I saw Kurt Russell's latest flick, "Miracle" yesterday. Let me get the minor nitpick out of the way to start. The opening credits are a montage of images from the 1970s to help give the viewer the sense of what former President Jimmy Carter referred to as our "national malaise." The voiceovers on the credits […]
I saw Tim Burton's "Big Fish" this afternoon. If you haven't seen it, you should. I don't often say this about many movies, but it's even worth $9.50 to see it at night. "Big Fish" is the story of Edward Bloom, a man who has lived a large life, and if you ask him about […]
I finally got a chance to see final installment of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. If you haven't seen it yet, you should make it a point to see it. The three-plus hours are well spent. My favorite line of this movie is from Gimli, following up on the extended DVD edition of […]
The correction of the day from The New York Times: A review of "Lord of the Rings" on Page 6 of The Arts today misstates the opening day in some copies. The film opens around the country tomorrow, not today. One of the most anticipated movies of the year. One that appears on fan sites […]
I've got a mess of explorer windows open to various stories that I've been meaning to share, and it's time to close some of them. So here they are: The Los Angeles Times reports on how fewer than 1,000 soldiers took on much of the Iraqi Army and militia in the heart of Baghdad. An […]
When the last installment of the Rings trilogy, "The Return of the King," comes out next week, I'll be watching it in the theater. But the actor who plays Gollum, Andy Serkis, is officially on my list. If there was any doubt that Hollywood celebs live in their own arrogant, elitist self-worshiping world, this is […]
The Weekly Standard's Jonathan V. Last has an excellent article on the film "Shattered Glass" and its whitewash of the newsroom atmosphere that allowed fiction-writer Stephen Glass' lies to continually make their way into print. Good editors look at the case of Stephen Glass and think, "There but by the grace of God." A smart […]
I finally saw the critically-acclaimed movie on DVD the other night. I concur with the selection of Chris Cooper for the Academy Award for best supporting actor. He did an excellent job as an eccentric orchid thief. Nicholas Cage also did a good job playing dual roles of twin brothers. I can understand the pain […]
After sitting on my entertainment center for nearly a month (isn't Netflix great?) I finally got around to watching the new version of "Cinema Paradiso." Usually the director's cut is better -- i.e. "Blade Runner" -- in this case, however, the original is the one you should watch. I think leaving some things unanswered is […]
Earlier today I watched the recent Adam Sandler flick "Punch Drunk Love." By way of a review, let me say: "I'll never get those 90 minutes back. Wasted."