MovieRetriever's : Video Hound's Blog

Movie Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:02:05 -0400

Mar 17, 2010

Based on the international bestseller by Stieg Larsson and already wildly successful in its country of origin, Niels Arden Oplev's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has drawn comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs and a remake is reportedly being eyed by David Fincher (with George Clooney and Carey Mulligan being named as possible stars). The international reports combined with the adoration for the book is likely to lead to some pretty high expectations that aren't quite met by the actual film. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Summer 2010 Movies We're Most Excited to See

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:20:36 -0400

Mar 15, 2010

Believe it or not, the summer movie season is right around the corner. With only a few weeks to go, we're busy planning our extensive movie coverage for May-August 2010 and trying to determine what's going to work and what's going to suck. The bad news? It looks like there will be a lot more suck this summer season than usual. Maybe you’ll have more time to get outside. In fact, we can't remember a summer less exciting than this one in a long time – so much so that it was actually difficult ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Remember Me

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:29:07 -0500

Mar 12, 2010

If I were still a 15 year old girl, Remember Me would have been my kind of film. Brooding, broken boy meets intelligent, quirky girl and they almost immediately fall in love. She moves in with him and he takes care of her, while finding himself healed by her presence in his life. They fight, they make up, and then he dies. Touching, right? Well, not really. While the intentions of freshman screenwriter Will Fetters were certainly ambitious, Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin fail to produce any viable onscreen ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Green Zone

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:51:15 -0500

Mar 12, 2010

Watching the trailer for Matt Damon’s newest project, Green Zone, one might incorrectly assume it’s the fourth entry in the Jason Bourne franchise and get excited. But that would certainly be forgivable, because that’s clearly what the studio is hoping you’ll do. Like those films, it features exotic foreign locales, window-shattering explosions, break-neck car chases, laptops rife with government secrets and Damon cracking skulls with ear-splitting force, all set to a buzzy, beat-heavy score. It even boasts the unmistakable, hyperrealism of director Paul Greengrass, whose whiplash camerawork and firecracker editing brought ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: She's Out of My League

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:21:47 -0500

Mar 12, 2010

I really, really wanted to like She's Out of My League. Star Jay Baruchel has been stealing scenes for years in films like Tropic Thunder and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and the concept of the film sounded like the perfect vehicle for this talented young man to drive to stardom. So, it pains me to say that the wheels come of this comedy pretty quickly and Baruchel is left with nowhere to go. Baruchel plays the sweet-but-awkward Kirk, a TSA employee at an airport in Pittsburgh. He's very slowly getting over ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Yellow Handkerchief

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:08:51 -0500

Mar 12, 2010

One should always be a little wary of a film that was shot three years before its release date. Sure, some movies merely take awhile to get through the production pipeline but when it's an independent drama like The Yellow Handkerchief, it probably means something is wrong. This character piece features three interesting performances but they're all fighting against a screenplay that values cliché over believability and a director who can't find the right rhythm or tone for the piece. What's most jarring about The Yellow Handkerchief is that it never feels like ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Jay Baruchel and Nate Torrence, stars of She's Out of My League

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:11:36 -0500

Mar 12, 2010

The very talented and charismatic Jay Baruchel has graduated from stealing films like Tropic Thunder and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist to starring as the lead in the romantic comedy She’s Out of My League. In the film, Baruchel plays an airport security agent whose life is turned upside down when he begins dating one of the most beautiful women alive (Alice Eve). Jay’s group of friends, including Get Smart star Nate Torrence, ridicule him but also push him to a level of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Red Riding 1983

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:11:53 -0500

Mar 11, 2010

The final chapter of the Red Riding Trilogy expands the spotlight from men caught up in their investigation of the web of corruption to the men who spin that web. It opens with the line "To the North, where we do what we want" and details how the desire for power and the willingness to do anything to hold on to it has led to unspeakable acts. Like the first two films, Red Riding 1983 is about a man seeking answers but learning things about very different questions. It both presents its own story ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Red Riding 1980

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:59:19 -0500

Mar 11, 2010

James Marsh, Oscar-winning director of Man on Wire, brings a less dreamy and more procedural atmosphere to the second chapter of The Red Riding Trilogy – Red Riding 1980, a film just a bit more impressive than the first in the series (Red Riding 1974) and once again strengthened by an ensemble that makes the sometimes pedestrian script resonate with unexpected force. The themes of the entire trilogy become more apparent and intellectually rewarding in the second chapter as we once again follow the arc of a man willing to do ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Red Riding 1974

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:29:16 -0500

Mar 10, 2010

Buoyed by very strong performances and a deliberate, grim style, the first installment in the acclaimed Red Riding Trilogy, Red Riding 1974 sets the tone for the movies to come and makes clear that these are not sunny days for the faint of heart. These are gloomy times; films not merely about the seedy underbelly of society but the fact that the seedy underbelly keeps things moving. They have been compared to Zodiac but they are more realistically grim than David Fincher’s masterpiece. The film can be a bit too self-serious at ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Mike Manasseri, Director of Babysitter Wanted

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:13:52 -0500

Mar 10, 2010

In Babysitter Wanted, a young college girl who believes she is being stalked accepts a babysitting job on an isolated farm, only to realize that there is no escape. There are elements of the familiar here, but director/producer Mike Manasseri leads cast and crew past the conventional pitfalls of the thriller genre and into the unpredictable terrain of Babysitter Wanted. Like Alfred Hitchcock, one of Manasseri’s main inspirations for the film, Babysitter Wanted hits home by creating a relatable, everyday world even as darkness creeps in from the shadows, until both characters and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with the Cast & Director of The Boondock Saints

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:01:39 -0500

Mar 09, 2010

First, just a little personal background: I was always a big fan of Boondock Saints, ever since I first saw it in my friend's basement. It immediately caught on with my group of friends. We rented it, having never heard of it (as I’m sure many fans did). We watched it over and over, then went back and bought copies, started loaning them to friends, and were soon surrounded by people we knew who had seen it, tossing around quotes and referring to scenes. A cult of Boondock Saints fans if you will. While ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Brooklyn's Finest

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:28:56 -0500

Mar 05, 2010

The preview for Brooklyn's Finest is one of the best I've seen in a long time, proving that well-cut footage of intriguing actors like Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke set to "Run This Town" by Jay-Z can make anything look good because, to be blunt, the movie is a mess. The preview is everything the film is not – tightly cut, intriguing, action-packed, entertaining. Antoine Fuqua's film feels like a grittier NYC version of The Departed but it mistakes the action of that film and its tale of undercover ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: A Prophet

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:25:10 -0500

Mar 05, 2010

No film has ever documented the transformation a man goes through from a simple thug to a notorious criminal in the same naturalistic, riveting detail as the ridiculously good A Prophet, the multiple award-winning Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. The film has finally made it to American shores after winning numerous awards overseas, including Best Picture along with most of the other Cesar Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscar, along with the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. You may think that the deafening buzz surrounding the film could ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Who Will Win (and Who Should Win) at the 2010 Oscars

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:14:15 -0500

Mar 03, 2010

Something about this Oscar season has officially turned me off the Academy Awards. It's not that the Oscars were ever all that important but does anyone remember when they used to be more fun? With all the drama about inappropriate emails and campaign violations, something about this year has just left me feeling dirty and uninspired by the whole event. The acting categories are remarkably predictable, as are most of the technical ones. I'm really only going to wake up during the screenplay awards, as those are as up in the air (no pun ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Celebrating Michigan’s Finest Filmmakers: The First Annual Detroit Independent Film Festival

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:03:12 -0500

Mar 01, 2010

Detroit, MI – Mobsters, zombies, and beer, oh my! From horror movies to romantic comedies to independent art-house films, the First Annual Detroit Independent Film Festival (DIFF) offers thrilling entertainment for every movie fan. In celebration of Michigan’s outstanding filmmaking talent, the festival features over 80 films at Detroit’s Burton Theatre and Wayne State Theatre from March 2 through March 7, 2010. The DIFF will also host the First Annual Michigan Film Awards, with a ceremony that honors the very best Michigan shorts, features, and performances of 2009. In support of Michigan’s burgeoning film industry, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Crazies

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:56:41 -0500

Feb 26, 2010

Perhaps the universal identification with George A. Romero's basic career conceit that we should never trust our neighbor or even our loved ones have made his films easier to remake but it's happened again: Just as Zack Snyder did with his excellent Dawn of the Dead, Breck Eisner has taken a Romero film and proven that redoing a horror film for a new generation isn't always a bad idea. Unlike so many of our modern remakes of 1970s and 1980s films, Eisner keeps it simple, refusing to bastardize the intentions ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Cop Out

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:54:36 -0500

Feb 26, 2010

Kevin Smith recently made headlines for being kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight because he was reportedly too hefty to fit in one seat. Having met Smith not that long ago, I was surprised that he had put on that much weight since I last saw him to the point that he needed two chairs. Now that I've seen his first film as a director that he didn't write, you can call me a conspiracy theorist but I'm not positive that it was his girth that got him booted. Perhaps the pilot or ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Top 10 Actors Overdue for an Oscar

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:14:19 -0500

Feb 25, 2010

What do Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, Paul Newman in The Color of Money, or even Kate Winslet in The Reader have in common? They all won Oscars for performances that very few people would call their absolute best. They could probably be called "career achievement" Oscars or merely “overdue” but it seems like the Academy has been making up for past sins in recent years by finally getting people like Martin Scorsese and Winslet their statues and it looks likely to happen again this ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Creation

