PARENTAL GUIDANCE – Reviewed by Joyce
If you look on the “Rotten Tomatoes” website, you will see that the critics “Tomatometer” gives Parental Guidance a mere 19% fresh, while the Audience score is 65%. So if you are part of the audience,...
View ArticleJOHN DIES AT THE END – Reviewed by David
OK, so a co-worker and I were talking about John Dies at the End and how we might describe it to customers and my co-worker decided that this fun, whacked-out horror comedy is basically what would...
View ArticleHYDE PARK ON HUDSON – Reviewed by David
As 2012’s other cinematic portrait of a beloved U.S. President, Hyde Park on Hudson is a much lighter (and shorter) film than Lincoln. This, if anything, makes it an easier viewing experience, but not...
View ArticleTHE GUILT TRIP – Reviewed by Joyce
I began my viewing of The Guilt Trip with trepidation. It was a comedy with Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen. I had loved Seth Rogen in 50/50, but when had I loved Barbra Streisand? Oh yeah, Funny Girl....
View ArticleSILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK – Reviewed by Bruce
Silver Linings Playbook is a charming and delightful comedy about two slightly damaged, chemically challenged people who circle each other in the wary yet graceful dance that two like souls are...
View ArticleSTAND UP GUYS – Reviewed by Joyce
At the last minute, I decided to preview Stand Up Guys. I was a little skeptical because I was thinking it was going to be kind of corny—maybe a Grumpy Old Men of the crime world. And it was a little...
View ArticleIDENTITY THIEF – Reviewed by Tovah
Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy star in this boisterous road trip. Jason Bateman plays Sandy Patterson, a businessman who lives in Denver, Colorado. He has two small children with a third on the...
View ArticleMENTAL – Reviewed by Joyce
The ‘90’s sure was a great decade for independent film, and one that we all saw and talked about was Muriel’s Wedding, written and directed by P.J. Hogan, and starring a then 22-year-old Toni Collette....
View ArticleWRONG – Reviewed by Will
“I’m not very interested in meanings. Know what I mean?” So says Quentin Dupieux, director of Wrong, in one of the making-of featurettes included on the DVD released this week. Anyone who watched his...
View ArticleQUARTET – Reviewed by Noah
Dustin Hoffman, long acclaimed for his career as an actor, has made the jump to directing. At 75 years young, Ratzo Rizzo himself stepped behind the camera to bring the story of retired musicians to...
View ArticleSPRING BREAKERS – Reviewed by Spence (Valeryi Brumel had a cadre) Scopestrial
What does Harmony Korine want? Love him or hate him, he’ll just dismiss you. He’s a loudmouth. A rebel. Self-proclaimed of course. As writer and director he’s led seedy innocence laughingly to the...
View ArticleADMISSION – Reviewed by Joyce
Admission is a summer dramedy that should be on your “rent this one” list. The talent involved is huge. You have director Paul Weitz, Tina Fey and Paul Rudd. I’ll get to the others in a minute. Weitz...
View ArticleCLOUDBURST – Reviewed by Joyce
Cloudburst is about two older women who have been a couple for a very long time. This movie is graced with the talents of Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker in the starring roles. Dukakis plays Stella,...
View ArticleTHE SAPPHIRES – Reviewed by Joyce
This week there are a number of worthwhile releases and as far as I’m concerned The Sapphires is hands down one of the best. It is the perfect little movie in a number of ways. For example, there is...
View ArticlePAIN & GAIN – Reviewed by David
Pain & Gain doesn’t feel like a typical Michael Bay flick, and as much as I enjoy his work, that’s a good thing. Sure, it’s big and slick and without much nuance. But by replacing giant robots with...
View ArticleTHE ENGLISH TEACHER – Reviewed by Joyce
The English Teacher has a great cast featuring Julianne Moore, Nathan Lane, Greg Kinnear and others. Here’s the premise: dumpy English teacher Linda Sinclair, played of course by Moore, gets a visit...
View ArticleUNFINISHED SONG – Reviewed by David
Unfinished Song is the kind of movie that, as recently as fifteen years ago, I would have avoided like the plague. It’s British, it’s about old people and contains not one explosion. Having advanced in...
View ArticleMUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING – Reviewed by David
Shakespeare and I do not usually get along, despite my having had a grandfather who taught the Bard (his writings, not the actual man) at Berkeley. So it takes a clever director to help me understand...
View ArticleTHE HEAT – Reviewed by Joyce
I began watching The Heat with a little trepidation. I hadn’t really gotten too far into Bridesmaids (Melissa McCarthy and director Paul Feig’s other blockbuster success) when I decided to turn it off....
View ArticleTHE INTERNSHIP – Reviewed by Noah
Did you love The Wedding Crashers? Were you sad there wasn’t a sequel? Well then, strap in, cool cats, because I have the next best thing. The Internship, directed by Shawn Levy, re-teams Vince Vaughn...
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