NEW YEAR'S EVE

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitRcbNn3nWMqTTFYIHtzzBfxIgMfeKSWCdq_qQP6HYoiPemhwP98NW10o8Zid7lhyDKrQWCsB-OFxNUr5iaDYTbfIP8CW1GDd32WiGMnbuYPfT55_5fhpbpBHK2jyZDJWAovLQV2MxdNtA/s1600/new-years-eve-zac-efron-michelle-pfeiffer2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692568081572840290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitRcbNn3nWMqTTFYIHtzzBfxIgMfeKSWCdq_qQP6HYoiPemhwP98NW10o8Zid7lhyDKrQWCsB-OFxNUr5iaDYTbfIP8CW1GDd32WiGMnbuYPfT55_5fhpbpBHK2jyZDJWAovLQV2MxdNtA/s320/new-years-eve-zac-efron-michelle-pfeiffer2.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 304px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> NEW YEARS EVE<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert DeNiro, Abigail Breslin<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> *<br /><br />What director Robert Altman perfected… an ensemble cast carrying an entire film through a weaving in-and-out of several stories, some connected more than others but all enveloped in one main theme… Garry Marshall has ruined, twice. First with VALENTINE’S DAY, which followed a group of lovestrucks leading up to the Hallmark holiday – and now we have NEW YEAR’S EVE where a group of eclectic idiots await the New Year countdown in New York City… And unlike its cheesy predecessor, it’s not even fun to bag on. The special guest stars are introduced like members of THE LOVE BOAT: these include Michelle Pfeiffer, sadly looking far past her prime, as a depressed <span style="font-style: italic;">working gal </span>who quits her job and with the help of flavor of the month Zac Efron, she’s given a tour of the city to accomplish her strange resolutions. Also on board is Hillary Swank as the person responsible for raising the New Year’s ball. Sara Jessica Parker as the mother of the now teenaged LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE actress Abigail Breslin, who longs to kiss her dreamboy at midnight. There’s Robert DeNiro in yet another “what’s he doing in this movie?” role as a dying man in a hospital; his last wish to go outside to make the countdown. Ashton Kutcher and “that girl from Glee” are stuck in an elevator, and wouldn’t you know it – she sings! Two couples race to have a baby on the New Year to win a contest. And Jon Bon Jovi plays himself – but with another name – as a rock star who’s ex girlfriend sulks around and… There’s really no use of setting up these stories since none of them amount to anything, and worst of all, they all begin with an assumption that we, as an audience, would care in the first place.

comedy, ensemble, garry marshall, michelle pheiffer, robert davi, tens

NEW YEAR'S EVE

title: NEW YEARS EVE year: 2011 cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert DeNiro, Abigail Breslin rating: * What director Robert Altman perfected…...

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2011)

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3dAVjs8X7ECqi7jy-bToa1ubXwzoBksDudtMDZTLtVVgfYItF7ErXCOwkqOCEiZ8GQNLH8igXg3x1NMfy1f-bVvv09FISu2GmbTpeDkLfGeRQqC5H8wT5dwgzpU-8IPcMu_QAEoau9ZD3/s1600/rooney-mara-the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-picture-1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691990548356773730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3dAVjs8X7ECqi7jy-bToa1ubXwzoBksDudtMDZTLtVVgfYItF7ErXCOwkqOCEiZ8GQNLH8igXg3x1NMfy1f-bVvv09FISu2GmbTpeDkLfGeRQqC5H8wT5dwgzpU-8IPcMu_QAEoau9ZD3/s320/rooney-mara-the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-picture-1.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 231px; height: 320px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2011<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>***<br /><br />The first half of this intense, cerebral thriller, based on a novel made into a popular foreign film, hands off between two stories: one has a maligned reporter investigating the death of a young girl forty years earlier on an island inhabited by a rich and powerful family; the other a punk rock hacker <span style="font-style: italic;">tough chick</span> dealing with a seedy government worker who doles out her allowance. The two leads, played by Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, are in fact connected from the beginning: she was hired to get the digs on his prior investigation that landed him in hot water. Eventually the two join up to solve the murder, or rather, disappearance of the young girl... and the real work begins. Director David Fincher piles on the right amount of Neo-Noir intensity, and although a particular rape scene might be a bit much for mainstream viewers, it pays off later. And after the two leads join up to tackle Craig's case they make for a unique contradictory duo: the dapper reporter and the rogue punker with that particular tattoo yet her real importance is how she can hack into computers with ease. But when their partnership turns sexual it seems forced and tacked-on: Although Rooney makes a desirably subliminal ingenue and Craig has that quiet tough guy thing going, together they have the sexual chemistry of Tom and Jerry. Other downfalls include a predictable turnout – both the killer and the fate of the victim can be seen from a mile off. And the last twenty minutes involving Craig’s redemption as a journalist thanks to his wily partner… after the main story ends with a rather clichéd torture scene followed by a quickie road chase… feels like Fincher didn’t quite know how, or when, to end the film. But the tense, intriguing buildup is everything here: and with darkly foreboding scenery and soundtrack connected like an esthetically morbid Siamese twin, it’s a unique film that, whether you’re familiar with the story or not, <span style="font-style: italic;">will</span> mesmerize… if you let it.

daniel craig, neo noir, remake, rooney mara, suspense, tens

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2011)

title: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO year: 2011 cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer rating: *** The first half of this in...

THE ARTIST

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimO2sTx08fKdfHGOQ_cm8ojfTcfrPVLY7L4IvQTp2EL0FOMZy5ncdW3hJEET_v6jRtL7SoOOPhAYLKfyZ4CN-WIaYJlDQXZZ80JN0ta5T-oIo-U1kaBYAUdnrKloS0htvNxu_-3xIFTQVJ/s1600/The-Artist-Pic-1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691380887781774274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimO2sTx08fKdfHGOQ_cm8ojfTcfrPVLY7L4IvQTp2EL0FOMZy5ncdW3hJEET_v6jRtL7SoOOPhAYLKfyZ4CN-WIaYJlDQXZZ80JN0ta5T-oIo-U1kaBYAUdnrKloS0htvNxu_-3xIFTQVJ/s320/The-Artist-Pic-1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 315px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>THE ARTIST<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ****<br /> <br /> Silent films, as we all know, are a thing of the past… Yet with all the noisy, cliché ridden big budget flicks lately, something like THE ARTIST is long overdue. Story centers on a silent film era swashbuckler George Valentin, who mugs his way through his signature movies like a true… artist. He’s a bit carried away with himself but isn’t smug about it: He’s proudly on top of his game and that’s that. Enter the gorgeous Peppy Miller, who, as a climbing bit player/extra, lives up to her first name with classic beauty to match. She winds up the dance partner in one of Valentin’s movies, and thus begins a subliminal love story that words needn’t explain in this unique film by writer/director Michel Hazanavicius that uses title cards, melodramatic music, and facial expressions to replace dialog. A few offbeat scenes that involve Valentin – after Talking Pictures i.e. Talkies make his career defunct – hallucinating fictional characters and hearing actual noises seem too much a TWILIGHT ZONE episode. But the movie never strays too far from the simple story of a man past his prime and a woman who’s not only beginning to shine, but with a “secret” that might give our hero a second chance… if he can get past his own navel. Familiar faces include John Goodman as a Hal Roach type director, James Cromwell as a faithful butler, and Penelope Anne Miller as Valentin’s bitter wife. But the show truly belongs to imports Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo, whose energetic turns are splendid gifts for classic film buffs: they not only convey every emotion possible but dance like the actors and actresses from the golden age of cinema: without seeming like an imitation and/or a homage to the real thing. But the best performer might just be Uggo as Valentin’s trick-laden terrier, embodying his on-screen co-star, off-screen best friend, and much more. If there were only an Oscar for animals, he’d beat that War Horse by a long shot.

john goodman, oscar nominated 2012, tens

THE ARTIST

title: THE ARTIST year: 2011 cast: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo rating: **** Silent films, as we all know, are a thing of the past… ...

WE BOUGHT A ZOO

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9_E5f825NpZ-2_Zxw_W6lHQotNFDM-LUCtdgglYW0yBFibLtzpv0kjFI2t95hrpYtqPidVJy2cQwjgGHqQNQu1NWZuJ1-LRvejFwAb1WvqddyeCYTTh36GDDwkY6WMZmgOdI7bAnVxLw/s1600/Matt-Damon-in-We-Bought-a-zoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9_E5f825NpZ-2_Zxw_W6lHQotNFDM-LUCtdgglYW0yBFibLtzpv0kjFI2t95hrpYtqPidVJy2cQwjgGHqQNQu1NWZuJ1-LRvejFwAb1WvqddyeCYTTh36GDDwkY6WMZmgOdI7bAnVxLw/s640/Matt-Damon-in-We-Bought-a-zoo.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2011 <b>cast:</b> Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson<b> rating:</b> ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Here's a farfetched premise remarkably based on a true story that includes a good cast, great tunes (including Bob Dylan), and loads of the usual sunny optimism ala director Cameron Crowe to make even the biggest flaws not matter.<br /> <br /> Matt Damon, six months after losing his wife, takes his two children – a sweet little girl and a brooding teenage boy – to find a new house in a new town. Turns out their dream home is on the property of... a zoo!<br /> <br /> Most of the film deals with the restoration and coping with the sporadic obstacles including an uptight inspector who could shut everything down; an aged sick tiger; a dangerous bear; and worst of all, dwindling funds.<br /> <br /> Scarlett Johansson is a nice distraction, serving more than the obvious love-interest. As chief of operations and the only real expert on board, she’s the one character who keeps it all moving.<br /> <br /> It’s fun seeing the zoo morph from a shamble to the real thing, but overlong scenes dealing with the teenage son – too deep and honest to be realistic – ruins the overall flow... As do moments when the little girl tries way too hard to win the cutie pie of the year award.<br /> <br /> But with all the people and animals on board, it’s really Damon’s solo venture: In dealing with the memory of his wife while battling constant snags that could keep his dreams from coming true, he's a down-home protagonist to not only care about, but root for.

cameron crowe, matt damon, quirky, scarlett johansson, tens

WE BOUGHT A ZOO

year: 2011 cast: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson rating: *** Here's a farfetched premise remarkably based on a true story that i...

WAR HORSE

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Z4riraxid7uGAug63ek9oxTzuCH9sQxqNsRsMc3r46eRaljCTxyWUqWV_D03ecrOrGBuIloCh8U83-CdO_8_eZg5UJqw_Z516Fa9TYnd11dZ1r8EV_sFp8rn3sT0evIsI8w-ypwAse2N/s1600/war-horse-celine-buckens.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690508296140095266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Z4riraxid7uGAug63ek9oxTzuCH9sQxqNsRsMc3r46eRaljCTxyWUqWV_D03ecrOrGBuIloCh8U83-CdO_8_eZg5UJqw_Z516Fa9TYnd11dZ1r8EV_sFp8rn3sT0evIsI8w-ypwAse2N/s320/war-horse-celine-buckens.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 241px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> WAR HORSE<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Jeremy Irvine, Niels Arestrup, Celine Buckens<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>**<br /> <br /> In 1979's THE BLACK STALLION, it took only the first glance by a kid and a horse to build a connection that would carry through the entire film. That kind of emotional synergy is not only lacking in this old school epic directed by Steven Spielberg, but is practically nonexistent. We begin with a horse that, after being auctioned and sold to a poor farmer who spent more than it's worth, is tamed by his son to plow the fields: even though it’s not built for this kind of work. Spielberg spends too much attention on the dusky skyline, the searing soundtrack, and the gorgeous scenery that the characters seem like props in the background. When World War I breaks out, the horse is sold – along with a black horse that seems its counterpart – and we’re handed off to a new owner: a young British soldier equally entranced as the father and son. The battles scenes are filmed wonderfully, the camera rolling with the action as bombs blast like they’re right behind us – but once again, the characters get lost in the visual spectacle. But it’s when the horses find harbor in a small French farm, hidden by a wise old man (Niels Arestrup) and his beautiful granddaughter (Celine Buckens), that the only real connection occurs. In one suspenseful scene, the girl hides the mares as German officers arrive to take what they need, and we finally have a human story. Meanwhile, the farmer's son, and supposedly the main protagonist, is thrown back into the movie as a soldier in the front lines… And although his battle scenes are somewhat intense, where’s the plot we paid for? If this were about the young girl and the creature she risked her life to protect, it would have been a much better, more meaningful film. But the main problem is the horse itself – although being an extremely talented “actor,” as a character with so many captivated owners, the relationship with its original family means very little by the end.

drama, oscar nominated 2012, steven spielberg, tens

WAR HORSE

title: WAR HORSE year: 2011 cast: Jeremy Irvine, Niels Arestrup, Celine Buckens rating: ** In 1979's THE BLACK STALLION, it took...