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:34:01 -0500

Feb 19, 2010

Jon Amiel's Creation must have looked great on paper: Excellent actor Paul Bettany and Academy Award-winning co-star Jennifer Connelly in the story of a revolutionary thought that still creates controversy all these decades later. When Charles Darwin fully developed the concepts of natural selection and evolution, it forever changed a world that had been held together largely by the belief that we were all part of a higher plan and created as the human species we know now by a celestial power. The debate over the validity of evolution within ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Shutter Island

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:41:23 -0500

Feb 19, 2010

Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island is a dizzying trip through a cinematic funhouse managed by one of the best filmmakers of all time fully employing his most talented collaborators. One of the most technically accomplished films of the last several years, Shutter Island is a riveting thriller, the kind that gets under your skin and stays there for a few days. Some have already written it off as nothing more than a technical exercise – a critical argument that I think is wrong for two reasons. First, if you can't give credit to ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Best Martin Scorsese Films

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:24:13 -0500

Feb 18, 2010

With the brilliant Shutter Island opening tomorrow (come back for a review then), many critics have looked back over the four-decade career of arguably the best living filmmaker, Martin Scorsese. Who are we to stay out of the discussion? More than nearly any of his peers, it's actually difficult to whittle his films down to the ten best. And then to rank them? It's tough. What's most remarkable about Scorsese's work is that he has no dry period like so many of his peers. On the list below, you'll find films from the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Your Guide to the Oscar Nominated Short Films of 2010

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:24:08 -0500

Feb 17, 2010

Magnolia Pictures and Shorts International continue their wonderful annual tradition of taking the ten films nominated for the Oscar for Short Film: Live Action & Animation and presenting them in a pair of theatrical releases (visit the program’s website here: http://www.shortshd.com/theoscarshorts/). The lineup is about to open at the Landmark Century in Chicago along with theaters in New York and Los Angeles and will be expanding throughout the country in coming weeks. The shorts are also currently available on iTunes in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Find a way to see them. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Wolfman

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:23:31 -0500

Feb 12, 2010

The long-delayed remake of The Wolfman has elements that work – a strong supporting cast, a few striking visual compositions, at least one must-see sequence – but it just misses its mark as a complete film, ultimately coming off not nearly as compelling or entertaining as many hoped it would be from the minute its production was announced. On paper, The Wolfman is a genre fan's wet dream, a shot of old-fashioned horror from a director (Joe Johnston) who has done his best work in throwback films like The Rocketeer or ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:07:50 -0500

Feb 12, 2010

The horribly-titled Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief follows in the footsteps of years of films trying to become the next Harry Potter franchise and, comparably, makes out much better than disasters like Eragon or The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, but that's faint praise indeed. There are elements of this cluttered fantasy film that work but they're mostly due to the overall talent of the young cast and the strength of a few of the ideas from the source material. So, yes, once again Chris Columbus has ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Valentine's Day

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:56:32 -0500

Feb 12, 2010

Garry Marshall's Valentine's Day could have worked one of two ways. The comedy director could have fully embraced the ridiculousness of his everything-and-the-candy-heart structure and winkingly acknowledged one of the most cliché-laden scripts of all time. If the film had embraced the ridiculousness of it all and overplayed the romance, Valentine's Day could have been cheesy fun. The other way, of course, would have been to actually try and make a Robert Altman-esque ensemble piece about the realistic pitfalls of modern romance – a much harder task and something that became less ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Best Movies of 2010 – That's Right, 2010!

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:43:52 -0500

Feb 10, 2010

While everyone else is still arguing over whether The Hurt Locker, Avatar, Up in the Air, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, or some other choice is the best film of 2009, we're looking forward to what we expect to be talking about in eleven to twelve months – what are the best movies of 2010? We can't guarantee you what's going to be the most Oscar-nominated film of 2010 but we can guarantee you one thing – of our 20 most anticipated films below at least one will suck Amelia-style ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Dear John

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:44:43 -0500

Feb 05, 2010

If you enter the theater with a healthy combination of low expectations and an open mind, Dear John, the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation, is a sweet, enjoyable, and relevant film. On leave from the army, John Tyree (Channing Tatum) meets Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), a college student on spring break. They fall in love, but have only two weeks to spend together before he returns to duty. He promises her that he’ll be back for good after a year and their relationship develops through a series of letters as he ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Fish Tank

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:07:12 -0500

Feb 05, 2010

Fish Tank is about a girl with so little light or potential for escape in her life that she transforms at even the hint of a feeling she has no idea how to handle – happiness. With a striking, powerful debut from newcomer Katie Jarvis, Andrea Arnold's sophomore feature (she debuted with the equally remarkable Red Road, which is a must-see if you have yet to do so) transcends traditional realism to become something more poetic. In a time when the rise of the female director seems to be the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Last Station

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:47:38 -0500

Feb 05, 2010

Michael Hoffman's The Last Station is a period dramedy with individual elements that undeniably work but that never gels into a complete film. It's so cluttered with characters and ideas that it's impossible to wrap your head or heart around the proceedings. There are good performances in the piece, two of which have been nominated for an Academy Award, and the film is technically accomplished, but it's a movie with an identity crisis as problematic as that of its lead character, Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer, scoring his first Oscar nod for ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: District 13: Ultimatum

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:28:18 -0500

Feb 05, 2010

The original District B13 (2004) was an adrenalin-fueled martial arts orgy that became a worldwide cult hit. The main question surrounding its sequel, District 13: Ultimatum is essentially what took so long? Unlike a lot of sequels, this franchise has lost no momentum at all in its second installment. The main players are back including the two incredibly charismatic stars and writer Luc Besson and the result is an equally enjoyable thrill ride with some of the best martial arts and parkour sequences that you're likely to see all year. The ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Frozen

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:01:55 -0500

Feb 05, 2010

I imagine Adam Green's highly buzzed Frozen might have played more effectively when it unspooled at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah at the base of a mountain not unlike the one that basically serves as the villain in this "Open Water on a chairlift." Who says there are no new ideas in the world of horror? Give Green (director of the cult hit Hatchet) credit for at least half-realizing a new arena for chills and spills, but Frozen is a flawed short film stretched to the breaking point ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Michael Hoffman, Writer/Director of The Last Station

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:19:23 -0500

Feb 04, 2010

When the Oscar nominees were announced earlier this week, you had probably heard of a few little movies like Avatar, The Blind Side, and District 9, but it’s pretty safe to say that one of the more unheralded nominees came from a little film called The Last Station. Both lead actress Helen Mirren and supporting actor Christopher Plummer were nominated, the latter for the first time in his remarkable career (which is just amazing when one considers what he has done in his fifty-plus years in Hollywood).

Movie Review: When in Rome

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:31:00 -0500

Feb 04, 2010

When in Rome is the cinematic equivalent of gorging yourself with a bag of candy. At first it seems tasty, pleasurable even, and goes down easily enough. But then things start to turn and you start to feel worse with every bite until you’re sick to your stomach. Ultimately, you find yourself wondering why you picked up the bag in the first place. When in Rome is exactly like that. What could have been a throwaway and perhaps mildly entertaining romantic comedy is instead a tedious and plodding film that has zero charm and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 82nd Annual Academy Award Nominations Have Been Announced!

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:21:27 -0500

Feb 02, 2010

The 82nd annual Academy Award nominations were announced earlier today (see the clip below for the announcement), and, per usual, there's a couple things that might make you shake your head in disbelief. The thing everyone will be talking about is the expansion of the Best Picture category to 10 films. (See our piece on What if the 10 Nominee Rule Had Been Adopted Back in 2000? for a look at what films would or should have been nominated in previous years.)

It was nice to see District 9 get some attention. But, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Looking Back at James Cameron's Titanic

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:08:09 -0500

Feb 01, 2010

By now, you’ve probably been exposed to a lot of conflicting opinions on James Cameron’s Avatar. You've probably read more than a few rave reviews and a fair number of less than flattering ones. You may even have friends divided along those same lines. This writer, for example, loved the film and totally bought into the entire spectacle and thoroughly enjoyed the film (heck, no one does an action movie quite like Cameron), whereas our resident film critic had quite a different take on the film and thought it a pretty yet horribly written and shallow piece (of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Edge of Darkness

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:43:12 -0500

Jan 29, 2010

Well-paced, emotionally complex, and expertly performed, Martin Campbell's Edge of Darkness is a surprisingly effective film, a stand-out in a month that hasn't exactly started the new decade with an abundance of quality. Featuring not just Mel Gibson's first performance in nearly a decade but also one of the best of his entire career, this remake of the award-winning BBC mini-series delivers what fans of the controversial star may be expecting with Payback or Ransom-esque bursts of righteous violence, but the true draw of the film is the balancing ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 20 Best Horror Films of the 2000s

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:28:30 -0500

Jan 25, 2010

The past decade in horror makes one sad fact abundantly clear – Americans are falling behind in more than just math class. Most of the truly interesting material in the genre came from overseas. What would you rather sit through? A festival of the four Final Destination and six Saw films produced this decade or one of the French hardcore horror wave (including Inside, Martyrs, Frontier(s), Them, High Tension and more)? If it’s the former, you and I don’t judge horror the same way and you should probably stop reading and move on. Yes, the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Legion

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:08:41 -0500

Jan 23, 2010

Hollywood loves the end of the world. Whether it's a giant meteor, space aliens, or global warming, nothing gets a movie executive more excited than a fresh bold way to completely annihilate human civilization. Legion is the low-budget, biblical, bastard child of these films. What it lacks in awe-inspiring special effects and big-name actors it also lacks in horror and suspense. While this Old Testament take on the end of the world, complete with angels and possessed souls, does have a few memorable moments, this new entry into the bloated horror genre is ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Extraordinary Measures

