The Back-up Plan (CBS Films) While watching The Back-up Plan, I could not help but think of the millions of women across the globe struggling with infertility issues who turn to artificial insemination as a means of potentially conceiving a child. This is a matter that, regardless of the circumstances, must be addressed with some […]
Kick-Ass Tests the Limits of “Exploitainment”
A touch more than 70 years ago, Gone with the Wind kicked up controversy for its use of what was considered profane language. The line in question, of course, is now a ubiquitous cinematic staple, frequently repeated without hesitation. Frankly, no one really gives a damn about it anymore. Kick-Ass makes its way into theaters […]
Movie Review: Date Night
Date Night (20th Century Fox) As the current reigning king and queen of TV comedy (pending George Lopez’s request for a recount), Steve Carell and Tina Fey can basically do no wrong. They could sit in an empty room reading aloud from the dictionary, and we would all be unhealthily amused. So is Date Night […]
Movie Review: The Runaways
The Runaways (Apparition) More than three decades ago, The Runaways marked the youthful breakthrough of two rock-and-roll icons: “Ch-Ch -Cherry Bomb” herself Cherie Currie and the renownedly rough-edged Joan Jett. Now, with the film The Runaways—chronicling the group’s formation and disintegration—two young Hollywood icons are breaking through. Sure, Dakota Fanning has been around for what […]
Movie Review: The Last Song
The Last Song (Touchstone) Killing Me Softly It’s difficult to offer an honest critique for a film like The Last Song, which qualifies as a “film” only in the loosest of terms. Yes, it has a running time. Yes, it plays on a movie screen. Yes, it’s sandwiched between opening and closing credits. Yes, it’s […]
Movie Review: Greenberg
Greenberg (Focus Features) The Stab: A carefully constructed case study lacking the resonance and perspective to feel worthwhile. Off-putting more than engaging. Substance feels sparse while pretension abounds. The Great White Oblivion. That particularly insidious mythological kingdom imagined by Hollywood, where the sky is as white as the skin is fair, and society reverberates in […]
Movie Review: She’s Out of My League
She’s Out of My League (Dreamworks) The Stab: Funnier than you might think with potentially good intentions and a duo of charming leads, but the humor is furiously forced and misses more than it hits, before the narrative concludes in complete disarray. The film opens on a scrawny, squirmy guy speaking directly into the camera. […]
Movie Review: Green Zone
Green Zone (Universal) The Bourne Constipatem Spoiler alert! There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq! Believe it or not, this bit of knowledge immediately dispels more than half of the intrigue found in Green Zone, a severely misguided excursion that ultimately delivers on none of its expected fronts. Matt Damon plays Roy Miller, […]