GUINEVERE

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqtiEVGd7zBbU3uS2qutxBZIWdjOJCZZ72GRr2AGX9p7EnrWpDGeMtUUXaO3MczSscL2ScH0jz_NDOv2fZXmA8MCMce2n-c5ydMbPmUW5AUsdf5-BcwyRAzepk78gZVytXBCh-Cz9sFW7/s1600/guinevere.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698087620959316002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqtiEVGd7zBbU3uS2qutxBZIWdjOJCZZ72GRr2AGX9p7EnrWpDGeMtUUXaO3MczSscL2ScH0jz_NDOv2fZXmA8MCMce2n-c5ydMbPmUW5AUsdf5-BcwyRAzepk78gZVytXBCh-Cz9sFW7/s400/guinevere.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 175px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> GUINEVERE<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 1999<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Sarah Polley, Stephen Rae, Jean Smart<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>***1/2<br /><br />At last, a LOLITA for modern audiences and not treated like your typical male fantasy. Stephen Rae, possessing a sly charm tucked within a tragic countenance, is perfect in the role as a struggling artist/photographer named Connie who takes in young female “students,” referring to them as Guinevere. Sarah Polley is Harper, a melancholy rich girl who lacks enthusiasm for life and especially art, until meeting the free-spirited photographer at her sister’s wedding. She needs guidance from an experienced mentor and most importantly, a place to crash, where she gets lessons in love and possibly becoming a future artist, contrary to what she considers a boring, mathematical lineage. Her uptight suburban family’s dissociated from the ineffectually hip city folk: especially the mother played by Jean Smart who – in one scene as she tears Connie apart in a viciously condescending monotone – practically steals the show. And although it’s not always apparent what Connie has over Harper and the string of former students, including Gina Gershon and Sandra Oh, and his health decline is a bit rushed towards the end, Rae plays the character so genuinely the flaws don’t matter: it’s a beautifully filmed character-study about life, love, art, and understanding where each one belongs.

arthouse, indy, jean smart, nineties, sarah polley, stephen rae, tani cohen

GUINEVERE

title: GUINEVERE year: 1999 cast: Sarah Polley, Stephen Rae, Jean Smart rating: ***1/2 At last, a LOLITA for modern audiences and not tre...

THE CHANGE-UP

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRlbYaavVSswj-YzGdJXGweU4Ngv5R_qyeaUFiwxaMNhpmO5TH31B5dYzhEGE_3eP-HFIprBfPfI2XGS12Tx31fIL1jr4xAeMlAvWjMXTQHJ0o1CmVoamFLCbN82f2Y3S5ukf9LknWccV/s1600/thechangeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRlbYaavVSswj-YzGdJXGweU4Ngv5R_qyeaUFiwxaMNhpmO5TH31B5dYzhEGE_3eP-HFIprBfPfI2XGS12Tx31fIL1jr4xAeMlAvWjMXTQHJ0o1CmVoamFLCbN82f2Y3S5ukf9LknWccV/s320/thechangeup.jpg" width="172" /></a></div><b>title: </b>THE CHANGE-UP<br /> <b>year: </b>2011<br /> <b>cast:</b> Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Olivia Wilde <br /> <b>rating: </b>**<br /> <br /> The FREAKY FRIDAY template is used in the raunchy comedy genre: involving a mild-mannered suburban father/workaholic lawyer Jason Bateman changing bodies with his womanizing actor best friend Ryan Reynolds. We don’t get to know each character’s contrary lifestyles, or personalities therein, to merit a significant <i>change</i> when it occurs (they both drunkenly pee in a fountain at the same time), which is important since the entire plot resides on how each guy reacts to living a different lifestyle. The jokes try too hard to push the how-far-can-we-go envelope, making each moment involving their uncomfortable circumstances – Bateman’s hunted by his sexy secretary while Reynolds changes diapers and lands deals in the office – seem secondary to the dialog's shock value. But while Jason Bateman never enjoys his “vacation” taking on the single man’s life he so whined about during the first ten minutes, Reynolds, after a while, does seem genuinely contented with his neglected wife. It’s when they switch back to normal, and the envelope is sealed, we realize the movie wasn’t completely pointless… these poor fellas went through hell and back, after all... but is it worth sitting through all over again?

comedy, jason bateman, olivia wilde, ryan reynolds, tens

THE CHANGE-UP

title: THE CHANGE-UP year: 2011 cast: Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Olivia Wilde rating: ** The FREAKY FRIDAY template is used in the ...

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhglEy7vEq0ik3TWmJ6ULmV3RJq1-ojivKeflacg6o3janMKiPNJq84pjT7dsajBypg50Mo4Q4AkFfTQmeVVv4rTpGKnCoVXGJWa8aUJhjxAXxrXeyLxRnoe2xrA1Nxv50UDvGZ1WXWCA5-/s1600/Tom-Cruise-in-Mission-Impossible-Ghost-Protocol-2011-Movie-Image-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhglEy7vEq0ik3TWmJ6ULmV3RJq1-ojivKeflacg6o3janMKiPNJq84pjT7dsajBypg50Mo4Q4AkFfTQmeVVv4rTpGKnCoVXGJWa8aUJhjxAXxrXeyLxRnoe2xrA1Nxv50UDvGZ1WXWCA5-/s640/Tom-Cruise-in-Mission-Impossible-Ghost-Protocol-2011-Movie-Image-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2011 <b>cast: </b>Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner<b> rating:</b> ****</td></tr> </tbody></table> If you thought the new Superman movie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">hasn</span>’t hit theaters yet, think again...<br /> <br /> Tom Cruise, returning in the fourth installment of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, needs only a cape to be a comic book hero. And thankfully, all the extraordinarily grandiose action occurs within a tight plot and the rest of his team... including Paula Patton as a smart and gorgeous agent, Simon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Pegg</span> as the comic relief hacker, and Jeremy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Renner</span> as an ace who <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">doesn</span>’t show all his cards at once... add equally to the proceedings.<br /> <br /> Beginning with a jailbreak from a Russian prison and ending with a good old fashion nuclear crisis, the action never stops – but there are enough pockets of downtime to reboot the characters, and the audience, onto the next level. And it takes all four members working overtime to catch up with a villain named Hendricks, who, in triggering a bomb in Russia blamed on the IMF, skips around with the maligned, desperate team – more covert than ever having been stripped of their status – close on his trail.<br /> <br /> A standout segment occurs in Dubai within, and outside of, the tallest building in the world – fitting to the tallest tale in the world, but one that, with each second metered in a calculating, suspenseful precision, will keep even the most stringent fans of the spy genre fulfilled despite the fact it’s more escapist fantasy than a legitimate espionage.

action, blockbuster, franchise, jeremy renner, sequel, suspense, tens, tom cruise

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL

year: 2011 cast: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner rating: **** If you thought the new Superman movie hasn ’t hit theaters yet,...

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3BAGflsl7bOqx5atM-YVr7r0HnT1HIlglYB4wiEXnl6ENL5zhtnnQc72_XEC305YxqGBGVLNp4YN3KFPn_0Gd1y8lzoAclP_tfgMhRhsRes5wjexchheFnOFUnkJfRpEJoGfxj3czybUY/s1600/Michelle-Williams-as-Marilyn-Monroe-in-My-Week-With-Marilyn.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688026819136558882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3BAGflsl7bOqx5atM-YVr7r0HnT1HIlglYB4wiEXnl6ENL5zhtnnQc72_XEC305YxqGBGVLNp4YN3KFPn_0Gd1y8lzoAclP_tfgMhRhsRes5wjexchheFnOFUnkJfRpEJoGfxj3czybUY/s320/Michelle-Williams-as-Marilyn-Monroe-in-My-Week-With-Marilyn.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 286px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>MY WEEK WITH MARILYN<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2011<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***<br /><br />At this point, Marilyn Monroe is known for just about everything <span style="font-style: italic;">except</span> movies. Her image alone represents beauty as something eternal; since she died young, perfection is all we’re left with. So here’s a film about Monroe the actress, chosen by British icon Laurence Olivier to co-star in his 1957 comedy THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL. The first half has Monroe faltering and floundering, unable to get any line right – and by the end she’s stealing the picture, supposedly causing Olivier to return to the stage… But where’s the arc? Well it’s that middle ground the film (based on a memoir) is named after – the week long friendship between Marilyn and Colin Clark, played with noble naiveté by Eddie Redmayne, who, from a rich family and interested in show business, lands a job as third assistant director. Through his awestruck eyes we see Marilyn, not only as a timid starlet overmatched against the British dynamo, but a sweet natured, pill-popping victim of circumstance. The relationship between Marilyn and Clark lacks depth, and seems more of a fantastical valentine to a beautiful mirage than a genuine relationship, or a substantial film bio, which, if more attention was given to Kenneth Branagh as the frustrated Olivier trying to harness Monroe into his kind of performer, this would be more of. But Michelle Williams’s portrayal of the vulnerable bombshell makes everything work despite the fact that, being no match to the real Norma Jean esthetically, her performance becomes more than a lookalike/imitation: she really gets inside and pulls something out.

bio, kenneth branagh, marilyn monroe, tens

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

title: MY WEEK WITH MARILYN year: 2011 cast: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh rating: *** At this point, Marilyn Monroe ...

YOUNG ADULT

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpZJhs7PMEvrsghwLanItzi0SpXo0SKhKAXYHChs6sSh2qFdjlWhZYisJ1oYnaWp0v5pmPXPyPlgtYMmoBTAbqe1dU_e3fg_6AqNPMZBJ-ecSeBsYKUbHMk1Z-Na-pU1ANWJ1lqEoNZqk/s1600/youngadult_jma.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688013425115060850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpZJhs7PMEvrsghwLanItzi0SpXo0SKhKAXYHChs6sSh2qFdjlWhZYisJ1oYnaWp0v5pmPXPyPlgtYMmoBTAbqe1dU_e3fg_6AqNPMZBJ-ecSeBsYKUbHMk1Z-Na-pU1ANWJ1lqEoNZqk/s400/youngadult_jma.jpg" style="float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 227px;" width="283" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>YOUNG ADULT<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Charlize Theron<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> *1/2<br /> <br /> A selfish, beautiful, irate, desperate, greedy, cunning woman returns to her small town to snare her high school sweetheart Buddy Slade, who’s proudly married with a newborn baby. Charlize Theron is Mavis Gary, the hardened, boozing author of a young adult series with just enough bitterness to make for a fun anti-heroine. But when she meets a former schoolmate at a bar… an overweight geek who was beaten and crippled for being homosexual even though he wasn’t… the movie hits a wall way too soon. Although Patton Oswalt plays tubby underdog Matt Freehauf with sincerity, his character, in constantly warning Mavis about her plan to break up Buddy’s family, and then their comfortable drinking kinship thereafter, deletes any spontaneous edge she’d have otherwise. The intriguing plotline becomes a simplistic character-study of two polar opposites complaining about their lives – and the film goes nowhere. Even when Mavis makes her moves on Buddy Slade, who, played by Patrick Wilson, looks good but hardly has a pulse, it never seems she has anything to really gain or lose, nor is there a substantial motivation for her actions. Then the very ending, as dark comedy turns to uncomfortable melodrama when Mavis confronts – and is confronted by – Buddy's wife and her friends during an outdoor party, the film fizzles into nowhere: leading to one of the grossest sex scenes in cinematic history... followed by an early morning conversation that could have succeeded in a darkly humorous epilogue if only director Jason Reitman, or writer Diablo Cody, knew what kind of movie they were making in the first place.

charlize theron, dark comedy, tens

YOUNG ADULT

title: YOUNG ADULT year: 2011 cast: Charlize Theron rating: *1/2 A selfish, beautiful, irate, desperate, greedy, cunning woman retur...