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:40:00 -0500

Jan 22, 2010

If Extraordinary Measures were broadcast on CBS back in the heyday of the broadcast network TV movie, it would be a slam dunk; a ratings bonanza that might even get a Golden Globe or Emmy nod or two. But the problem is that CBS Films’ melodrama, the first by the new studio, is not airing with commercial breaks to make the sugary sweet aftertaste easier to stomach. Its flaws are blown up to big screen size and the comfortable emotional predictability that works on the small screen makes for unsatisfying viewing on the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Tooth Fairy

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:37:34 -0500

Jan 22, 2010

Tooth Fairy is the kind of family junk that people often tell me critics take too seriously. “It’s just a kid’s movie!” More than ever, I call foul on that argument. Entertainment aimed at children has arguably never been better with incredible films like Up, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs released in the last twelve months. Why should we accept the supposedly inherent flaws of the family film when it’s been so ably proven that we don’t have to? The problem seems to ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: 35 Shots of Rum

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:34:29 -0500

Jan 22, 2010

Claire Denis does not make easy films, even for Francophiles. Her latest highly acclaimed drama, 35 Shots of Rum (or 35 rhums), is only now opening around the country after appearing on dozens of top ten lists for those lucky enough to have seen it in 2009. As happens every once in awhile, I’m stunned at how long these things sometimes take to work their way to the American public who might be interested in seeing them. Denis has become one of the more notable foreign directors alive with an incredibly loyal ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: 7 Days

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:32:09 -0500

Jan 22, 2010

Torture porn is not just for American audiences any more. If you’ve been wondering why there aren’t more Hostel sequels and longing for the days when there was a brutal horror flick like Wolf Creek in theaters nearly every week, Sundance Selects has a gratuitously grotesque slice of absolute torture for you now available, as the French Canadian 7 Days (the French title is Les 7 jours du talion) simultaneously premieres On Demand at the same time as it’s debuting in Park City at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Perhaps not quite ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Scott Cooper, Director of Crazy Heart

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:22:40 -0500

Jan 21, 2010

Jeff Bridges has been tearing up the awards season, taking home another trophy this week as he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor. He’s clearly the frontrunner to finally win an Oscar for his amazing work as Bad Blake in Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart. Cooper’s film started as a biography of Merle Haggard but became an adaptation of a story about an over-the-hill, alcoholic country singer trying to find happiness and maybe a bit of redemption before it’s too late. Cooper’s directorial debut is one of the most assured of 2009 ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 2010 Golden Globe Winners!

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:02:23 -0500

Jan 18, 2010

The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards have been awarded and it was James Cameron and Avatar pulling the big upset and taking home the trophies over the heavily favored The Hurt Locker and director Kathryn Bigelow. In our opinion, Ricky Gervais did a pretty good job as host this year (though we’d watch anything he was involved in, heck we even liked The Invention of Lying despite the lukewarm reviews it received). While we’re big nerd boy fans of Cameron and Avatar, The Hurt Locker is definitely one of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Lovely Bones

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:00:20 -0500

Jan 15, 2010

Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones is at once both one of the most conceptually daring films of 2009 and one of its biggest train wrecks. Filled with complex concepts and emotional risks but also with incredibly misguided decisions that dramatically rupture the entire film by the final act, it is likely to become a divisive work, one that a select few embrace but most mock or merely forget. For every element of The Lovely Bones that works there is at least one that does not and the artistic give-and-take nature of the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The White Ribbon

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:23:59 -0500

Jan 15, 2010

Michael Haneke continues to prove his reputation as one of our era’s more intriguing filmmakers with another dark, insightful masterpiece about the human ability to deceive. He has reportedly claimed that his amazing The White Ribbon is about the rise of any kind of terrorism but there is a clear through line between the action of the film and the rise of the Nazi party during World War II. Having said that, this is not an overtly political piece. The rise of evil is merely the backdrop of a personal, human story ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 50 Best Films of the 2000s

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:47:31 -0500

Jan 12, 2010

Recapping an entire decade is an amazingly daunting task, the kind of endeavor that really makes a critic take account of what he values in film. Looking over the last ten years of movies and the thousands of reviews I have written, I realized a few things about what I view as important when it comes to truly great films. I said a few years ago that the movies I value the most are the ones that make me forget about the review I need to write; the ones that transport me away from ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Youth in Revolt

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:10:42 -0500

Jan 08, 2010

Miguel Arteta's Youth in Revolt is a surprisingly charming and eccentric comedy, a riff on common themes in the world of the teenage romantic comedies but done so with a unique, entertaining style. Simply put, Youth in Revolt is funny. It's not life-changing but it never intends to be. It's a fun slice of teenage life, when love is something for which we will turn our worlds upside down and when just a kiss can change your whole viewpoint. Sometimes overly aware of its own cleverness and overcrowded with characters and subplots, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Daybreakers

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:10:36 -0500

Jan 08, 2010

There is so little originality in the world of horror that when something as unique as Daybreakers comes along, it's tempting to embrace it with open arms. I expect that hardcore horror nuts will love this film the way that sci-fi junkies bow at the altar of a unique work like Equilibrium. With genres that are so often based on previous films or other source material, seeing something brand new is rare enough to allow viewers to dismiss all flaws and proclaim greatness. The original concept of Daybreakers is clever enough and the execution stylish ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:10:25 -0500

Jan 08, 2010

Terry Gilliam's controversial The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus has grabbed headlines as "Heath Ledger's final film," but it's actually just as notable as something close to a return to form for the great director of such classics as Brazil and The Fisher King. Now, it's certainly nowhere near as accomplished a film as those from Gilliam's peak, but it is much further up the mountain than the very disappointing The Brothers Grimm or the abysmal Tideland. It is certainly disheartening to have to wave goodbye to one ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:10:18 -0500

Jan 08, 2010

Jodie Markell's The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond unearths a long-buried Tennessee Williams screenplay and, while most of the major players appear to do their best, the conventional, dull script is actually the weakest element of the production, proving that perhaps it was buried for a reason. Lead actress Bryce Dallas Howard takes on what she clearly viewed as her most challenging role to date but never comes to terms with the fact that this is an underdeveloped, uninteresting character in a story far too reminiscent of vastly superior Williams' works. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Michael Cera and Portia Doubleday, stars of Youth in Revolt

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:11:15 -0500

Jan 06, 2010

Michael Cera returned to the interview chair near the end of 2009 to discuss his upcoming Youth in Revolt, a comedy about a young man so desperately in love that he develops a "bad boy" personality to win the heart of the girl he desires. He also brought the girl, the lovely Portia Doubleday, making her debut in the Miguel Arteta film. Youth in Revolt is a clever comedy that plays perfectly to Cera's strengths, resulting in his best performance to date. After several delays, the film was finally shuffled ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Worst Films of 2009

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:22:40 -0500

Dec 30, 2009

We've covered the best of the year and now it's time to flip the coin and look at the dirty underside of film in 2009. Of course, it's easy to point fingers at the disappointing major sequels of the summer (nearly all of which fell below their predecessor in terms of quality) but the Hollywood machine wasn't alone in the production of lackluster product in 2009.

Bad movies can come from anywhere and at any time. This year’s top ten includes some regulars but also some people who sunk lower than usual in the past ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Best Films of 2009

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:29:48 -0500

Dec 28, 2009

Amplified by a slate of "Best of the Decade" pieces (which we'll get to in early 2010), this year's "best of" features seem more overcrowded than ever, but it's human nature to want to rank. When I tell people that I'm a film critic, they almost always ask me what the best movie is I've seen lately or my favorite of all time. As much as we like to try and raise the conversation about film and add to the discussion instead of just giving a film a grade, people are always going to ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 09:07:02 -0500

Dec 25, 2009

Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes is a cinematic Big Mac – it tastes fine going down, but only later do you realize that it is completely disposable and forgettable. And don't be surprised if you feel a little bloated. Of course, considering the number of movies that aren't even as tasty as Ronald McDonald's special sauce, it's tempting to recommend a bit of junk food between Christmas and New Year's, but I can't shake the feeling that this blatant attempt at a franchise starter could have been better and, considering the power of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: It's Complicated

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 09:04:36 -0500

Dec 25, 2009

Nancy Meyers' It's Complicated doesn't really live up to its title in that it's a pretty straightforward, uncomplicated romantic comedy enlivened by a spectacular comedy ensemble that elevate a clichéd script into something that works merely by the infectious nature of the good time these talented actors clearly had in making the film. It's Complicated is far from perfect and could have been improved with a few rewrites and a more interesting director, but the ensemble is flawless and there's something to be said for watching actors this extremely talented bringing their ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Nine

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 09:01:59 -0500

Dec 25, 2009

Rob Marshall's Nine is a vibrant, eccentric, unusual slice of musical entertainment. It's a beautifully made film that somehow still feels like the ugly duckling of major musicals in that the lead can't really sing, too much of the supporting cast is interchangeable, and the editing is unnecessarily frenetic, and yet most of these criticisms easily fall away at the pure spectacle of it all. With beautiful settings, gorgeous stars, and lavishly staged numbers, Nine casts a spell that makes critical analysis difficult. Yes, Rob Marshall made a few regrettable decisions in ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: A Single Man

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:59:06 -0500

Dec 25, 2009

The unbelievable pain that comes with the loss of a loved one has rarely been brought to life with more poetic force than in the excellent A Single Man, a film with several of the best performances of the year and a drama that will resonate powerfully with art house audiences this holiday season and, hopefully, result in a well-deserved Oscar nomination or two in a few weeks. A Single Man is about being paralyzed by emotional pain or intellectual fear so drastically that it makes it impossible to move forward. The main ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Crazy Heart

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:51:43 -0500

Dec 25, 2009

Is it ever too late to do the right thing? Can you go so far over the hill that no amount of regret or attempts at reconciliation can ever bring you back to the other side? Does that mean you shouldn't even try? These are timeless human questions that have been a part of the fabric of country music since the first musician picked up a guitar and wailed about his sorrows. And they are just one part of the excellent Crazy Heart, an acting showcase for the great Jeff Bridges that gets ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:54:45 -0500

Dec 23, 2009

Many reviews of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel have been focused on it not being a very good movie, but also maintaining that kids will probably enjoy it (almost as if it being kid friendly automatically makes it a bad movie). Well, to that I say. What of it? Seems to me that the only reason anyone would read a review of this movie would be to find out 1) if it’s safe for their children to see and 2) if their kids are going to have fun watching it. The answer ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Nine Holiday Videos from Your Friends at MovieRetriever.com!

