There's a reason why Clint Eastwood invokes Dickens in his quiet, meditative movie about death. Like Chuck, Clint here creates a full compliment of well-limned characters in an emotionally-direct, melodramatic tale with multiple plotlines and a big theme. HEREAFTER carries you along so far that when it sputters so surprisingly at the end, you're almost … Continue reading HEREAFTER
Month: October 2010
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2
A new house, new characters connected to the (returning) couple from the first film, and a climax that nicely ties the two movies together, this will scare the crap out of you. Like the first one, PA2 is part of a new crop of scary movies that are essentially monster-free and whose scares come as … Continue reading PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2
MAD MEN SEASON 4 FINALE
After watching the season finale of Mad Men, I don't know which Draper I pitied more: Don or Betty. Dick's on the fly popping of the question to find what he thinks will be happiness...or Betty's lashing out at everyone around her because of her inability to be comfortable in her own skin. Don found … Continue reading MAD MEN SEASON 4 FINALE
HEREAFTER
What happens after you die? Heaven? Hell? Worm food? HEREAFTER doesn't get into the theological debate. It assumes there IS something other than blackness. The question is how does one deal with it? Or in the case of the latest Clint Eastwood film, how do three people deal with it? One is a French journalist … Continue reading HEREAFTER
I’M MAD AS HECK…AND THAT’S A BUMMER.
Do you remember the day network dramas died? I sure do. It was May 23, 2010. That night, ABC aired a two hour finale to a series that ran six years. LOST fans were promised by the show's creators that it would be okay, they knew where the show was going all along, "trust us". … Continue reading I’M MAD AS HECK…AND THAT’S A BUMMER.
THE EXPERIMENT
Far from a classic, The Experiment delivers exactly what you expect. A group of people are paid to take part in an experiment that involves locking them up in a closed down prison. A few are told to be guards, the rest prisoners. A small list of rules is handed to the guards, ones that … Continue reading THE EXPERIMENT
JONAH HEX
After only watching a little more than half, there's only one thing you need to know: yup, it's that bad.Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm Curry.
MAD MEN – Season 4 Finale
As we stepped up to the end of the greatest season yet, I wondered if Matthew Weiner might quit while he was ahead -- and abruptly end the series on the highest of notes by shutting down the disintegrating Sterling Cooper Draper Price and sending his characters into the unknown. I needn't have worried! With … Continue reading MAD MEN – Season 4 Finale
MAO’S LAST DANCER
Permission requested to make an un-PC joke: they could have retitled this Birry Erriot. But while MLD has numerous similarities to that earlier dancer-goes-from-boy-to-man drama, it adds an overcoat of history and politics. It's a true story that works because of a wonderfully diverse cast, most especially Chi Cao, who is foremost a dancer, but … Continue reading MAO’S LAST DANCER
RED
It was once said 'better off dead than red." In this funny, fast paced action movie, RED equals dead. These retired spooks are targeted for assassination because of some obscure mission in Guatemala almost 30 years ago. Bruce Willis is trying to lead a normal life (if you count tearing up pension checks just to … Continue reading RED
Hollywood and whine 