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHJ4iewpxgk9oJEs_PQzGE8W_W5BitpxBsj7qLc1zvWjiKrrO0CsDMZcMSTLXqy-hJmML4DF1gpBlOETGoQAKdhpUPySSTG1L_S-MmeAByHjU6zC3_2wT-pqWoERFKz3fcQTKB1wK2fK70/s1600/sherlock-holmes-460x307.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687003647013858322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHJ4iewpxgk9oJEs_PQzGE8W_W5BitpxBsj7qLc1zvWjiKrrO0CsDMZcMSTLXqy-hJmML4DF1gpBlOETGoQAKdhpUPySSTG1L_S-MmeAByHjU6zC3_2wT-pqWoERFKz3fcQTKB1wK2fK70/s320/sherlock-holmes-460x307.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 224px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Robert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Downey</span> Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> **1/2<br /> <br /> The usual template for an action-packed sequel is to outdo the original with more explosions, fights, etc., and although there are some of these elements, mostly we have an 18<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> century cold-war thriller where Holmes and Watson take on the evil Professor Moriarty, played by a sneering Jared Harris, who, through bombing buildings, wants to ignite a sort of World War III… only thing is, there <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">hasn</span>’t been a First World War yet. But that’s how it all plays out: in a James Bond meets Tom Clancy meets modern day headlines with a few good fights and not enough of what makes this new Sherlock Holmes, and the original Inspector created by author Conan Doyle, work: the steel-trapped brain that can figure out anything to solve a crime. There’s little mystery involved since we quickly learn the intentions of the bad guy – to start a few fake battles to cause a real big one – and the bickering relationship between Holmes and Watson has dwindled considerably, making it less humorous but ultimately allowing Jude Law’s Watson to be more than a straight man, especially during the climax. Robert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Downey</span> Jr. displays the essential offbeat charm but seems to be holding back at times. And while Rachel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">McAdams</span> provides a mere cameo, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Noomi</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Repace</span> steps in as a fortune teller whose brothers have joined Moriarty to… well that’s all part the plot and, while somewhat convoluted and lacking the sparse punch of the original, there remains that essential string tugging the audience along to the next suspense-filled obstacle: too bad there’s not enough of them this time around. And those narrated brainstorms during perilous situations... careening us back to the action at hand... seem more forced than <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">imperative</span>. But the stuff that does work, like a fight on a train, makes for a pretty good time.

action, jared harris, jude law, mystery, robert downey jr., sequel, suspense, tens

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS

title: SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS year: 2011 cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris rating: **1/2 The usual template...

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE: THE MUSIC BOX

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibX_T_fmSihlTTrJCpTQMTNLAqBJhcEVSSnbO0FEHScbsK_kHcLbvq83CREwWS9mCM7bhh42J3tZwkUh9tozOUax-axnCP9ultYTLlB03RpZXDut1sJkPFZRc5vaobUoVGFpiovxsEMegk/s1600/Katy+Kurtzman+in+The+Music+Box+5.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibX_T_fmSihlTTrJCpTQMTNLAqBJhcEVSSnbO0FEHScbsK_kHcLbvq83CREwWS9mCM7bhh42J3tZwkUh9tozOUax-axnCP9ultYTLlB03RpZXDut1sJkPFZRc5vaobUoVGFpiovxsEMegk/s320/Katy+Kurtzman+in+The+Music+Box+5.jpg" width="277" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katy Kurtzman</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>title:</b> LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE: THE MUSIC BOX<br /> <b>year: </b>1977<br /> <b>cast:</b> Melissa Gilbert, Alison Arngrim, Katy Kurtzman<br /> <b>rating:</b> ***1/2<br /> <br /> That infamous rich bitch Nellie Oleson has a music box and poor little Laura Ingalls really, really wants it. It’s that simple? You wish! Laura, after swiping the box from Nellie’s bedroom during a private club meeting, hides it in her barn. And whenever needing a “fix,” she goes inside and listens to the chiming, metronomic tune that, after hearing it a dozen times, might drive you crazy. It sure does Laura… as the tune permeates into surreal, creepy, guilt-driven nightmares. The standout guest star is Katy Kurtzman, who in the next season would play a young Caroline Ingalls… Here she’s a sweet stuttering prairie girl named Annie who Nellie keeps from joining her club because… she’s just not normal enough, in Nellie's estimation, to belong. During one scene Nellie recites an impromptu poem that seems written by Mohammed Ali: “A chicken can squawk and a butterfly can flutter… But Anna can’t talk… All she can do is stutter!” This (and other classic Bad Nellie moments) makes for a classic episode: Especially after she catches Laura with the Music box and blackmails her into a form of mental slavery. And as Laura conceals the truth, she breaks poor Anna’s heart... All leading to a climactic emotional scene that proves Katy Kurtzman, who stutters and cries at the same time, was one talented child actress.<br /> <br />

katy kurtzman, michael landon, seventies, TV

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE: THE MUSIC BOX

Katy Kurtzman title: LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE: THE MUSIC BOX year: 1977 cast: Melissa Gilbert, Alison Arngrim, Katy Kurtzman rat...

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbthwqI_sXGn2S6M8YBCbY-EWB3oRO-vqtO_EsI45DFrwXxCS7LJJsdp5KRsQaoAEgq3uEsYP6a_vpS8glB8oIVX8lGWLeNlYfe3GsZm5mup0hNjwaKq3ucJfI8Eyy53LXox9nmLL4pp3X/s1600/the-adventures-of-tintin-the-secret-of-the-unicorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbthwqI_sXGn2S6M8YBCbY-EWB3oRO-vqtO_EsI45DFrwXxCS7LJJsdp5KRsQaoAEgq3uEsYP6a_vpS8glB8oIVX8lGWLeNlYfe3GsZm5mup0hNjwaKq3ucJfI8Eyy53LXox9nmLL4pp3X/s640/the-adventures-of-tintin-the-secret-of-the-unicorn.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year: </b>2011 <b>voices</b>: Andy Serkis, Jamie Bell <b>rating:</b> ***1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <br /> Steven Spielberg’s computer animated adventure about a young boy Tintin, his little white dog Snowy, and an endearingly drunken Captain Haddock might be too much of a good thing – but it’s a good thing nonetheless.<br /> <br /> The frantic action is non-stop: from the minute Tintin sees a model ship called THE UNICORN, he’s dead set on buying it. But a few seedy characters want it for themselves and the daring young investigative reporter needs to find out why – all having to do with the lineage of the underdog alcoholic Captain, held hostage at sea by the main antagonist: a greedy yet cunningly classy villain named Sakharine, much like Belloq from Spielberg’s RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, which this movie tries hard to emulate by wielding a constant handing-off of perilous escapades.<br /> <br /> The problem is we don’t get to know any of the characters enough (who'd be more interesting if they were actually human) to really care about them, or take part emotionally in their quest: which is too hackneyed to sustain genuine interest, although the dialog sets up each situation well enough and there are a few semi-witty moments by two keystone cops.<br /> <br /> But the best scenes involve Haddock, voiced wonderfully by Andy Serkis, recalling his father’s pirate ship battles: the imagery of the tale surrounding the scene as he talks. And the rambunctious Snowy merely provides a peripheral mascot to the action, yet he’s a character worth loving for no other reason than being furry and cute.<br /> <br /> As for Tintin, he’s got a heart for adventure but why exactly? Well perhaps it doesn’t matter… If you want two hours of nothing but thrills, this will do it for you. With the constantly moving camera gliding in, out, up and around like a ghost on pep pills, it feels more like producer Peter Jackson’s baby than Spielberg’s. But it’s the John Williams score, and the feeling of being young again, that gives the iconic director his signature throughout. 

action, adventure, andy serkis, computer animated, daniel craig, peter jackson, steven spielberg, tens

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN

year: 2011 voices : Andy Serkis, Jamie Bell rating: ***1/2 Steven Spielberg’s computer animated adventure about a young boy Tintin, h...

HANNA

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHPETxjf-9ASjd1mcUXNDn9Gxs2uOikXfKc1rky8ckJ6HxTnAzkuQzXQlFd6K6WhaNJHYBl34V3saQYjccEO87ZpedknruWvq5EaAS-o1DhO7yMpGz3i7QgRo7sHZod1PJvEszhR_Jrev-/s1600/Picture+4.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHPETxjf-9ASjd1mcUXNDn9Gxs2uOikXfKc1rky8ckJ6HxTnAzkuQzXQlFd6K6WhaNJHYBl34V3saQYjccEO87ZpedknruWvq5EaAS-o1DhO7yMpGz3i7QgRo7sHZod1PJvEszhR_Jrev-/s1600/Picture+4.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2011 <b>cast:</b> Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Jessica Barden, Paris Arrowsmith <b>rating:</b> ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> The opening and closing sequences, mirroring each other in content and closure, envelope this unique action/suspense in such a clever fashion you’ll forget the flaws.<br /> <br /> Our taut story centers on a teenage girl, Hanna, raised in the snowy Finland wilderness, displaying cunning agile as she hunts deer and learns from her mentor/father played by Eric Bana, making the most of a small (but important) amount of screen time.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYtwM-AqAY-AEImwkNVeUZqrTrKvrdONMPSIPqEXUk3IcyZ7K3KU1JfyTPxkfTiDOq04_Qd6Ku_T1KdGFIOYMCKCoMBoBcaVB6q9a0b6cMng9edWuVso-cmWsuee3_C8C6ur229G02YC-/s1600/Picture+2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYtwM-AqAY-AEImwkNVeUZqrTrKvrdONMPSIPqEXUk3IcyZ7K3KU1JfyTPxkfTiDOq04_Qd6Ku_T1KdGFIOYMCKCoMBoBcaVB6q9a0b6cMng9edWuVso-cmWsuee3_C8C6ur229G02YC-/s1600/Picture+2.png" /></a></div> But soon enough, wary of her claustrophobic, contained anonymity, Hanna decides to venture into civilization, warned she’d be hunted by federal agents – one in particular played by Cate Blanchett, as coolly calculating as the titular protagonist sans the chaste sympathy of youth.<br /> <br /> Hanna’s adventure is tight and suspenseful as she, after a seemingly easy yet downright bloody escape – dad trained her to get out of <span style="font-style: italic;">any</span> situation – travels across Europe with deadly agents on her tail. The metronomic techno soundtrack not only works as a hypnotic score but seems a robotic muse keeping the daring phenom alive and kicking to the next venture.<br /> <br /> Along the way she meets… and surreptitiously joins up with… a family consisting of father, mother, son, and teenage daughter (smitten with Hanna's rogue naivete), and the film hits a wall – that Hanna smashes through once the agents tail her again.<br /> <br /> Blanchett displays the right amount of detached evil to counter our heroine's equally determined quest to survive, and more importantly, the persistence to discover her true origins which, once disclosed, makes things clearer for an audience that, having suspended disbelief this long, are willing to accept just about anything.<br /> <br /> Saoirse Ronan (THE LOVELY BONES) is great in the lead role: with narrowed eyes and the right amount of tomboyish beauty, she's a sublime mix of naïve innocence and lethal cunning. Not a perfect film, but it should keep you interested.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfyfizRCvOVTZuZ23-Wuz3eAsmLjfrbnZqCnBvJ3S66vQUAlaiyQAouPx1PROXhweJraEfoPKt2Kt466CyCoZRIluO_4jAnhrvjH-7t80Q7L1rz2Hrju4wFcyaBA3XUPF5u2qgAFiymmb/s1600/Picture+1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfyfizRCvOVTZuZ23-Wuz3eAsmLjfrbnZqCnBvJ3S66vQUAlaiyQAouPx1PROXhweJraEfoPKt2Kt466CyCoZRIluO_4jAnhrvjH-7t80Q7L1rz2Hrju4wFcyaBA3XUPF5u2qgAFiymmb/s1600/Picture+1.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dvd.netflix.com/Search?v1=Hanna&oq=HANNA&ac_posn=1">RENT HANNA ON NETFLIX</a></td></tr> </tbody></table>

action, lesbian, saoirse ronan, suspense, tens

HANNA

year: 2011 cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Jessica Barden, Paris Arrowsmith rating: *** The opening and closing seque...

GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2wXC75-4dbretcqPR2e9gG4NBoC1NWjqtRJUhrDppPU9y8yH0HxInNSTRNHfPlWWdOjhSuZHyHRCLLTBtCjM6iGPJe1E-R41CdcWNM2yOXnA_O-WabCloIT6iEyPCfwb2INN6Hw5crRA/s1600/greystoke-the-legend-of-tarzan-lord-of-the-apes-w1280.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685436799504162498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2wXC75-4dbretcqPR2e9gG4NBoC1NWjqtRJUhrDppPU9y8yH0HxInNSTRNHfPlWWdOjhSuZHyHRCLLTBtCjM6iGPJe1E-R41CdcWNM2yOXnA_O-WabCloIT6iEyPCfwb2INN6Hw5crRA/s400/greystoke-the-legend-of-tarzan-lord-of-the-apes-w1280.jpg" style="float: right; height: 400px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 225px;" width="180" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1984 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> While being a more faithful rendition of Tarzan, the ape lord created by Edgar Rice Burroughs turned into an endearing airhead in older films, the brooding saga, made by CHARIOTS OF FIRE director Hugh Hudson, ultimately misses the vine.<br /> <br /> The prologue introduces us to the gorillas in their African jungle habitat during a volcanic eruption, seeming like a creation of sorts. The simians (created by Rick Baker) are esthetically pleasing but all their screams get annoying, and they never feel like characters to invest time in.<br /> <br /> The humans in England are a bit more deserving our attention… Ralph Richardson, in his final screen role, plays the Earl of Greystoke: consisting of a giant mansion sprawled along a plush countryside. His son Jack, discontented with easy living, takes his wife to Africa where, after a shipwreck (that we unfortunately never witness) is stranding in the jungle and… Let’s cut to the chase: the parents die and their infant is raised by apes. The scenes with the young Tarzan (who’s never referred to as such) are wonderful looking, but the <span style="font-style: italic;">coming-of-ape</span> montage cuts so sporadically we never feel he’s in any danger, nor is an effective kinship established with his new parental figures. He grows to be Christopher Lambert, with narrowed eyes and swiftly cunning agility, but he seems more posing the role than performing it.<br /> <br /> Eventually Tarzan aka John Clayton is taken by Ian Holm, the surviving member of a massacred hunting party – after much too easy tutoring lessons to make him more human – to be with his grandfather in England. Here’s where a real story could have sunk in... but the scenes skip around so much it's like half a film – and a long one at that. As Lambert makes noises like lions, and leaps around bedrooms like an ape, it often feels more parody than serious; and Andie McDowell's dubbed voice (by Glenn Close) is preposterously distracting.<br /> <br /> All in all, our titular hero’s never successfully established as the lord of the jungle or a man trying to find his place in England. Even Ian Holm tells Clayton to realize he’s human in order to fit into the jungle or civilization. Too bad for the audience he never really does.

christopher lambert, eighties, glenn close, hugh hudson, ian holm, robert towne

GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES

year: 1984 rating: ** While being a more faithful rendition of Tarzan, the ape lord created by Edgar Rice Burroughs turned into an endea...

A NEGATIVE REVIEW OF THE OVERLONG/OVERRATED 'CASINO'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRC3cuAc1Mzrm9XfZsKflKRYVw_8ESGfNpASYIpbGeZgWhsrviAK8Wi76RVRZmLQvWhfDVvPk2R4xXKriDxAPj6I-j9I1WVqbo568nT7VQHbJQDIqxcfH2PYjGnyL4SXnBUKnOl3XeMAJCA2i9fuHntJgrmdr4-Rhzfrfwr7tXMGq-QYqzRY7mbUiUGQ/s926/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-10%20at%2011.52.39%20PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="564" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRC3cuAc1Mzrm9XfZsKflKRYVw_8ESGfNpASYIpbGeZgWhsrviAK8Wi76RVRZmLQvWhfDVvPk2R4xXKriDxAPj6I-j9I1WVqbo568nT7VQHbJQDIqxcfH2PYjGnyL4SXnBUKnOl3XeMAJCA2i9fuHntJgrmdr4-Rhzfrfwr7tXMGq-QYqzRY7mbUiUGQ/w244-h400/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-10%20at%2011.52.39%20PM.jpeg" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1995 rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table>During the first act, as we learn the intricate ins-and-outs of a 1970's Las Vegas CASINO… taking us so close inside the operation we feel both part of the roulette tables and the dice rolling across them... it's intentionally created in the same flowing biographical fashion director Martin Scorsese showed us with an entire mob's operation in GOODFELLAS...<br /> <br /> But then something happens, or stops happening, or both: The main character, Sam "Ace" Rothstein, played by Robert De Niro, is a man of mind, not action. He’s to gambling what Scorsese is to directing… a natural… and the casino itself becomes an absorbing character: we feel the pulse of the machines, and the men behind the scenes, keeping the moneymaking beast alive while protecting it from cheaters, con artists, and crooked politicians.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_IoxRK3WcbXeYri2diB5qN72SkpKrVsmGzbaTD3_geaGXkyE1lTTn2vBqHx7Nzwa76EXITpCBDcbK5HtgNwDphEWJPgdYJTy9SBWGmM01Mi7G52Nyq8vAb8ivQPPN1HiV6Sf1z1cDl3b/s1600/47a6fa60ad9e035e0646d3fe0106ef40.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="567" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_IoxRK3WcbXeYri2diB5qN72SkpKrVsmGzbaTD3_geaGXkyE1lTTn2vBqHx7Nzwa76EXITpCBDcbK5HtgNwDphEWJPgdYJTy9SBWGmM01Mi7G52Nyq8vAb8ivQPPN1HiV6Sf1z1cDl3b/s320/47a6fa60ad9e035e0646d3fe0106ef40.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster too good for the movie, fella</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Enter Joe Pesci as Nicky, Rothstein’s childhood friend: the muscle who is familiar and cocky, dangerous and ultimately undependable. And there's the flavor of the month, Sharon Stone, as Sam’s trophy girlfriend turned wife, Ginger, who becomes the apple of his eye – and soon, for a man who seemed so infallible, nothing matters but trusting a woman who repeatedly warned him not to.<br /> <br /> The movie hits a wall with this escalating-downhill relationship between Sam and Ginger, but it was faltering beforehand – De Niro, Pesci, and some of the other shady characters, although colorful and formidable, aren’t interesting enough to really care about – unlike GOODFELLAS, RAGING BULL or TAXI DRIVER, they all seem more written than real. But the duel-narration here... while beautiful in GOODFELLAS between Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco... works here and it doesn’t: De Niro’s by-the-numbers account is fine in the beginning, giving us a firsthand account of how things run, but it becomes a rambling safety net for the lack of a streamlined plot: especially when his business luck turns sour.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDs6ddV3Yia3gTT5VidhuvlcEoBoV3LFBuv9O5vQL_BVVDoTBj9XfHNZWQ7iRRIub9v_Ee08breM6dUh72I5e5X2EDdeWBDc8TriFaaep0Oi4kcl1ghOmIShNDSlRzOFZC38XOCDo7OlIq/s1600/d32179c2dcef1e743c63042d26f0388d.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="839" data-original-width="568" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDs6ddV3Yia3gTT5VidhuvlcEoBoV3LFBuv9O5vQL_BVVDoTBj9XfHNZWQ7iRRIub9v_Ee08breM6dUh72I5e5X2EDdeWBDc8TriFaaep0Oi4kcl1ghOmIShNDSlRzOFZC38XOCDo7OlIq/s320/d32179c2dcef1e743c63042d26f0388d.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Another fan poster, or something</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Meanwhile Joe Pesci’s counterpoint is completely unnecessary, sounding like a mafia goon's version of Bugs Bunny, filling us with details better left for the audience to figure on their own (and given his character's fate... is the narration recorded in Satan's private broadcasting station?)...<br /> <br /> Then the last half runs itself completely ragged: juggling the dull doomed love story straight out of a nighttime soap, and Ace and Nicky's edgy friendship that meanders to a predictably violent conclusion (and they never seemed that tight to begin with for the eventual unraveling to really matter).<br /> <br /> If Scorsese and scriptwriter Nicholas Pillegi stuck closer to the Casino, perhaps CASINO, and its characters, might have had more purpose. What we’re left with is too much style without substance. (And has there ever been a character more deserving a bloody death than James Wood's pimp/hustler who not only repeatedly steals Stone from DeNiro, but kidnaps, and continually threatens, his daughter? While we witness the immense, overboard bloodshed of everyone else, James comes out with a few bruises. What the hell were they thinking?!)

gangster, joe pesci, martin scorsese, melodrama, mob, nineties, robert deniro, sharon stone

A NEGATIVE REVIEW OF THE OVERLONG/OVERRATED 'CASINO'

year: 1995 rating: **1/2 During the first act, as we learn the intricate ins-and-outs of a 1970's Las Vegas CASINO… taking us so close i...

THE SITTER

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCREFcodZbi_mSGgtCZ7PYK_YiOz3kmI3WYOdotRjUWxEZPiIi2UNbHy-gT71CSA1QRejSGwgcg2c39cfdNjKAG0z3gzDwmPVgFxBKKQkJp7X-44Koxh1gyAzFAQavuQcDOcTZHKf2iJL/s1600/The-Sitter1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCREFcodZbi_mSGgtCZ7PYK_YiOz3kmI3WYOdotRjUWxEZPiIi2UNbHy-gT71CSA1QRejSGwgcg2c39cfdNjKAG0z3gzDwmPVgFxBKKQkJp7X-44Koxh1gyAzFAQavuQcDOcTZHKf2iJL/s200/The-Sitter1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b>title:</b> THE SITTER<br /> <b>year: </b>2011<br /> <b>cast: </b>Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell<br /> <b>rating:</b> *<br /> <br /> During the opening credits, the name David Simkins doesn't appear anywhere... He's the writer of ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING, the 1987 comedy starring Elizabeth Shue as a reluctant, frustrated teen who takes the kids<i> </i>downtown to help a friend; then gets chased by bad guys and... Everything else that this movies imitates. Jonah Hill wields his usual mellow guy with stunned sarcasm but his signature dry humor's all dress up with nowhere to go. Most of the time he's putting up with each child's annoying personality: the little girl wears makeup, sings dirty lyrics, and sprays perfume in his mouth; her neurotic older (but still young) brother takes pills to feel <i>normal</i>; and an adopted Puerto Rican boy blows up toilets. From one dull situation to the next, it never seems the characters are in any real danger, even though a maniacal drug dealer, overacted by Sam Rockwell, wants them all dead. And the biggest (unintentional) laugh occurs when an extremely gorgeous girl admits she's had a crush on Hill since high school, and even acts nervous around him. Makes you wonder, is the overweight actor playing himself: a millionaire movie star? This is perhaps one of the worst comedies in a long time, going in one ear and out the other: like a bullet from a shotgun. And a particular scene where Hill gives one of the kids advice on life is so politically-correct, you'll long for days when comedies were meant for laughs, not agendas.

comedy, jonah hill, tens

THE SITTER

title: THE SITTER year: 2011 cast: Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell rating: * During the opening credits, the name David Simkins doesn't ...