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:46:29 -0500

Dec 23, 2009

Well, it’s that time of year again. You know when we all pretend that we’re all one people regardless of race, creed, or political affiliation and yet – no matter how many times we force ourselves to say “Happy Holidays” – it’s still hard to ignore that 95% of the Western world is swathed in Christmas decorations and the only thing on TV is George Bailey and Rudolph. But, if you forget about the hypocrisy of the season for just a tiny bit, you’ll realize that the holidays aren’t truly about religion or goodwill ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Five Most Awkward Cinematic Office Christmas Parties

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:10:13 -0500

Dec 22, 2009

Ah, Christmas! Tis the season for mistletoe, holly, shopping, and the career-derailing office Holiday party. Between online shopping, giving out Secret Santa presents, and wandering from cubicle to cubicle snagging holiday cookies, not a lot of work is getting done this week across America, and the annual office gathering puts the icing on the anti-productivity cake. Woo hoo! But it’s not always peace on earth and goodwill toward men. The Holiday party presents so many social landmines. What is it about the office Christmas party? Is it the booze? The relief in making it through ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 2009 Chicago Film Critics Association Winners

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:59:02 -0500

Dec 22, 2009

The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow’s incendiary action drama following the lives of the members of a bomb disposal unit stationed in Iraq, was the big winner with the Chicago Film Critics Association in their voting for their 2009 awards. The film swept all five awards that it was nominated for, taking home prizes for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay (for Mark Boal), Best Actor (Jeremy Renner) and Best Cinematography (Barry Ackroyd). Among the other multiple winners, the Pixar animated smash Up won for Best Animated Feature ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Did You Hear About the Morgans?

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:57:03 -0500

Dec 21, 2009

First of all, I like a good romantic comedy as much as the next person. I’m not one of these fanboy geek film nerds who only likes movies that have something to do with video games, super heroes, aliens, monsters, or whatever flavor of the week comic book is making its big screen debut and then lives only to tear those things to shreds. Though I do enjoy such activities (who doesn’t), I’m actually a big fan of the romantic tearjerker and have enjoyed many a film from the genre in the past few ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Broken Embraces

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:47:36 -0500

Dec 18, 2009

Pedro Almodóvar's Broken Embraces isn't quite the masterpiece that was the director’s Talk to Her or Volver, but it is a luscious, gorgeous, confidently directed slice of self-examination through the world of noir, the power of cinema, and the hazy fog of memory. The last time that Pedro wrote a character who also happened to be a creative artist into one of his films, in Bad Education, it produced at-best mixed results. Luckily, Broken Embraces is a far more successful slice of cinematic wonder, a work that's not quite ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Young Victoria

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:26:41 -0500

Dec 18, 2009

The Young Victoria is a well-intentioned film with a talented enough cast and reasonably strong production value that still never quite comes together as anything truly memorable. It’s a film with many admirable individual parts that form a surprisingly forgettable whole. Despite stealing most of the films she's appeared in to date, star Emily Blunt is horrendously miscast and too much of The Young Victoria feels like it’s merely going through the motions, as if everyone has been tasked with providing a requisite holiday season period piece and that's what they’re going ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Best Lead Performances of 2009

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:38:59 -0500

Dec 17, 2009

After going through the best supporting turns of the year earlier this week (check out that feature by clicking here) and dealing with the onslaught of awards and nominations this week including the Golden Globes and Chicago Film Critics Association (a group of which this critic is a proud board member), we thought we'd take a look at the names above the title that really stood out this year. From drama to comedy to science fiction, the best lead performances of 2009 came from diverse films and were delivered by actors and actresses with ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 2009 Chicago Film Critics Association Nominations

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:43:22 -0500

Dec 17, 2009

A wry comedy-drama about a man who makes his living firing people and an adaptation of a classic piece of children’s literature were the big winners when the Chicago Film Critics Association announced their list of nominees for their 2009 awards earlier this week. Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air and Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are each scored six nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. A pair of radically different war movies, Kathryn Bigelow’s gripping Iraq conflict drama The Hurt Locker and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Avatar

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:36:37 -0500

Dec 16, 2009

James Cameron's highly anticipated Avatar is an ambitious, beautifully rendered, and visually stunning film. It is also a storytelling mess without a single character to care about and with all of the logic of a fourth grade English student trying write a really cool science fiction story. It's simply impossible to begrudge people who fall for the epic visual scale of the story in the same way that early filmgoers fell for flickering images in a darkened theater. But when you step back and look at the film critically, examine what works ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Best Supporting Performances of 2009

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:03:48 -0500

Dec 15, 2009

As the awards season really ramps up, it’s time to look back at what happened in darkened theaters in 2009, starting with the best supporting work of the year. We’ll get to the best films, best lead performances, and worst films over the next few weeks, but today is dedicated to the men and women who did the best work outside of the main spotlight. A number of the best films of the year worked because of their extensive, talented ensembles. Within our traditional five-nominee system, there are several films that feature more than ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Princess and the Frog

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:19:25 -0500

Dec 11, 2009

I have to admit to being one of those old-fashioned critics who thinks that the technological advancements in the world of animation have not always been for the best. There's something about the hand-drawn, two-dimensional approach to animated storytelling that has been crushed by computer generated imagery and 3D. Don't get me wrong. I'm not purist enough to not recognize that beauty of Pixar's CGI or admire the 3D world of Coraline, but when every studio basically fired their 2D departments, it made me sad. Why can't we have both? Aren't there stories ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Invictus

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:00:34 -0500

Dec 11, 2009

Clint Eastwood makes old-fashioned movies that usually deal in cut-and-dry moral situations. Personally, I find him the most interesting when he's forced to address the moral grays between the blacks and whites in films like Unforgiven and Mystic River, but, especially lately, he seems to have lost any interest at all in striking a subtle chord. Every character development and every plot turn in films like Gran Torino or Flags of Our Fathers is telegraphed and underlined so no one could possibly miss it. You could argue that there's ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Reivew: Me and Orson Welles

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:37:24 -0500

Dec 10, 2009

Even with a soft spot in my heart for films about the community that sprouts up around creative ventures and a natural adoration for the films of both Orson Welles and Richard Linklater, Me and Orson Welles is a frustrating film, a movie that I want to love but is remarkably forgettable in spite of itself. Me and Orson Welles is a reasonably satisfying experience with some decent supporting work and one excellent performance at its core, but it's also surprisingly hollow, missing the emotional register that would allow it to carry ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Collapse

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:40:39 -0500

Dec 10, 2009

The theme of cinema in 2009 has clearly been that we're all in some deep sh*t and it's only getting deeper. Zombieland, The Road, 2012 – so much of our entertainment has been about the imminent downfall of humanity that it's somewhat surprising that the post-apocalyptic viewpoint hasn't extended as much to non-fiction filmmaking. Enter Collapse, a highly buzzed documentary that basically introduces the audience to the prophet of death. In the style of the great Errol Morris, director Chris Smith (American Movie) sat down for a conversation ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Best Animated Films of the Decade

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:23:52 -0500

Dec 09, 2009

With one of the best years in the history of animation coming to a close, it seems appropriate to open our coverage of the best of the about-to-end decade with what Brad Bird once told me should be considered a medium, not a genre. Looking back at a spectacular decade in animation displays the truth of that statement with excellent films from a variety of sources and telling stories that range from drama to comedy to, of course, the family film. Future books about the cinema of the 2000s will be incomplete if they ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Maid

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:47:28 -0500

Dec 06, 2009

The Maid is a comedy of cultural conflict that could easily be remade into an absolutely horrific American vehicle. It practically sounds like a September release set to star a beautiful Jessica (Alba, Simpson, or Biel) but the wacky remake of The Maid would almost certainly miss what works about the original. (Don’t they always?) For awhile, the set-up and plot description of The Maid plays almost like a quirky sitcom, but writer/director Sebastian Silva wisely focuses on character instead of caricature and has crafted a film that is ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

A Teen's Take on The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:38:28 -0500

Dec 05, 2009

Last year we ran a couple of features on Twilight. The first was called Six Excuses Grown-Ups Can Use for Going to See Twilight This Weekend. Want to know why we did that article? Well, even though most people we’ve talked to over the age of 25 about the series said they just don’t understand the appeal of Stephenie Meyer’s modern gothic romance, the truth of the matter is that everyone has gone Twilight crazy. The latest film in the series, The Twilight Saga: New Moon is the #1 movie in ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Jason Reitman, co-writer/director of Up in the Air

