” I’ve emphasized the most
Using reader scores, IMDB ranked their top 15 films produced since 2000. Other than “The Departed,” which along with “Mystic River,” “Crash,” “Crash,” and “Crash,” ranks in the top 5 over-rated films of ever, there’s little to quibble over. Taste
While offering up one of the smarter political allegories to hit theaters in a long time, after an imaginative and compelling opening based on an imaginative and compelling premise, the second half of “District 9” doesn’t live up. The idea-bottom
As a young married couple Charley and Nadine Varrick (Walter Matthau, Jacqueline Scott) barnstormed the Southwest walking the wings of their bi-plane to thrill the locals. A stunt gone wrong cost Charley his nerve and took him to the New
As if the makers of “G.I. Joe” hadn’t mucked up their own publicity enough by immediately politicizing the film with an announcement that all the crass Americanism would be stripped from our favorite action heroes in favor of a more
[youtube n3a7ATwS6-A nolink] 1. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) – The hardest I have ever laughed in my life. There I was in the theater; bent over, my feet off the ground, convulsing and gasping for air. As a stand-alone,
WaPo: This is merely “play[ing] into a view of Bush popular among his detractors…” This required a few passes to be sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks. You keep telling yourself to stop being amazed by hypocrisy and bias, but
Is that the right word, “Twitterverse?” Actually we’ve been up on Twitter for a few months now but our tech guy wouldn’t let me near it until I proved I could set my VCR clock. With that mission accomplished (kind
Naturally those who enjoyed (and created) all the “art” and pop culture used to demonize and dehumanize George W. Bush (whoops!) are now crying “racism” with the turning of the tables. They’re worried, and this hollow cry is all they
If you think the national news media is biased, spend some time rummaging through the world of entertainment news. Today’s L.A. Times piece about the marketing of “G.I. Joe” has an especially priceless whopper: Yet overseas, where big action films
America’s long past being shocked by anything Roseanne Barr will do for even a smidgen of attention. Why just the other day I was sitting around thinking it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if she dressed as Hitler and made
Never in a million years did I think Judd Apatow was capable of making something as sharp and penetrating as “Funny People.” Never. Since the director first started dabbling in film, I’ve been a harsh critic of everything he’s touched,
Why would a company interested in making money (so they say) make yet another film trashing the Iraq War? By my count (narratives and documentaries), 13 have already flopped miserably and yet Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass team up
Last week I took actor Steven Weber to task for his desire to condemn those of us who aren’t millionaires to a government run health-care plan. Today, however, in the spirit of that awkward beer summit, Mr. Weber and I
The National Endowment for the Arts might be the strongest proof yet that Leftists are much more invested in the culture war than say, oh, feeding the hungry. You would think anyone truly concerned with the downtrodden would be outraged