JAWS CLONE IN THE SAND ALA BLOOD BEACH

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMvriEwlO8hZ4-ERGduBW99NA_oPFkPjs6X1unaDy0t1dMA1xr5UpH8CNaHvCBfTsA1uM8iUN2m_UP1yqKfXQivLaOMxKMuQQNhi4iyaO3JL2QwA_uCiaItE7tRkj-RuXIwr0evHnj9M/s1600/4631_176863735429_152196620429_7094891_1263947_n.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455989491110129522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMvriEwlO8hZ4-ERGduBW99NA_oPFkPjs6X1unaDy0t1dMA1xr5UpH8CNaHvCBfTsA1uM8iUN2m_UP1yqKfXQivLaOMxKMuQQNhi4iyaO3JL2QwA_uCiaItE7tRkj-RuXIwr0evHnj9M/s200/4631_176863735429_152196620429_7094891_1263947_n.jpg" style="float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 123px;" width="123" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1981 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> This beach-set horror/suspense is yet another JAWS clone in the spirit of ALLIGATOR and PIRANHA, and has all the elements including the Sheriff, his trusty gal, and an airhead deputy.<br /> <br /> Throw in some established character-actors like Burt Young, Otis Young, and John Saxon as politically-strapped law officials and you have yourself a low-budget thriller that works despite itself.<br /> <br /> The random sand-slurping deaths are entertaining as hell, and there's a semi intriguing mystery involving what exactly is underneath. Marianna Hill, Fredo's trophy wife from THE GODFATHER, makes for a terrific screeching ingenue, and BIG WEDNESDAY alumni Darrell Fetty's unexpected death scene (pictured) is one of the best in low-low budget cinema.

burt young, darrell fetty, eco-horror, eighties, john saxon

JAWS CLONE IN THE SAND ALA BLOOD BEACH

1981 rating: *** This beach-set horror/suspense is yet another JAWS clone in the spirit of ALLIGATOR and PIRANHA, and has all the elem...

SHERLOCK HOLMES

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYpPcu4y8YKIVE921zoOP-VS67zE3h-W4uautSj9ayJxDjfmdP3m8iafG6g5cE5Y1FE7MeOgVPl2gAUSLr1mqccQdTCjqUpQ9Qbqay-3wqw_UyfCSsx0uz2nFa7ePWFlm3w50HpTegtCJ/s1600/holmes-2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683619918763673170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYpPcu4y8YKIVE921zoOP-VS67zE3h-W4uautSj9ayJxDjfmdP3m8iafG6g5cE5Y1FE7MeOgVPl2gAUSLr1mqccQdTCjqUpQ9Qbqay-3wqw_UyfCSsx0uz2nFa7ePWFlm3w50HpTegtCJ/s320/holmes-2.jpg" style="float: right; height: 310px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> SHERLOCK HOLMES<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2009<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>***1/2<br /><br />Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the real Sherlock Holmes, consisting of stories and novels written about the great British sleuth who could lasso facts like most people breathe, is not only spinning in his grave – he’s doing karate kicks. Okay, well, there are tons of liberties taken to change the lanky cerebral Inspector into an ass kicking, pit-fighting lunatic, but it’s a lot of fun. Robert Downey Jr. has the right amount of askew charisma in playing the fanatical Holmes, who would be lost without his better half… that being Doctor Watson, just as calm and calculated as his boss is spontaneous and quirky. But the rogue Inspector can figure out just about anything in seconds flat, and that’s the most fun: the lightning-speed fashion Downey gathers facts and deduces clues: about both crimes and people. But this is somewhat hindered by a heavy that, being a wraith-like leader of a Satanic cult, feels more of a world-dominating Bond villain, providing less mystery for our heroes who spend the most time fighting antagonists like revved up action stars. But the fights flow nicely, and the gorgeous Olde England location feels like a ragged bedlam character in itself. Downey and Judd Law, portraying Watson with the right amount of frustrated woe, have great chemistry – and there are terrific one-liners and brainy, scheming dialog that will keep the viewer alert even after they’ve stop caring about the turnout. And Rachel McAdams as the poisoned apple of Holmes’s eye adds an unpredictable vitality whenever needed: acting both as the love interest and the one person our titular hero can’t control or figure out. <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2011/12/sherlock-holmes-game-of-shadows.html">CLICK HERE</a> for SHERLOCK HOLMES: GAME OF SHADOWS review.

action, jude law, mystery, robert downey jr., zeroes

SHERLOCK HOLMES

title: SHERLOCK HOLMES year: 2009 cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law rating: ***1/2 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the real Sherlock H...

DAY OF THE ANIMALS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiws8TgaYg6oYEwnb9EeqakMhyG2cMUPNUwbEE3_cGqNluZBUW5UCEAkGBqWi9CybnNdwKQ_hilffCZ1uQcL58IQ0ONPG7AkUNFEdarZmW3XtYimL_OUYRN6Az9Q9P8vAytaYQLk259ank/s1600/dayanimals7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiws8TgaYg6oYEwnb9EeqakMhyG2cMUPNUwbEE3_cGqNluZBUW5UCEAkGBqWi9CybnNdwKQ_hilffCZ1uQcL58IQ0ONPG7AkUNFEdarZmW3XtYimL_OUYRN6Az9Q9P8vAytaYQLk259ank/s640/dayanimals7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year: </b>1977 <b>cast:</b> Christopher George, Leslie Neilson, Andrew Stevens<b> rating:</b> **</td></tr> </tbody></table> A limp <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">eco</span>-horror about wilderness animals going berserk because of the man-caused depletion of the ozone layer. The critter madness occurs during a hiking trip: consisting of an ensemble cast led by Christopher George.<br /> <div> <br /> There's no mystery involved as to why the beasts, mostly birds (Hitchcock, anyone?) and then wolves and German <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Shepards</span> have become deadly since the movie begins with a scrawl teaching us: "According to scientists, what you're about to see is possible."<br /> <br /> Unlike FROGS, PIRANHA, and KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS, the characters/victims are paper-thin and uninteresting, except Leslie Nielsen as an temperamental bully who suddenly becomes a raping caveman.<br /> <br /> The body count dwindles quickly during the last half hour; ironically, this is when the film improves upon the terribly boring lead-up consisting of what looks like stock footage of wildlife seeming friendly enough save for a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">foreboding</span> soundtrack. </div>

action, andrew stevens, christopher george, eco-horror, leslie nielson, seventies

DAY OF THE ANIMALS

year: 1977 cast: Christopher George, Leslie Neilson, Andrew Stevens rating: ** A limp eco -horror about wilderness animals going ber...

BOBBIE JO AND THE OUTLAW

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiPfmnVYmNWE1wdjrC1iHkxDkFsuPp09R3_eFEKcJFD3P5DIVI-mnodDY2rLAX8HIKJPBby_G0r4KOzqPblKU8cLaBwkM4rDGZHdgGb1Y5T8e2i7PAvml_Wfn_VkpsxIG8yqjtSynl7HE/s1600/bobbiejo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiPfmnVYmNWE1wdjrC1iHkxDkFsuPp09R3_eFEKcJFD3P5DIVI-mnodDY2rLAX8HIKJPBby_G0r4KOzqPblKU8cLaBwkM4rDGZHdgGb1Y5T8e2i7PAvml_Wfn_VkpsxIG8yqjtSynl7HE/s640/bobbiejo.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;">year: 1976 cast: Marjoe Gortner, Lynda Carter, Merrie Lynn Ross, Belinda Balaski rating: ***</span></span></b></td></tr> </tbody></table> B-Movie director Mark L. Lester makes his own BONNIE AND CLYDE, and it's hit and miss... but even the misses hit the <i>mark</i> occasionally. <br /> <div> <br /> The first twenty minutes, as rogue "outlaw" Marjoe Gortner (fastest draw in a Wild West sideshow) and carhop/waitress Lynda Carter hook up, is somewhat forced and the acting isn't great i.e. the performances, while fitting the low-budget exploitation genre, don't live up to the performers.<br /> <br /> But when Bobbie's stripper sister Merrie Lynn Ross and her spontaneously lethal husband Jesse Vint join the renegades, aided by Belinda Balaski as Bobbie's dorky waitress friend, things pick up as the gang travels from one bank job to the next.<br /> <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9LB4nqB6el_YD-qFgUMmtiVxD7m9iCWWj3NQnKzRy8Cark8RIeJGbwyvlzu_obFPD_Q3Wxd5HpmCG6o3DpqnYhil0qxUsWS5rjr09EMEFQ8t2tX74poiXLLjzPcGJAF_fIwVxDuHtnI/s1600/BOBBIE+JOE.jpg"><b><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478223909123008018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9LB4nqB6el_YD-qFgUMmtiVxD7m9iCWWj3NQnKzRy8Cark8RIeJGbwyvlzu_obFPD_Q3Wxd5HpmCG6o3DpqnYhil0qxUsWS5rjr09EMEFQ8t2tX74poiXLLjzPcGJAF_fIwVxDuHtnI/s200/BOBBIE+JOE.jpg" style="float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 158px;" /></b></a> The bank heists are involving, providing our antiheroes a platform to rile customers and really take charge. Here we learn which member of the gang is fit for the life of crime. While on the outside realm, Gene Evans lends merit as the silly... but ultimately dangerous... Sheriff: the closer the cops move in, the more intense things get.<br /> <br /> There's funny banter between the bank robbing antagonists, an eclectic lot sharing stuffy motel rooms along the lonesome highway, leading to some fantastic moments, especially with Vint's constant adlibs. <br /> <br /> Despite being Gortner's film, Jesse steals this road show. His character, being the loose-cannon with his mouth and gun, provides an unpredictable factor essential in any exploitation with a vibe of underlined violence. And while Lynda Carter is the mainliner in the female department, and looks as incredible as ever, Merrie Lynn Ross, reminiscent of a Film Noir gun moll, is a far more interesting character (she also produced the film). <br /> <br /> Mark L. Lester's direction during action scenes are top-notch, the shootouts (including tons of slow-mo) are Peckinpah-inspired. And the rambling country music keeps things rolling nicely in this decent shoot-em-up drive-in flick. </div>

action, belinda balaski, exploitation, lynda carter, marjoe gortner, mark l. lester, seventies

BOBBIE JO AND THE OUTLAW

year: 1976 cast: Marjoe Gortner, Lynda Carter, Merrie Lynn Ross, Belinda Balaski rating: *** B-Movie director Mark L. Lester makes his o...

FIVE BLOODY GRAVES

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS02TSCmXKivOcgGAfvKYAeHs5IDhyphenhyphenpv89CQApSM4YcEDAAdTl6tJxpwtHYpu3CeXDxnlJbByTqizgv1egARjJs3CI5LKczzy9iNcY2TRc-FRhX4rfqEZJzxCeU915XzFTA4rOXdngtm7M/s1600/27518_112479035464120_5727_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683130104402626610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS02TSCmXKivOcgGAfvKYAeHs5IDhyphenhyphenpv89CQApSM4YcEDAAdTl6tJxpwtHYpu3CeXDxnlJbByTqizgv1egARjJs3CI5LKczzy9iNcY2TRc-FRhX4rfqEZJzxCeU915XzFTA4rOXdngtm7M/s200/27518_112479035464120_5727_n.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 125px;" /></a><b>title:</b> FIVE BLOODY GRAVES<br /> <div> <b>year: </b>1970</div> <div> <b>cast:</b> Robert Dix, Scott Brady, John Carradine</div> <div> <b>rating:</b> ***</div> <div> <br /> A more suitable title for this exploitation-Western would be VALLEY OF DEATH, as a ragtag group consisting of cowboys, hookers and a preacher get picked off by Indians who appear from the rocks whenever the dialog runs its course. Add to this a jazzy game-show score and Death as the narrator, philosophizing why each character must die, sometimes even giving it away but that's alright, because in this doomed situation: death is the main character. A campy yet brilliant low budget Western with some terrific actors like Scott Brady (who dies gallantly), Jim Davis as a scumbag rapist, and John Carradine as a pistol-wielding preacher, but none work too hard except John Bud Cardos in duo-roles as a friendly Indian and a bad one, the latter battling star (and writer) Robert Dix, firmly strident throughout, in the knife-wielding climax that begins on a cliff top and winds up in a river and down a waterfall: THE QUIET MAN be damned.</div>

action, al adamson, exploitation, jazz score, john bud cardos, john carradine, robert dix, scott brady, seventies, western

FIVE BLOODY GRAVES

title: FIVE BLOODY GRAVES year: 1970 cast: Robert Dix, Scott Brady, John Carradine rating: *** A more suitable title for this e...