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:00:15 -0500

Dec 04, 2009

It almost felt like after the success and inevitable backlash that surrounded Juno that some people were expecting Jason Reitman to fail with his next project. He couldn’t make another film that critically and commercially successful, right? He didn’t. He made an even better film. Up in the Air, starring George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Jason Bateman, and more, tells the story of a businessman who values his frequent flyer miles over anything approaching a personal relationship. It’s easily one of the best films of the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Brothers

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:57:11 -0500

Dec 04, 2009

I try and go into every film with a blank slate, but I must admit that I simply do not understand the desire to remake Susanne Bier's Brothers, especially by a director as talented as Jim Sheridan (In America, In the Name of the Father). Ignoring the commercial imperative, what is the creative reason to remake a film in the first place? The foreign films that have been successfully remade over the years are almost always ones that featured stories strong enough that they needed to be told in ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Strip

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:33:23 -0500

Dec 04, 2009

Workplace comedy The Strip starts off so shakily and features such overly familiar material that by the time the filmmaker's love for his characters starts to shine through the stale jokes and recycled premise, it's too late for the film to close the sale. It is unique for a comedy like this to start off feeling generic and get more interesting as it goes along – it's usually the reverse – but even a much stronger second half can't erase the feeling that you've seen The Strip before and you've seen it funnier, smarter, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Up in the Air

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:32:30 -0500

Dec 03, 2009

Is it our physical belongings or our personal connections that tie us down? What's more important – the frequent flyer miles you collect or the people you meet as you rack them up? Your job or the people you come home to? And what happens to a man when he has absolutely nothing tethering him to the ground? Take the case of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a man who enjoys nothing more than his hotel perk programs and the VIP treatment he gets when he checks in for a flight. He's collected more ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Old Dogs

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:49:29 -0500

Nov 25, 2009

Old Dogs, a new fish-out-of-water pseudo family-friendly comedy is the type of film that audiences will lap up over the holiday weekend like so much spilled gravy. But, they’ll be hard pressed to care about the movie once it’s finished (or possibly during it). The movie begins with the tired one-joke premise of a couple of fifty-something, somewhat happily single men being forced to baby sit children and expects hilarity to ensue. It does occasionally. Mostly, Old Dogs is a series of painfully unfunny bits of physical comedy loosely held together by a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:55:01 -0500

Nov 25, 2009

Wes Anderson and Roald Dahl seem like a match made in hipster movie heaven. Anderson's quirky visual style is a perfect fit for Dahl's unique imagination and the voice cast assembled for the wunderkind director's take on Fantastic Mr. Fox is as A-list as anything produced this season. Led by George Clooney and Meryl Streep and including Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Fantastic Mr. Fox first seems like a dream come true, that rare blend ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Road

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:50:41 -0500

Nov 25, 2009

A few times a year, movie goers are presented with a film that proves that not all mediums are created equal. Watchmen proved that even absolute loyalty to a graphic novel can leave something on the page and now the highly-anticipated and long-delayed debut of The Road proves that some themes are better represented in fiction than on celluloid. Cormac McCarthy's novel was a highly acclaimed and award-winning examination of survival, hope, and what happens after the end of the world. On paper, McCarthy's prose and bleak vision of the future works ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Red Cliff

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:48:23 -0500

Nov 25, 2009

With Red Cliff, John Woo returns with his first film in six years and his first non-English film since the landmark Hard Boiled (1992). Can the man who was once so clearly at the top of the action game with masterpieces like The Killer and A Bullet in the Head find his cultural importance yet again? The film has garnered a sizable amount of buzz on its way overseas, in no small part due to the unusual decision to take a two-part, four-hour experience and cram into one theatrical experience ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Ninja Assassin

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:45:35 -0500

Nov 25, 2009

What little boy didn't someday want to be a Ninja Assassin? Heck, there are some days when I still consider such a bad-ass career change. The most truth-in-advertising title of the year nearly sounds like it sprung from a playground conversation. "When I grow up, I'm gonna be a ninja." "Well, I'm gonna be an assassin." "Oh yeah, I'll kill you both as a ninja assassin." The ridiculous nature of the film's concept and title is also the only way a viewer can possibly approach the film and expect to be entertained. This ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Gentlemen Broncos

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:18:37 -0500

Nov 24, 2009

Count me as a casual fan of Napoleon Dynamite, though I certainly wasn’t even that at first. It’s a film that has to simmer (well, at least for me it did) and the film’s sense of humor is arguably an acquired taste. The film’s celebration of the, shall we say, eccentric people in the world worked mainly thanks to a few likeable characters trying to survive in a supposedly normal world. While it may have seemed stupid more often than not, the film still had a charm about it that made it likeable, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Blind Side

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:21:28 -0500

Nov 23, 2009

John Lee Hancock's The Blind Side is an unabashedly feel-good movie. Yes, the producers undeniably overlook the darker tones of its true story, but sometimes audiences want to focus more on the inspiration than the reason for it. There have been dozens of films that ignored the reason for the fall to focus more on the climb and, if you look past the softening of the less family-friendly or controversial elements of the true story of The Blind Side and approach it much like you would Hancock's moving and underrated The ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Turning Green

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:56:35 -0500

Nov 20, 2009

Very few films have lingered in the post-production pipeline as long as Turning Green, a dark comedy that was actually a runner-up for Project Greenlight and played in festivals way back in 2005. How could a film with intriguing actors like Timothy Hutton, Allesandro Nivola, and Colm Meaney lay on a shelf for so long? Could it really be that bad? No, it's not THAT bad. What's more likely is that it was simply forgotten. The coming-of-age story never comes together, wasting talented people in small roles, miscasting the lead, and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Missing Person

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:15:16 -0500

Nov 20, 2009

Recent Oscar nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) has a face built for noir. With his sharp angles and sad eyes, he looks like he could have stepped out of a film in the 1940s and he practically has in the very unusual The Missing Person, a film that can't easily be contained in one genre. Is it a spoof of noir films? A mind trip like David Lynch might make? A straight-faced noir? All (or none) of the above? The Missing Person is a film that's very hard to put a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Mammoth

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:29:40 -0500

Nov 20, 2009

Lukas Moodysson's Mammoth is an ambitious piece about interconnectivity that takes a bit too long to get going and perhaps bites off more thematically than it can chew, but it has too many intriguing ideas and spectacular performances to be dismissed. Taking place in Thailand, the Philippines, and New York, Mammoth is somewhat Babel-esque in the way it intertwines cultures and connectivity but it's a much more straightforward narrative and interesting commentary on the growing chasm between the classes and how trying to jump from one to another could lead to a pretty ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Messenger

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:49:34 -0500

Nov 20, 2009

Oren Moverman's The Messenger is a stunning debut, an effective, expertly-made and performed drama about the common human ability to deal with tragedy and loss in unique, unpredictable ways. A film that feels incredibly authentic, The Messenger isn't for the dramatically faint of heart. This is not a "good time" for the family over Thanksgiving, but it would be the most memorable and effecting film that you could see this holiday. With a shocking lack of manipulation, melodrama, or easy lessons, The Messenger says more about honest, relatable humanity than most dramas ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Planet 51

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:47:28 -0500

Nov 20, 2009

As much as vampire fiction has taken off with films like The Twilight Saga: New Moon and programs like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, the creativity in the world of alien-based filmmaking seems to have run aground. How else to explain awful films like Aliens in the Attic, The Fourth Kind, and now the ridiculously bad Planet 51, a film with essentially no redeeming value at all. I had problems with Monsters vs. Aliens but it looks like WALL-E compared to this almost defiantly lackluster effort. Some ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:45:27 -0500

Nov 20, 2009

Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is one of the most surprisingly accomplished films of the year. Of course, one would have to be film illiterate to be surprised that the always-intriguing Herzog could deliver the goods but nearly every other element of this clever, dark, twisted thriller screamed "that's a really bad idea." Star Nicolas Cage has been involved in some truly bad films in the last few years, including another unnecessary remake from an interesting director (The Wicker Man). He honestly hasn't been completely effective since ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:47:00 -0500

Nov 19, 2009

A slight improvement over the lackluster first film in the franchise, The Twilight Saga: New Moon is yet another shockingly bland, dull, predictable serving of much of the same meal. The fact is that all of our dear readers who loved the first film are unlikely to be swayed from their passion project by this one. (In fact, it's significantly better in some departments.) If you’re buying extra Whoppers this week to get the New Moon swag at Burger King, stop reading right now. But if, like me, you think that fans deserve ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Ben Foster, Star of The Messenger

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:02:01 -0500

Nov 19, 2009

Ben Foster first impressed viewers with roles on beloved programs like Freaks and Geeks and Six Feet Under. He went on to steal scenes in films like Alpha Dog and 3:10 to Yuma, but he does the best work of his career in Oren Moverman’s incredible drama The Messenger, co-starring Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton. In the film, Foster plays a soldier who is forced to finish out his service as a Casualty Notification Officer, one of the men who informs next of kin when their loved one ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: 2012

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:16:31 -0500

Nov 13, 2009

If you judge a film based on how well it delivers what an audience should expect of it, I find it hard to believe that 2012 could possibly disappoint (other than possibly ruining dinner plans with its extreme length). This is the culmination of Roland Emmerich's career, an everything-AND-the-kitchen-sink film that never hides its intention to be nothing more than a ridiculous, over-the-top, jaw-dropping rollercoaster of an experience. Is it good? It depends on what you mean by “good.” Was The Poseidon Adventure good? The Towering Inferno? 2012 is a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Pirate Radio

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:15:21 -0500

Nov 13, 2009

With a great true story and one of the most purely entertaining ensembles of the year, Richard Curtis' Pirate Radio starts with a bang. It's like walking into a lavish costume party with likable characters, amazing tunes, and simply spectacular period clothes. The problem is that films require a bit more than a costume party. The goodwill of the first half hour or so of Pirate Radio wears off when you realize that it really has nowhere to go after that stellar introduction. Several films in one without fully developing any of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The House of the Devil

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:31:56 -0500

Nov 12, 2009

If a ticket buyer were to stumble into a theater showing Ti West's The House of the Devil without knowing what to expect, they might think they had come across a long-lost Tobe Hooper film from the early 1980s or at least a film from a lesser-known director of the same era. Ti West has made a horror flick that is not meant to merely be SET in the early 1980s but is designed to feel like it was actually produced back then. Everything from the font of the opening credits to ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Women in Trouble

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:05:22 -0500

Nov 12, 2009

Sebastian Gutierrez's Women in Trouble features some of my absolute favorite actresses giving vibrant, sexy, daring performances. And that's why it practically crushes me to say that the movie doesn't quite work. It's a near-miss by a writer/director who I hope keeps trying to make more of these Almodovar-esque quilts of interweaving stories. Just because Women in Trouble doesn't quite come together doesn't mean there aren't elements of it that work and the entire project hints that the previously critically-reviled Gutierrez could really make a great film like it if he keeps ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Skin

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:48:51 -0500

Nov 12, 2009

The drama Skin is a well-performed, interesting true story about the ridiculousness of apartheid and racism in general set against the backdrop of three decades in South Africa. It is the tale of a woman caught between races – accepted and then discarded by both. There is inherent dramatic power in the tale of Sandra Laing and the performances in Skin are admirable, but the film never finds the emotional chords that could have elevated it to more than just a "good drama." There are elements that hint at a movie that could have ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Richard Curtis, Director of Pirate Radio

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:52:43 -0500

Nov 12, 2009

Richard Curtis is a legend in the United Kingdom, the man who made one of the country’s most popular shows of all time (Black Adder) and helped turn Hugh Grant into a household name. He wrote Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Tall Guy¸ Notting Hill, the adaptation of Bridget Jones’ Diary, and many of the adventures of Mr. Bean before moving into the director’s chair for the beloved Love Actually and, now, Pirate Radio (known as The Boat That Rocked overseas before a stateside title change). Curtis’ ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

They Made a Part Two to What? - The Ten Worst Unexpected Sequels of All Time

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:21:40 -0500

Nov 11, 2009

Most films that end up producing a sequel were more than likely conceived with future installments in mind. Spider-Man, Pirates of the Caribbean, even Saw – when the filmmaker wrapped production on part one, they intended to see most of the cast and crew a few months down the line. Much rarer is the sequel that comes completely out of left field, a part two that even the filmmakers never thought would happen when they devised part one. Such must be the case with Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Men Who Stare at Goats

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:48:39 -0500

Nov 09, 2009

The Men Who Stare at Goats is one of those films that you won’t be disappointed you saw. However, you may not be wildly excited about having seen it either. The trouble is that this blending of action-adventure, political thriller, and dark comedy is never really brilliant nor is it just plain awful. It’s the cinematic equivalent of Baby Bear’s porridge – a very middle-of-the-road film that gets lost quite a few times but not badly enough to make it a waste. An intriguing story (which is apparently based on actual facts, then ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Fourth Kind

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:11:25 -0500

Nov 06, 2009

The Fourth Kind starts with star Milla Jovovich walking toward the screen, introducing herself, and explaining what will be one of the most unusual and misguided film structures of the year. The film, written and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi (and somewhat co-starring the filmmaker too, but we'll get to that), purports to tell the true story of some mysterious occurrences that happened in the fall of 2000 in Nome, Alaska. To do so, Osunsanmi liberally uses split-screen, showing "real footage" from psychology sessions and even police video on one side and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Box

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:51:20 -0500

Nov 06, 2009

The ads for The Box really should say "From the writer/director of Donnie Darko and Southland Tales" just so audiences know what they're about to experience. For some reason, given the commercial failure of Tales and the relatively straightforward commercials for The Box, I assumed that Richard Kelly's third film would feature the director more "reined in" and constricted by an audience-pleasing thriller. I was both right and wrong. Kelly's The Box features enough of the filmmaker's brand of David Lynch-ian lunacy that I expect it will completely turn off ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:32:31 -0500

Nov 06, 2009

Lee Daniels' Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire ends with a dedication that the film is for "precious girls everywhere." The words will resonate with legions of fans of this tragic true story – women and even men who will identify with a devastating tale of rising above abuse, poverty, addiction, and seemingly insurmountable odds. Bleak, depressing, and shockingly brutal, Precious is the "feel-bad feel-good" movie of the year. It's a film designed to pummel you with a situation that would send most humans into a weeping fetal position but to then ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: A Christmas Carol

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:41:55 -0500

Nov 05, 2009

Robert Zemeckis' soulless take on the Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol never once justifies its existence, displaying so many awful behind-the-scenes decisions that it's almost hard to believe that so many talented people were involved in its production. Nearly every design element of Zemeckis' third motion capture film (after The Polar Express and Beowulf, both of which had their flaws but look like absolute masterpieces next to this disaster) is just plain wrong and the overall aesthetic of the film is remarkably annoying. As the film progressed, I found ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Martin Landau

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:29:36 -0500

Nov 02, 2009

Martin Landau is a living legend. He recently flew into Chicago with two films to present at the 45th Chicago International Film Festival, a remastered print of North by Northwest and a new drama entitled Lovely, Still. The former is now available on Blu-ray (release date: November 3rd, 2009). The latter is a small film co-starring Ellen Burstyn about an elderly romance with a twist. Landau is still working harder and more consistently than most actors half his age. We were honored to have a one-on-one with the Oscar-winning actor and covered ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Bronson

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:59:36 -0400

Oct 30, 2009

The viciously dark and violent Bronson is an exercise of style over substance that sometimes connects on a purely visceral level but is ultimately as shallow and single-minded as its insane protagonist. The title character is a legend in the British prison system, having spent a large majority of his life not just behind bars but in solitary confinement. Michael Peterson, who later renamed himself Bronson after his movie hero, was born into a middle-class family and very little history or background is given about what made him so undeniably insane. It's refreshing ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 10 Greatest Zombie Movies Ever Made

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:49:08 -0400

Oct 29, 2009

Is there anyone out there that doesn’t enjoy a good zombie movie? The recent success of Zombieland, the popularity of the cinema of the undead suggests that there isn’t. Zombie Cinema is a genre that owes its beginning to the seminal Night of the Living Dead in the late 1960s. But, it’s also one that has shown remarkable growth over the last few years as renewed interest in the genre has produced films like 28 Days Later, Dead Snow, Pontypool, and even remakes of some of the genres more enduring ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Amelia

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:03:10 -0400

Oct 23, 2009

If Hilary Swank and Richard Gere had been born sixty years earlier, I imagine that Amelia, the biopic of Amelia Earhart in which they star, would have come out nearly the same way. And it would have been a purely so-so movie then too. Amelia is one of those films that doesn't necessarily do that much wrong that it’s worth getting fired up about like the truly worst films of the year. It’s not even the worst film released this week. It looks good, the performances are interesting, and it features ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: An Education

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:02:36 -0400

Oct 23, 2009

We all have at least one moment in our lives when we are presented with a concrete, well-defined fork in the road. If you don't have one, you simply haven't reached it yet. It can be something as simple as whether or not to go out on a second date with the person who would eventually become your spouse or something as huge as moving out of your hometown instead of choosing to stay in the same zip code in which you were born. An Education is about a time in a young ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Antichrist

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:02:06 -0400

Oct 23, 2009

Lars von Trier's Antichrist divides this critic nearly as much as any film in years. That alone probably makes some our readership interested in it and it's tempting to say that everyone should see this radically polarizing film for themselves and form their own opinion. Well, then isn't that a recommendation of sorts? Is it possible to say that a film ultimately fails but that it does so in an ambitious, interesting way that nearly makes it worth seeing? And then how do you grade such a film? Antichrist is unlike anything ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:01:30 -0400

Oct 23, 2009

The unwieldy and odd title to Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant should tell you what you need to know about the film that bears its name – it's just not quite right. There are elements of Paul Weitz's film, based on the first two books of a series by Darren Shan, that come together effectively, but the entire film ultimately mistakes being manic for being interesting and being inconsistent for being quirky and eccentric. With a plot that plays like what I imagine 1980s Tim Burton might have attempted with ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Motherhood

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:01:00 -0400

Oct 23, 2009

Uma Thurman, recently in the Windy City for the Chicago International Film Festival, has been telling reporters that the reason she was interested in starring in Katherine Dieckmann's Motherhood is because there haven't been enough films made about the day-to-day life of the modern matriarch. That's an undeniable fact. If there's a major character in a film and the identification of her as a mother is a crucial part of the story then it's almost certain that she's either going to die in a touching hospital bed scene or turn into “Mommie Dearest.” We need more ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Ong Bak 2: The Beginning

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:30 -0400

Oct 23, 2009

If I was still an impressionable young man more easily swayed by the martial arts skills of the cinematic heroes of my youth like Bruce Lee then I think I might have a Tony Jaa poster on my wall. Honestly, the guy totally kicks ass. Despite rumors of the actor/director losing his mind in the Cambodian jungles a la Coppola on Apocalypse Now, the film that resulted, Ong Bak 2: The Beginning features an international star at the top of his particular game right now, delivering continuously impressive vehicles for his gritty, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Lone Scherfig, Director of An Education