THE NORLISS TAPES

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQJGCAtIkoJOaiaHhbWI-GynFZ1nGKJjoxmQJkO8sO6Dg8nHAyyMlOGq-G2uHP35EF56rdz0zRKkApY1R5jIs21mEkI44KPGDSMEWN-WR_E1Gtcfh72C5nj4mVIY0PsMzox-APDinZQg/s1600/norliss1b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463625193657033522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQJGCAtIkoJOaiaHhbWI-GynFZ1nGKJjoxmQJkO8sO6Dg8nHAyyMlOGq-G2uHP35EF56rdz0zRKkApY1R5jIs21mEkI44KPGDSMEWN-WR_E1Gtcfh72C5nj4mVIY0PsMzox-APDinZQg/s200/norliss1b.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 134px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a><br /><div><b>title:</b> THE NORLISS TAPES</div><div><b>year:</b> 1973</div><div><b>cast:</b> Roy Thinnes, Angie Dickenson, Claude Akins</div><div><b>rating: </b>**</div><div><br /></div>Even Dan Curtis's good made-for-TV movies, like "The Night Stalker", "The Night Prowler", and "Trilogy of Terror", often lean towards overkill, and that's not a bad thing when there's enough suspenseful build-up to merit a crashing climax. This movie, about a missing writer who's left behind audio tapes for a book debunking witchcraft, plays out 95% backstory, showing the author - his recorded voice providing narration - investigating a woman's account of her husband, buried in the basement, coming back to life. The awakened man-monster, with a blue face, fangs, and nasty temper, appears way too soon instead of lurking in the shadows where he, and any good horror film antagonist, belongs... at least till they earn it.

claude akins, dan curtis, horror, import, made-for-TV, seventies, suspense

THE NORLISS TAPES

title: THE NORLISS TAPES year: 1973 cast: Roy Thinnes, Angie Dickenson, Claude Akins rating: ** Even Dan Curtis's good made-for-TV m...

CALIFORNIA SPLIT

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFaIpM_JSHprGoaAGn_78LSXT0offUQ50GpFYe6HpD1ln9xva33HNNBeMBCuycAdnbDdQjAqfCdgYGnkamx88LEdJzvLq-OoywSsV6smOPISQ6Txq2j6a0biO8cSQI9pweAMYmbd_nVY/s1600/California_Split_13.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461199397539675522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFaIpM_JSHprGoaAGn_78LSXT0offUQ50GpFYe6HpD1ln9xva33HNNBeMBCuycAdnbDdQjAqfCdgYGnkamx88LEdJzvLq-OoywSsV6smOPISQ6Txq2j6a0biO8cSQI9pweAMYmbd_nVY/s200/California_Split_13.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 131px;" /></a><div><b>title: </b>CALIFORNIA SPLIT<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><b>year: 1</b>974</div><div><b>cast:</b> George Segal, Elliott Gould</div><div><b>rating: </b>****1/2</div><div><br /></div>Robert Altman delves smoothly into the world of low-rent gambling with George Segal as a debt-burdened writer and Elliott Gould as a jobless loser playing poker, betting on horses, sharing women and spontaneous conversations. From their humble beginnings in California, to their misadventures in Nevada, to the conclusion in Reno, this is a grand odd-couple character-study where gambling is more than a device, but a character in itself: the phantom antagonist. At times Altman's loose, improvisational style is wonderfully voyeuresque, and there's always a new street-savvy, bickering situation to struggle through. Segal proves once again he's not just a funnyman banjo player. And for Gould, it's the perfect follow-up to Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE, only he's more hyperactive and troublesome, while Segal provides the base. Highlights include the random confrontations between the boys and mustached bully Edward Walsh, brother of actor Joseph (THE DRIVER) Walsh, who wrote the script and plays a crippled bookie.

elliott gould, george segal, robert altman, seventies

CALIFORNIA SPLIT

title: CALIFORNIA SPLIT year: 1 974 cast: George Segal, Elliott Gould rating: ****1/2 Robert Altman delves smoothly into the world of low...

BUSTING

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2kiOHTwO36Ww3H-qKdiKreYqqrqfUTmmmodqgP10lbD5yGKpsknWdBWv3_Y8Xx2Y8KmboT5jLrj9EbRDFZgBX4QV_3iwK6m6VFTcHXnaz337Ivn4mMzi3EH6hI12J_1nIciLQ_EdUIFo/s1600/1226517114970_6_Busting_mif_290_210.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461191010283038930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2kiOHTwO36Ww3H-qKdiKreYqqrqfUTmmmodqgP10lbD5yGKpsknWdBWv3_Y8Xx2Y8KmboT5jLrj9EbRDFZgBX4QV_3iwK6m6VFTcHXnaz337Ivn4mMzi3EH6hI12J_1nIciLQ_EdUIFo/s200/1226517114970_6_Busting_mif_290_210.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 166px;" /></a><div><b>title:</b> BUSTING</div><div><b>year: </b>1974</div><div><b>cast: </b>Elliott Gould, Robert Blake, Allen Garfield<br /></div><div><b>rating: </b>***1/2 </div><div><br /></div>A very hard to find seventies crime drama with Elliott Gould and Robert Blake as vice cops busting gay bars, low-rent hookers, sex shops and high price call girls, then eventually stumbling upon a bigwig pimp played by underrated Allen Garfield, and his henchman Sig Haig who, it turns out, doesn't have to do much since his boss owns the courts and the cops. Gould and Blake go on their own to nab Garfield with predictable results, although the adventurous climb to the top, by hanging at the bottom, is quite enjoyable, and a FRENCH CONNECTION-style foot chase in an outdoor bizarre makes for very addictive pleasure. Blake, unlit cigarette in mouth, is warming up for his famous TV-gig a year later, and Gould's performance is natural and easy but with some intensity.

allen garfield, cop, crime, elliott gould, robert blake, seventies, sid haig

BUSTING

title: BUSTING year: 1974 cast: Elliott Gould, Robert Blake, Allen Garfield rating: ***1/2 A very hard to find seventies crime drama with ...

MOHAMMAD ALI IN THE GREATEST

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyyJE_U-O8MvTeuP5m66t41qyiRybdkGVYEv1r9AmdGyr710TwyFzrCk9DtuzFRtUMaNEYoikHJ_bdEUU4AZOyvYcJBf0no4ksx91JCzAp02n5-mmTbVjQ1QZhgdyghdOwn30asukGhRY/s1600/the+greatest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyyJE_U-O8MvTeuP5m66t41qyiRybdkGVYEv1r9AmdGyr710TwyFzrCk9DtuzFRtUMaNEYoikHJ_bdEUU4AZOyvYcJBf0no4ksx91JCzAp02n5-mmTbVjQ1QZhgdyghdOwn30asukGhRY/s1600/the+greatest.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 1977<b> rating:</b> **</td></tr> </tbody></table> In 1977 Mohammad Ali wasn't only a boxing champion, he was a personality. His confidence and poetic rants made people smile, sometimes in disbelief. So they decided, instead of creating a documentary, to allow him to star in a film covering his lean and hungry youth when he went by the name Cassius Clay, soon to rise as the greatest boxer in the world.<br /> <div> <br /> Another somewhat dependable actor plays a teenage Ali, but then we switch to the real thing much too soon. When this was shot, Ali was a man who seemed mellow and tired i.e. nearing the end of his game. An iconic athelete playing a hungry climber is not only misplaced, but at times downright embarrassing. While he does have a graceful, laidback charm, and it's fun seeing him interact with real actors like Ernest Borgnine and Robert Duvall, the film, in cutting from excerpts of actual fights back to the movie-at-hand, feels spotty and contrived. This is Ali's personal propaganda for his life and name-changing Muslim faith and the hardships against the white man, all played out like something you'd see on television. And the last fifteen minutes, as Ali jogs to a Bill Conti-like score before the final bout, it's obvious that without Sly Stallone's blockbuster ROCKY the year before, THE GREATEST would never have been made: at least not in this fashion.</div>

biopic, boxing, ernest borgnine, robert duvall, seventies, sport

MOHAMMAD ALI IN THE GREATEST

year: 1977 rating: ** In 1977 Mohammad Ali wasn't only a boxing champion, he was a personality. His confidence and poetic rants...

SCORCHY

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuVx3xa_wuzekOttAhdvJak5YrNuZNi-dbg9to70y2OcmTK7U5gHPgAApSRHbnL7awWbBtD-tz_nJbVYsBuDN80EWmA5t1y7aMLdGZ9nARXzz8chhIrOxH4uuWsso6zu_zyIlgJhBMSz0/s1600/15010_383886541138_700976138_4069499_6273592_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469214907056345282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuVx3xa_wuzekOttAhdvJak5YrNuZNi-dbg9to70y2OcmTK7U5gHPgAApSRHbnL7awWbBtD-tz_nJbVYsBuDN80EWmA5t1y7aMLdGZ9nARXzz8chhIrOxH4uuWsso6zu_zyIlgJhBMSz0/s200/15010_383886541138_700976138_4069499_6273592_n.jpg" style="float: right; height: 152px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Squeal like a Scorchy!</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>title:</b> SCORCHY<br /> <div> <b>year:</b> 1978</div> <div> <b>cast: </b>Connie Stevens, William Smith</div> <div> <b>rating:</b> ***1/2</div> <div> <br /></div> Here we have a woman with layers. Sexy, sultry Connie Stevens can daylight as a cop and moonlight as a drug-smuggler as she thwarts an operation entailing heroin hidden in antiques imported from Greece to America (basically the plot of Don Siegel's THE LINEUP); that is, when she's not swimming naked or bedding down Greg Evigan she's kicking ass and taking names: like Ceaser Danova, providing the top villain spot... although it's William Smith, as the menacing henchman, that she really contends with: especially during an incredible chase where, on a city street, she just happens upon a dune buggy with keys inside. Stevens is perfectly cast here; she's got all the juice to make this lemon shine. But despite the cornball factor, this airhead actioneer really has it all: including a techno soundtrack that was either re-dubbed years later during the Miami Vice craze or, for better or worse, was very ahead of its time. And Stevens, after a steamy sex scene turned deadly, provides a screaming-pig's squeal that'd make the late Bill McKinney either proud or jealous.

action, chicks with guns, cop, crime, drama, exploitation, seventies, smuggling, william smith

SCORCHY

Squeal like a Scorchy! title: SCORCHY year: 1978 cast: Connie Stevens, William Smith rating: ***1/2 Here we have a woman wi...