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:18:55 -0400

Oct 22, 2009

Lone Scherfig’s An Education is easily one of my favorite films of the year and it’s in no small part because of the masterful direction from this talented Danish filmmaker. One of many things that works so perfectly in this coming-of-age film about a young lady named Jenny (Carey Mulligan) who falls for an older man (Peter Sarsgaard) in 1962 London, besides Nick Hornby’s fantastic screenplay, is that the entire ensemble registers. Mulligan gives the best performance of the year and the overall ensemble – Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Willem Dafoe, Star of Antichrist

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:01:45 -0400

Oct 21, 2009

The legendary Willem Dafoe recently sat down for a one-on-one interview on the day that his controversial Antichrist from director Lars von Trier was playing at the 45th Chicago International Film Festival. Since its Cannes debut, Antichrist has stirred up controversy with its raw, graphic depiction of a couple in emotional freefall after the death of their child. Dafoe gives yet another fearless performance, a great turn in a career full of them. In person, Dafoe is rivetingly intellectual and fascinating to talk to. We merely skimmed the surface of his ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Trucker

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:08:55 -0400

Oct 21, 2009

James Mottern's Trucker features spectacular performances but these excellent actors are required to do too much heavy lifting with a script that plays out too predictably to be effective. Anyone who has spent time with their TV sets tuned to The Sundance Chanel could practically write every scene and character arc in Trucker from the plot description alone. But if a film is predictable does that make it bad? Yes. There should have been a few more moments in Trucker that didn't feel cribbed from "Independent Drama 101," but it seems clear ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Live Blog from the CLF Movieathon

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:09:56 -0400

Oct 16, 2009

Welcome to the annual MovieRetriever.com live blog of the Children Leukemia Foundation of Michigan's yearly Hollywood Nights 24-hour movie-a-thon! Every year, our fearless editorial staff ventures out to this movie lover's dream event, questing to endure a full day of non-stop movies all for the good of charity (and our OCD love of all things film-ish).

If you'd like to donate to our cause, please click here to donate and we'll be updating throughout the day to give you updates on the quality of the movies and our deteriorating mental states.

Per usual, the team ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Law Abiding Citizen

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:27:43 -0400

Oct 16, 2009

A film that plays like Seven rewritten by The Jigsaw Killer, Law Abiding Citizen is an absolutely reprehensible, illogical, and poorly made thriller that raises more questions than it answers. Aside from a mountain of plot hole questions that arise from one of the most ridiculous scripts in a very long time, the main question I have about Law Abiding Citizen is simple – how did relatively talented people like Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, and Viola Davis get involved in this mess? It's the kind of disastrously bad screenplay ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Where the Wild Things Are

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:09:30 -0400

Oct 16, 2009

Whatever you think of the final product, Spike Jonze's highly anticipated and already divisive adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved Where the Wild Things Are is undeniably one of the most remarkably ambitious films in years. Instead of literally adapting Sendak's book, something that would have run about six minutes, Jonze and co-writer Dave Eggers (and collaborator/star Catherine Keener) have tried to recreate the feelings, emotions, and intangibles associated with it. Remember the way the book made you feel? That’s the movie they’re trying to make, not just another kid’s flick.

To ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: New York, I Love You

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:07:41 -0400

Oct 16, 2009

Continuing the interesting artistic construct of the much better Paris je'taime, New York, I Love You features directors from around the world linking what is essentially a series of short films about the city that is still arguably the center of the universe. The idea of a bringing a melting pot of cinematic voices together to tell the stories of the greatest multi-cultural cities in America is a fascinating one but New York, I Love You not only fails to come together as a complete film but absolutely wastes the opportunity to actually portray the beating ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Spike Jonze, Catherine Keener, and Max Records of Where the Wild Things Are

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:20:48 -0400

Oct 14, 2009

On the day before a charity screening of Where the Wild Things Are, writer/director Spike Jonze, star Max Records, and star (and so much more) Catherine Keener sat down with us (and Adam Fendelman of HollywoodChicago.com) to discuss their highly anticipated and already controversial adaptation of the beloved Maurice Sendak classic. The lively conversation shot around the room with Jonze starting off by asking his interviewers questions and everyone becoming involved in what felt more like a discussion than a typical Q&A session. Jonze and Records sat on ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Mary and Max

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:46:30 -0400

Oct 14, 2009

Adam Elliott's Mary and Max is the most surprisingly moving film of the year, an experience that literally knocked me back as it brought tears to my eyes. This year is proving to be the year where traditionally family-oriented forms are used to tell stories that arguably appeal more to adults than kids with films like Coraline, Where the Wild Things Are, and 9. Mary and Max is claymation that is, even more than those other films, undeniably for grown-ups or young adults. This is bittersweet, dark, serious screenwriting with two ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Greatest Films of Joel and Ethan Coen

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:46:37 -0400

Oct 12, 2009

As Joel and Ethan Coen bask in the glow of another critical darling with the brilliant A Serious Man, we thought it might be time to look back over the quarter-century of filmmaking that these two amazing filmmakers have already produced and rank their already-beloved output. Yes, they've only directed fourteen films. So, the challenge is not narrowing a list of films down to ten but ranking them. And it's far more challenging with the Coens than you might expect.

Joel and Ethan Coen on the set of A Serious Man. The ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Paranormal Activity

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:36:36 -0400

Oct 12, 2009

Comparing a movie to the incredibly divisive The Blair Witch Project will often earn a critic derisive snorts. And yet it's impossible to ignore the comparison when talking about the highly buzzed Paranormal Activity. Ten years since Blair Witch, here comes another independently made, super-cheap, handheld camera film that is clearly a blockbuster in the making. And just as Blair Witch cleverly played with marketing and buzz by pretending to be based on a true story, Paramount has brilliantly pitched Paranormal Activity as a viral movie, a film that they've played in ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: A Serious Man

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:04:15 -0400

Oct 09, 2009

How do we handle adversity? When life hands you serious crisis, what do you turn to for answers to your existential questions? Many, many people turn to faith but what do we do when that is inadequate? Faith, by its very definition, relies on believing that the hardships that befall us are happening for a reason that we will never know. It's some “higher plan.” And yet, we are asked to live good, moral lives while it feels like forces are working against us. A Serious Man is about a math teacher, a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Couples Retreat

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:03:37 -0400

Oct 09, 2009

The script for the increasingly intolerable Couples Retreat plays like a rejected November sweeps episode of According to Jim with the nauseating couples from that affront to comedy replaced by celebrities Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, Faizon Love, and Kali Hawk. Like a couple headed for divorce, Couples Retreat starts promisingly, goes through a few bumpy patches, and ends in a final act so unfunny, poorly made, and ill-conceived that it nearly approaches "so bad you should see ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Fuel

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:02:03 -0400

Oct 09, 2009

And you thought Michael Moore's documentaries were depressing? Welcome to Fuel, a brutal, in-your-face, personal examination of our country's reliance on oil. The subject is undeniably an important one. Oil is intrinsically linked to nearly everything you do from the car that you drive to work to the heat that you feel when you get there and well, well beyond. If you don’t know that yet, you’re simply not paying attention. And the signs that we need to pull back the throttle on our demand for oil are well-documented and important. But ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Michael Stuhlbarg, Star of A Serious Man

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:39:56 -0400

Oct 08, 2009

Michael Stuhlbarg is already well-known to the theater community, building an award-winning stage resume. He has appeared in a few small film and television roles, but he has what is easily his breakthrough role this month as Larry Gopnik, the lead in A Serious Man, the new film from the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan). After his wife asks for a “Get” (a Jewish divorce), Larry is sent spiraling into a spiritual crisis in this personal, clever dramedy from two of our most important filmmakers. In person, Stuhlbarg is a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Capitalism: A Love Story

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:42:04 -0400

Oct 03, 2009

Michael Moore’s has always taken on some pretty meaty social issues in his films. He started with an exploration of the vanishing American middle class in Roger & Me, continued with a rather rudimentary look at evil of corporate America in The Big One, seemed to hit his creative stride with the superb indictment of America’s affinity for firearms – Bowling for Columbine, then called for action against the Bush administration’s questionable practices in Fahrenheit 9/11, until finally trying to dissect and reinvent American health care with ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Invention of Lying

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:31:09 -0400

Oct 02, 2009

Ricky Gervais the writer crams so many concepts and clever ideas into The Invention of Lying that Ricky Gervais the director and actor aren't quite sure what to do with them. The script for this unusual and witty comedy is undeniably ambitious and interesting but the film that results from it moves at an awkward, stuttering pace, and never builds like it might have under the guidance of a more expert comedy director. Nearly Charlie Kaufman-esque in its presentation of a world just slightly but crucially askew from our own, The Invention ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Zombieland

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:03:10 -0400

Oct 02, 2009

Zombieland is easily one of the most enjoyable films of the year, one of the rare 2009 offerings that can honestly be called a thrill ride and the most flat-out fun horror/comedy since Shaun of the Dead, a film it actually deserves to stand just under if not next to in the history of the sub-genre. Destined to have a loyal following that buys Tallahassee action figures and anxiously awaits the announcement of the inevitable sequel, Zombieland is one of the biggest surprises of the year. Wonderfully dark, perfectly paced, beautifully cast, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Whip It

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:02:11 -0400

Oct 02, 2009

How much credit you give for a film with "its heart in the right place" over unpredictability, originality, or even an unflawed ensemble will determine how much you like Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It. Do you give the ugly duckling more leeway because it's got the right soul and the right passion for the game? In other words, are you the kind of sports watcher who cheers for the player that resembles Rudy because you really like to root for the underdog and ignore the fact that Rudy’s not really that ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Big Fan