SPIELBERG & DREYFUSS RETURN WITH ALWAYS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4QEIGkhOENLvh-SCCxXGNksLHU6AE27TcfoltWgXtVIOokozWPbjenxpeuzj-kbFwh7j1sr-GsbDUpKy4bgI3dCiNyj35PMHORzBjbTUYpVblZWqi99Ql4jvbQfF12LO1BjDtyEnCzPVe/s1600/alwaystrio.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681275527903762002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4QEIGkhOENLvh-SCCxXGNksLHU6AE27TcfoltWgXtVIOokozWPbjenxpeuzj-kbFwh7j1sr-GsbDUpKy4bgI3dCiNyj35PMHORzBjbTUYpVblZWqi99Ql4jvbQfF12LO1BjDtyEnCzPVe/s200/alwaystrio.jpg" style="float: right; height: 167px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1989 rating: *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> During the 1970’s, Steven Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss made a great team. The intense little actor played a likable shark expert in JAWS and a suburban alien-obsessed dad in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND... Ten years later, they attempt to rekindle that magic. And although there’s some good use of The Spielberg Touch… flowing camerawork weaving in and out of glorious special effects… this is a romance that tries too hard to pull heartstrings.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia-7-dpfkxxZD6hv2PIBWvwJp0y0ixGpg8KcDkT95XycI7a4CLXmtoe5Z8eNFD0gU5f3xtwY-K02p-me_rHZ7UtCwg-4c9weVorL2oqKX2jFGHcYGd1Qh4ZPbLD2QJi6_zXy_JJWxvgHA/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-18+at+4.23.14+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia-7-dpfkxxZD6hv2PIBWvwJp0y0ixGpg8KcDkT95XycI7a4CLXmtoe5Z8eNFD0gU5f3xtwY-K02p-me_rHZ7UtCwg-4c9weVorL2oqKX2jFGHcYGd1Qh4ZPbLD2QJi6_zXy_JJWxvgHA/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-18+at+4.23.14+AM.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goodman and Johnson</td></tr> </tbody></table> Dreyfuss and sidekick John Goodman are firefighting pilots with a dangerous job. Dreyfuss is a daredevil who, with each venture, risks his life more than necessary. The first thirty minutes consists of Holly Hunter, Dreyfus’s girlfriend who works ground control, and Goodman trying to tell their friend he’s taking too many chances: All this occurs between sappy dialog and the building of a relationship that wasn’t very special to begin with. That is, until Dreyfus is killed and, while wandering around a earth-based purgatory, New Age angel Audrey Hepburn gives him an afterlife mission: to help a handsome young pilot, Brad Johnson, earn his wings.<br /> <br /> Johnson’s true aim is to win over Holly Hunter – turning an interesting twist into a wasted subplot. Dreyfuss, as a ghost, seems more like a creepy stalker, placing thoughts into people’s minds to maneuver their choices – especially Hunter, who he won’t let go of. Meanwhile, he reluctantly helps Johnson… who unsuccessfully balances a suave yet dorky character… become a great pilot.<br /> <br /> Holly Hunter, while being a cute, spunky actress, is miscast as an ingénue every man desires, especially the much too perfect Johnson. Goodman does his usual fat funny guy, but to an annoying level – he and everyone else seem to be playing for opening night audiences. And like Dreyfus goes so overboard with forced sentimentality you’ll wish the shark had got him or that those aliens never brought him home. The Ariel shots, while filmed beautifully (especially the pivotal death scene), are simply used as breaks from an overlong Hallmark Card: And the best news, Steven Spielberg would thankfully end his creative mid-life crisis after HOOK and get back to business at hand with JURASSIC PARK, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and especially SCHINDLER'S LIST.

eighties, john goodman, richard dreyfuss, romance, steven spielberg

SPIELBERG & DREYFUSS RETURN WITH ALWAYS

1989 rating: *1/2 During the 1970’s, Steven Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss made a great team. The intense little actor played a likable ...

ONE MILLION AC/DC

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-eh77CzRuD1augaFkZYyVYnmOpC1U_v68VmiLK-bnRBKMBxPNXTbBBKhCMP1fS6PkcAlNBWe8VuWIkKzB6EQ5x0egi_Sig5Irt0ka_xtdPsa3lXDQwRl2JVnRaSvYv_1cX3P3m45bTNs/s1600/one%252Bmillion%252Bacdc.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683726994638786706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-eh77CzRuD1augaFkZYyVYnmOpC1U_v68VmiLK-bnRBKMBxPNXTbBBKhCMP1fS6PkcAlNBWe8VuWIkKzB6EQ5x0egi_Sig5Irt0ka_xtdPsa3lXDQwRl2JVnRaSvYv_1cX3P3m45bTNs/s320/one%252Bmillion%252Bacdc.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" /></a><strong>title:</strong> ONE MILLION AC/DC<br /><div><strong>year:</strong> 1969</div><div><strong>cast</strong>: Gary Kent</div><span style="font-weight: bold;">camp value:</span> ***<br /><br /><div></div><div>If the entire movie centered on caveman stud Olaf (Gary Kent) sauntering in and out of the cave trying to kill the plastic toy T-REX with a bow and arrow instead of various scenes of pointless in-and-out, this would have been a great grade Z-cheapie. The myriad of full frontal sexual writhing gets tiresome, and there's simply too much of it, although the orgy where prehistoric men are drinking wine out of coffee cups with handles, and their women are feeding them grapes, is good because there's horrible "acting" involved. But the plastic toy T-REX "monster," obviously being moved around by someone's hand and on the verge of falling over, makes this one a complete howler. Not to forget an unbelievable scene where Olaf and his girl walk in front of the camera and sing to the tune of "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" with the words "The Spear Goes into the Monster" repeated until the clincher... "The Monster Loses His Mind": possibly the greatest twenty seconds ever captured on film that you can now enjoy...<br /><br /><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1503478106730"><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1503478106730" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="300" width="400"></embed></object><br /></div>

ed wood, exploitation, gary kent, sixties

ONE MILLION AC/DC

title: ONE MILLION AC/DC year: 1969 cast : Gary Kent camp value: *** If the entire movie centered on caveman stud Olaf (Gary Kent) saunte...

TOM PETTY BOTH ACTS & SINGS IN THE MOTION PICTURE 'FM'

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHteMvyWwtUXCEXG7C6rUO6wm82MIy0ueq0ZK30fQqypGAg7YuTUxLcjpANs8nUR5L_kruZbG63rOohj0-LHddGux5bA5F0wYUo3mqRaDgFYXgJWXJEZ6bq5D49tI-gCw_se-yiFLdjl4Y/s1600/253461.1020.A.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680673558233493042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHteMvyWwtUXCEXG7C6rUO6wm82MIy0ueq0ZK30fQqypGAg7YuTUxLcjpANs8nUR5L_kruZbG63rOohj0-LHddGux5bA5F0wYUo3mqRaDgFYXgJWXJEZ6bq5D49tI-gCw_se-yiFLdjl4Y/s200/253461.1020.A.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 161px;" /></a><b>title:</b> FM<br /> <div> <b>year:</b> 1978</div> <div> <b>cast:</b> Michael Brandon, Martin Mull, Cassie Yates, Tom Petty</div> <div> <b>rating:</b> **1/2</div> <br /> <div> The Steely Dan title song playing as a big orange sun rises above the immense city skyline anticipates heaven for rock fans and "no static at all." During the next twenty minutes, through a handing-off of various turns at the mic... meeting each disc jockey working a radio station playing wall-to-wall music... the good times continue to roll. The likable boss (Michael Brandon), also a DJ, fights to keep the airwaves commercial free, providing the dream radio station "for the people." The tunes are great, the live performances pretty good, and the eclectic cast of DJ's are decent enough: including Martin Mull, Cleavon Little, Cassie Yates, Alex Karras, Eileen Brennan, and guest star (in the movie and the station) Tom Petty as Tom Petty. But the initial spontaneous fun (reminiscent of CAR WASH) is soon marred by a cliche subplot involving villainous corporate goons forcing Army commercials on the station, turning a laidback character-study into typical underdog vs big business fare... and guess who wins?</div>

music, seventies, steely dan, tom petty

TOM PETTY BOTH ACTS & SINGS IN THE MOTION PICTURE 'FM'

title: FM year: 1978 cast: Michael Brandon, Martin Mull, Cassie Yates, Tom Petty rating: **1/2 The Steely Dan title song playi...

THE COENS DIRECT 'A SERIOUS MAN' AND RETURN TO THE SUBTLE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtraduL72ZrS3k86L7KgkSVi-TKcc64qVV8RXdXZgFHjgG84eEfsOZB95Y5LKK0-DwPd1jyPKeWb6UL9a23PasmbVHbFxl7jwXZ5phYDFE3hY3NJJoHC-B25Fwf4MNQBu8cLV-53kMccI/s1600/MV5BMjAwODUxMjA0M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjIyMzY3Mg@@._V1_SX214_AL_.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtraduL72ZrS3k86L7KgkSVi-TKcc64qVV8RXdXZgFHjgG84eEfsOZB95Y5LKK0-DwPd1jyPKeWb6UL9a23PasmbVHbFxl7jwXZ5phYDFE3hY3NJJoHC-B25Fwf4MNQBu8cLV-53kMccI/w296-h400/MV5BMjAwODUxMjA0M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjIyMzY3Mg@@._V1_SX214_AL_.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2009 rating: ***1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Gotta hand it to the Coen Brothers: after a decade of casting Hollywood bigshots like George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Josh Brolin, they make a small film where the most recognized actor is George Wyner in a quaint 1960's character-study involving a Jewish mathematics teacher, downplayed with intriguing droll by Michael Stuhbarg, going through sheer hell that's more a sluggish purgatory: his wife has just left him, his kids don't respect him, his brother mooches off him, and even the local rabbis can't help in his search for the meaning of life... and why life's treating him so badly.<br /> <br />Although wonderfully filmed, and reminiscent of FARGO with a bevy of quirky, long-faced drones sinking deeper into their own personal abyss, the odd charm peters out and we're left with questions without answers, as well as scenes far too long for their own good, and with little payoff: For instance, the b-story involving Stuhbarg's stoned son preparing for his bar mitzvah, and an ultimately pointless tale about teeth and devil worship. But the first ten minutes, which has nothing to do with the rest of the film... centering on a Yiddish couple in the 19th century visited by a dead man... is perhaps the best and/or most intriguing scene; and a dilemna where an Asian kid wants a paid-off grade is also a standout. All part of this hit-miss journey that's actually, come to think of it, a solid home run compared to the adapted crap they've turned out. In a nutshell, it's best when they write their own stuff, choosing characters over actors. <br />

2009, coen brothers, counter culture, dark comedy, george wyner, michael stuhlbarg, zeroes

THE COENS DIRECT 'A SERIOUS MAN' AND RETURN TO THE SUBTLE

year: 2009 rating: ***1/2 Gotta hand it to the Coen Brothers: after a decade of casting Hollywood bigshots like George Clooney, Brad Pit...

GIBSON, RUSSELL & PHEIFFER IN TEQUILA SUNRISE

<div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwWdGvyGbl4oMSxNCiA2rAauHkkNuu24LhyAT1mervKc4D4fKXg9GxDFHbJxPxhDPiOgfSzkBqkLbDpvCjhCbNFawu57GgTLgwedj_qT90lzD9tqVtFTAGAQtOlrK5icfiOjd5INqLIeo/s1600/175px-Tequila-sunrise1988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwWdGvyGbl4oMSxNCiA2rAauHkkNuu24LhyAT1mervKc4D4fKXg9GxDFHbJxPxhDPiOgfSzkBqkLbDpvCjhCbNFawu57GgTLgwedj_qT90lzD9tqVtFTAGAQtOlrK5icfiOjd5INqLIeo/s1600/175px-Tequila-sunrise1988.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1988 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Anyone thinking this will be a corny movie involving three great looking people in a steamy crime melodrama dealing with a predictable love triangle, like the poster implies, you’re only half right...<br /> <br /> Written and directed by Robert Towne, who penned CHINATOWN, arguably the greatest original script-to-film ever made, this starts out all right: building enough suspense and interesting characters through tight dialogue, making you wonder who Mel Gibson, as an infamous L.A. drug pusher, is waiting to connect with as Kurt Russell, playing his high school friend who's a detective, and Michelle Pheiffer, as a restaurant owner, are caught in-between: Gibson, who swears he's gone straight, plays down as a guy being watched by everyone: from the feds to junkies to other dealers.<br /> <br /> Kurt Russell provides an effective counterbalance as the good cop (especially compared to seedy agent J.T. Walsh) with the hots for Pheiffer, who eventually realizes she’s in love with Gibson: and your typical steamy love scene ensues. This, along with searing saxophone riffs heard in every eighties cop film, turns an involving dialog-driven plot into soap operatic fare… yet a tense vibe remains that’ll keep you locked in till the end. And it could have used a better, more fitting title.

cop, eighties, kurt russell, mel gibsin, melodrama, michelle pheiffer, neo noir, robert towne

GIBSON, RUSSELL & PHEIFFER IN TEQUILA SUNRISE

1988 rating: *** Anyone thinking this will be a corny movie involving three great looking people in a steamy crime melodrama dealing w...

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zVgDdCP4twzs2j6_bD3rbRrBrtwTAAXZe8HU_rWel7zCcudTlBULIZXcHAdnn8WRVyMq-TN0Hp59qtTjcGQ_B8N5V3D23lFBwMNuCb20dwO-tWfHBNxLgiyn2pVfoQnIqL9dMLWO7aQ5/s1600/arthur-christmas-movie-poster-teaser-01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679930466299849042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zVgDdCP4twzs2j6_bD3rbRrBrtwTAAXZe8HU_rWel7zCcudTlBULIZXcHAdnn8WRVyMq-TN0Hp59qtTjcGQ_B8N5V3D23lFBwMNuCb20dwO-tWfHBNxLgiyn2pVfoQnIqL9dMLWO7aQ5/s200/arthur-christmas-movie-poster-teaser-01.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 141px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> ARTHUR CHRISTMAS<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">voices:</span> Bill Nighy, James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>***<br /><br />In the spirit of those great Rankin/Bass Christmas movies like RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER and FROSTY THE SNOWMAN comes ARTHUR CHRISTMAS, and while it’s computer animated, the film has the vibe of the stop-motion stuff of yesteryear. The place is the North Pole, and Santa Claus doesn’t use a sled with reindeer any longer. Instead there’s a giant space ship with tons of “Elf Ninjas” who have it all down to a science: every good kid is counted for. But something goes wrong and one child's left out. Just happens to be the same little girl who’s letter touched Santa’s youngest son’s heart… His name is Arthur Christmas, he’s a clumsy slacker and is degraded to reading letters for pop. And while Santa and the oldest militaristic son, in line for the big white beard the following season, call it a night: Santa’s father, the last of the sled riding Claus's, takes a forlorn but dedicated Arthur on a retro journey to deliver the girl’s bike before sunup. Till then a whole lot happens and the suspense keeps building to the very finish. And despite pockets of downtime with too much exposition, and some intricate British humor that might fly by youngsters, this has a good (if forced) message: no kids are to be left behind. And beware anyone over eleven years old: instead of an animated short there's a video of Justin Beiber singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town." And if you could imagine how bad this is… it’s even worse. Thank goodness the film makes up for it till the end credits and the song repeats, reminding you of that nightmare all over again.

animated, children, tens

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

title: ARTHUR CHRISTMAS year: 2011 voices: Bill Nighy, James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent rating: *** In the spirit of those great ...

THE MUPPETS

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-LVTjy_6i0OdPr_TdkEmPmMQo7x3kOodu-Xt_3NAVfZqKeCU7h-5UcqbMH9x2jQmZippjhZF43w-iuYyql0Xp2UwuT6CJAroW9WbwzqTaFJUnOW76Ygu-IZ29W6HVqtVwYuBWJ6gqWCaX/s1600/kermit-the-frog-in-the-muppets-2011.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679489532289283298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-LVTjy_6i0OdPr_TdkEmPmMQo7x3kOodu-Xt_3NAVfZqKeCU7h-5UcqbMH9x2jQmZippjhZF43w-iuYyql0Xp2UwuT6CJAroW9WbwzqTaFJUnOW76Ygu-IZ29W6HVqtVwYuBWJ6gqWCaX/s200/kermit-the-frog-in-the-muppets-2011.jpg" style="float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 178px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> THE MUPPETS<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Jason Segel, The Muppets<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> **<br /> <br /> The Muppets brought a generation of youngsters (myself included) out of Sesame Street and into a world where they didn’t feel like airhead children any longer. With THE MUPPET MOVIE, Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy and the gang discovered each other on a cross-country adventure that was a true odyssey. But here we’ve mentally gone back to Sesame Street with some silly sing-alongs, flat jokes, and an unexciting journey out of a small town where resides Jason Segel, his school teacher girlfriend, and a puppet named Walter who loves watching – and relating to – the original TV series. They decide to take a trip to the Muppet studio, but it’s but a wasteland. And here they discover a greedy oilman wants to turn the dilapidated theater into his very own goldmine.<br /> <br /> The trio find a melancholy Kermit and they head off to collect the remaining group throughout America and Europe. Thus the road trip begins, which could have (should have) taken most of the film like the original, but it’s but a fifteen-minute rushed romp where not much happens, leading to a big show where the Muppets have to raise ten million dollars to save their studio.<br /> <br /> The Muppets themselves are all present, but they don’t do much nor are they individually vital to the story – but then again, there’s not much of a story to begin with. The fundraiser is a rushed montage of skits lacking what THE MUPPET SHOW had in creativity and humor. As for star/producer Jason Segel, whose effort to get the Muppets back together has merit, the result is too banal for what these characters, and their audience, truly deserve. The entire film centers on the long-lost nostalgia of the Muppets during the late seventies/early eighties, forgetting the movies made after the death of Jim Henson, which might have explained their departure. But perhaps Segel wanted to only remember the golden era; it's too bad he failed to recreate it.

jack black, jason segel, tens

THE MUPPETS

title: THE MUPPETS year: 2011 cast: Jason Segel, The Muppets rating: ** The Muppets brought a generation of youngsters (myself inclu...

GEORGE CLOONEY IN ALEXANDER PAYNE'S 'THE DESCENDANTS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo6IWglgvLZw3Hd2CJHDc-QbUsnzi2FPu5_FIp-ZgsF5QOBKU5DpzTlam-tJrJ5wWjdh-37o6b2jKYIkQTqWw8AatZLGIJFKBWkOP4ZXKE-dtI7TUtn3BEMbyTKv7V3BkeYLekOKidsuai/s1600/103805011_992499641179212_4757232546747682020_n+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="774" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo6IWglgvLZw3Hd2CJHDc-QbUsnzi2FPu5_FIp-ZgsF5QOBKU5DpzTlam-tJrJ5wWjdh-37o6b2jKYIkQTqWw8AatZLGIJFKBWkOP4ZXKE-dtI7TUtn3BEMbyTKv7V3BkeYLekOKidsuai/s400/103805011_992499641179212_4757232546747682020_n+2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller in The Descendants Year: 2011</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The first five minutes, through narration, sets up the main character Matt King as a person anyone can relate with. Of course he’s not: being the heir of an abundance of land in Hawaii dating back to the early settlers. But he’s a simple, honest man with a lot going on: including an upcoming sale that would make good for himself and his unlucky cousins...<br /> <br /> But this is just the core of a film that's not so complicated as King’s wife, in a coma after a boating accident, has left him with the sole responsibility of two daughters, both hard pressed to shun their busy and neglectful dad. George Clooney's acting, wearing the put-upon haggardness of a man who, despite having everything, feels his life has little value, is great – not only when he tears up or shows emotion, but when he holds back... And with gray hair he's playing slightly older, and isn't about good looks...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXBlWxppJlG6_BE-IAQrwqOZIOzTejnRDQQiWEWynsHD85KXwopjDpMatwMwZCBosBpW2g-k495UhWDg7Mhdj7CyeIuMyeb9mkdp8b2jUugiC221WLKEztSJMuAhihjNZyWcFGrQlBRmZ/s1600/103293838_992499634512546_3790058351740492375_n+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="510" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXBlWxppJlG6_BE-IAQrwqOZIOzTejnRDQQiWEWynsHD85KXwopjDpMatwMwZCBosBpW2g-k495UhWDg7Mhdj7CyeIuMyeb9mkdp8b2jUugiC221WLKEztSJMuAhihjNZyWcFGrQlBRmZ/s400/103293838_992499634512546_3790058351740492375_n+2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>George Clooney in The Descendants Rating: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Speaking of... Shailene Woodley as the rebellious oldest daughter Alexandra keeps him on his toes: especially after dropping the bombshell that her mom/his wife had cheated before the accident. So Matt, the kids, and Alexandra’s slacker boyfriend go in search of a mysterious real estate agent i.e. the guy who cheated with mom. And here’s where the plot thickens and the audience has something to anticipate other than an inevitable death or the closing of a land deal...<br /> <br /> Using addictive elements of melodramas and soap operas while keeping an underlying dry wit throughout, it's a story that aims for sheer realism with terrific results, and best yet, gorgeous shots of Hawaii that, like the California Wine Country in director Alexander Payne's SIDEWAYS and middle America in ABOUT SCHMIDT, is a character in itself. And veteran actors Robert Forster, as King’s curmudgeon step-dad, and Beau Bridges as a seemingly friendly cousin, add to ensemble cast that’s so down to earth, you’ll forget they're in a movie.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrM0nmbrVtfCe4he_ImBReaEw_8zkv3KWTqSQ7fZH0MO_N4ibtm4j__IDYZ-IJCrOgUtJADlQi_PFPrDRpNIf2Fcao6WPz4Kh0rqUBQFQVqTEzPkd3OXGGKi827nOBIHLqvu5O_YmBxd4w/s1600/102972973_992509721178204_3915595816490567309_o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="1417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrM0nmbrVtfCe4he_ImBReaEw_8zkv3KWTqSQ7fZH0MO_N4ibtm4j__IDYZ-IJCrOgUtJADlQi_PFPrDRpNIf2Fcao6WPz4Kh0rqUBQFQVqTEzPkd3OXGGKi827nOBIHLqvu5O_YmBxd4w/s1600/102972973_992509721178204_3915595816490567309_o.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Shailene Woodley, George Clooney, Barbara L. Southern and Robert Forster in The Descendants</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

alexander payne, beach, dark comedy, drama, george clooney, hawaii, laird hamilton, oscar nominated 2011, robert forster, shailene woodley, tens

GEORGE CLOONEY IN ALEXANDER PAYNE'S 'THE DESCENDANTS'

Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller in The Descendants Year: 2011 The first five minutes, through narration, sets up the main character Ma...

HUGO

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNmzB9i002_z8lRl4E3BOyo9laz02jKEhpIZZ6ZLnWXXiutSgd-RH69pVqfn9wIIdNZs_XAqVlPR1fbHhSWiLbE8HpPsUa9erq3pvzzGudF_Vqn7BNcWP7IeMu_ULoAXt2u0NZ30aDVga/s1600/hugo-2011-movie.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678824392124200210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNmzB9i002_z8lRl4E3BOyo9laz02jKEhpIZZ6ZLnWXXiutSgd-RH69pVqfn9wIIdNZs_XAqVlPR1fbHhSWiLbE8HpPsUa9erq3pvzzGudF_Vqn7BNcWP7IeMu_ULoAXt2u0NZ30aDVga/s200/hugo-2011-movie.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 178px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>HUGO<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> **1/2<br /> <br /> If you wonder why Martin Scorsese (delving into Tim Burton territory) chose to direct a “children’s story” of a young orphan living inside of – and surreptitiously working the clocks of – a tower in a Paris train station… just wait for the second half: when the somewhat slow-paced but beautifully shot contained journey turns into a whimsical celebration of one of the greatest innovators of cinema. But that’s another story – making this feel like two tales in one. The first has our young hero, straight out of a Dickens novel, named Hugo Cabret with only the memories of his deceased father, who left behind an automaton robot that needs a heart-shaped key to make it run: perhaps providing a message from beyond. Enter the granddaughter of an old and bitter toy dealer; she has the key needed – but leading to this point is a somewhat thin story stretched out too long. On the peripheral, and making up the comedy, action, and suspense is the station inspector played by Sacha Baron Cohen, doing a somewhat tongue-in-cheek nod to clumsy silent film antagonists. With a Doberman at his side, the lone keystone cop strives to catch the young tinkerer: whose only goal is to get that automaton working. Then the second half – after a crucial discovery – is where Scorsese’s true aim lies. But with the built-up mystery gone, the youthful awe is only partially replaced by a cinematic history lesson more dreamlike than fact based, although the nostalgic aura can be infectious. The young star Asa Butterfield, with sad eyes and a curiously insightful expression, while looking the part makes for a somewhat bland title character. But it’s Chloë Grace Moretz, as his lovely young sidekick, that not only brightens the film with her tremendous acting but whose bookworm dreamer yearns for adventure more than Scorsese's film delivers it. Yet despite the flaws, there's enough residual magic for (creative) kids and (patient) adults to enjoy.

martin scorsese, oscar nominated 2012, sacha baron cohen, tens

HUGO

title: HUGO year: 2011 cast: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen rating: **1/2 If you wonder why Martin Scorsese (...