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:36 -0400

Oct 02, 2009

Robert Siegel's Big Fan is a dark, daring drama that could be described as a "Taxi Driver-esque” variation on the crazy world of sports fandom but the film isn't nearly that disturbing, nor is it meant to be. Patton Oswalt's Paul Aufiero certainly has his social and emotional demons, but he'd be the first to tell you that he's generally harmless. He's like a lot of guys out there in his unwillingness to see anything beyond his favorite sports team, the New York Giants. Siegel (the writer of The Wrestler and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Woody Harrelson & Jesse Eisenberg, Stars of Zombieland

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:14:13 -0400

Oct 01, 2009

Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg survived the waking dead in the great Zombieland but could they survive a junket with five Chicago writers at one round table? Seriously, the stars have the same ridiculously potent chemistry in person as they do on-screen in the film that the production notes perfectly captured as “Midnight Run with zombies.” The buddy element of Zombieland is just as important as the undead and Harrelson and Eisenberg are fantastic. They were both affable and interesting as five writers, all of whom loved the film, fired questions ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Michael Moore, Director of Capitalism: A Love Story

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:32:14 -0400

Sep 29, 2009

Oscar-winning director Michael Moore is back with Capitalism: A Love Story, a film about the economic crisis currently facing our country. With a film that could be called a bookend to the twenty-year-old Roger & Me, Moore returns issues like unions, jobs, and brings the complexity of economic theory and the bailout to the multiplex. Moore sat down with us recently for a very exclusive interview and after introductions revealed that I was from the Detroit area as well, we started with a discussion of that endangered city.

by Brian Tallerico **********

MovieRetriever: ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Surrogates

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:38:40 -0400

Sep 25, 2009

Like Blade Runner re-imagined by a twelve-year-old, Jonathan Mostow's awful Surrogates posits a world where actual humans have been replaced by robot versions of themselves. People merely lie in their bedrooms hooked up to machines that go about their former lives but with no fear of disease, perfect (although oddly polished) skin, and the inability to face what truly makes us human – the fact that we're all eventually going to die. When a user unhooks from his surrogate, it merely shuts down. If I had had a surrogate to send to ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Bright Star

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:21:38 -0400

Sep 25, 2009

I adore Jane Campion's Bright Star. It's like a piece of poetry that just hits you in such the right way that you can see virtually no flaw in it. In fact, you don’t even try. Truly great poetry, including much of what was written by Bright Star's subject John Keats, transcends dissection, explanation, or criticism. It just grabs something inside of you and connects on a deeper level. When people truly connect with the written word it doesn't necessarily do so with their brain as much as their heart or some ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Jane Campion, Writer/Director of Bright Star

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:50:34 -0400

Sep 24, 2009

Jane Campion's Bright Star is a gorgeous, beautiful romance, a story of love between the legendary John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and his muse, Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). Co-starring Kerry Fox and Paul Schneider, Bright Star is a sumptuous period piece that doesn't feel like a costume drama. It is a timeless love story brought to life by an amazing screenplay by the writer and director of The Piano. She sat down with us recently to discuss the film.

by Brian Tallerico **********

MovieRetriever: When I was doing research, the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Can MovieRetriever.com Endure 24 Hours of Movies for a Good Cause? Help Us Fight Leukemia on October 16th!

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:52:59 -0400

Sep 23, 2009

The folks behind MovieRetriever.com are back raising money for the Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan (one of our favorite charities) again this fall and we really need your help. We managed to collect just over $1,500 last year and we want to beat that this year! But we're getting ahead of ourselves aren't we? How about a little back story to set the mood?

Every year (for around five years running), the MovieRetriever.com Team participates in the Hollywood Nights Movie Marathon - 24 hours of non-stop movies at Emagine Theatre at Fountain Walk in ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Jennifer's Body

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:30:33 -0400

Sep 18, 2009

Megan Fox is not the only reason that anyone will see Jennifer’s Body, but she is probably the main thing audiences will have in mind if they take a chance on this new feministic approach to the demon comes to high school and leaves death and destruction in its wake tale. In fact, if you’ve seen the trailer, you know that the film is being marketed as a half-naked demonic Megan Fox terrorizing a small town for 90 minutes story. While this might be enough to pull in the target audience of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Burning Plain

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:52:59 -0400

Sep 18, 2009

Guillermo Arriaga's The Burning Plain is a dull dirge of a film, a movie that employs the same circling narrative structure that the writer used far-more-effectively in Babel, Amores Perros, and 21 Grams, but ends up feeling like nothing more than a very well-made soap opera. I honestly believe that if you took apart the criss-crossing narratives of Arriaga's earlier films and made them run chronologically there would still be intriguing, interesting stories to tell. The flashback/flashforward structure of those films actually added to the storytelling, especially in Babel, where one of the subjects of the film is difficulty in ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Informant!

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:10:18 -0400

Sep 18, 2009

Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! reaffirms its creator's status as one of the most important American directors working today. Just as great performers find a new way to approach every role, Soderbergh rarely repeats himself. And just as great performers make roles completely their own, Soderbergh brings traditional stories to life in continuously unique, interesting ways. With a truly original script by Scott Z. Burns, The Informant! approaches what first feels like a previously well-told story and turns it into something fresh, new, hilarious, and memorable. One of the best films of the year to ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:08:25 -0400

Sep 18, 2009

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is one of the most surprisingly clever and enjoyable family films of the year, a very funny slice of CGI whimsy with a perfect voice cast, interesting visual aesthetic, and even a heartwarming message that doesn't feel pounded down your throat like a hot-dog eating contest. As someone who has seen WAY too many useless, disposable, interchangeable kid's movie in the last few years (for every Pixar gem, there seem to be seven or eight complete wastes of time), it brings me great pleasure to say that Cloudy ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Greatest Films of Steven Soderbergh

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:43:44 -0400

Sep 16, 2009

With Steven Soderbergh's latest slice of cinematic greatness hitting theaters this week in The Informant!, we thought we'd take a look back at the amazing career of one of the most important filmmakers of the last two decades. With as impressive a range of films as anyone working today, what's remarkable about Soderbergh is his ability to go from completely mainstream blockbusters like the Ocean's franchise to much smaller films like Bubble to something in between like The Good German (cast was mainstream but concept was definitely not). He's completely ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Baader Meinhof Complex

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:41:31 -0400

Sep 15, 2009

Sharing thematic commonalities with Steven Soderbergh's Che and Steve McQueen's Hunger from earlier this year, Uli Edel's The Baader Meinhof Complex is a detailed and brutal examination of the fact that there are no winners in a revolution. Refusing to take sides in his epic retelling of the saga of the RAF in the 1960s and 1970s, Edel has made a film that doesn't take sides or turn its revolutionary characters into martyrs or icons. With determined force, The Baader Meinhof Complex races through years of kidnappings, riots, assassinations, hunger strikes, trials, and suicides. It ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Remembering Patrick Swayze: A Movie Trailer Retrospective

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:08:18 -0400

Sep 15, 2009

The remarkably talented Patrick Swayze, one of the more popular movie stars from the 1980s and early 1990s and the actor who gave us the line “No one puts Baby in a corner,” died Monday, September 14 after a long battle with cancer at the young age of 57. With early turns in films like The Outsiders and Red Dawn, Swayze built an image as a sensitive tough guy. He took that role to new heights with Point Break and the incredibly successful Dirty Dancing. A career-defining role in ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Whiteout

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:04:12 -0400

Sep 11, 2009

It took four people to write one of the most ridiculous, inane, dull scripts of the year for Whiteout, another entry in arguably the worst run of cinematic offerings in a long time. Except for Quentin Tarantino's latest, the last few weeks have been brutal with junk like Shorts, The Final Destination, H2, All About Steve, and 9 littering the marketplace. Perhaps next year, the studios should just take off a few weeks as kids are going back to school or simply admit that they're unleashing their least wanted projects on paying audiences. The latest unwanted child of Hollywood ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Looking Back at the Films of the Beatles

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:55:51 -0400

Sep 10, 2009

Now that the second wave of Beatlemania is in full swing following the release of The Beatles: Rock Band and the remastered reissues of their entire catalog, we here at MovieRetriever.com became a bit nostalgic regarding the film career of the Fab Four (you know, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr) and started thinking about how we remembered their films. Although the Beatles only made, or were featured in, four films A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be) and one television film (Magical Mystery Tour) during their ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Beatle Movies That Never Happened

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:33:59 -0400

Sep 09, 2009

With The Beatles: Rock Band and the remastered reissues of the entire Beatles catalog hitting shelves this week, we here at MovieRetriever.com started thinking about our favorite Beatle movie moments. Then, we started talking about the moments that never actually happened. We’re not saying we were lost in some sort of drug-induced Sixties flashback, but rather we were thinking about the several unrealized films that the band never made. Sure, A Hard Day’s Night is fantastic, Help! has its own unique charm, Yellow Submarine is sublime, and Magical Mystery Tour ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: 9

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:07:19 -0400

Sep 09, 2009

Shane Acker's 9 is a vision of a mesmerizing, terrifying, futuristic world that heralds a new voice in the world of computer animation ... for about two minutes. Then tricky things like plot, dialogue, character, and voice work come into the picture and 9 collapses like a sock puppet with no hand to guide it. At times nearly unbearable to sit through (even at under an hour-and-fifteen-minutes without credits), 9 is a complete disaster and anyone who tells you different is someone who likes the concept and isn't really looking at the final product. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Bobcat Goldthwait, Writer/Director of World's Greatest Dad

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:55:14 -0400

Sep 08, 2009

Bobcat Goldthwait doesn't make movies for the masses. Love them or hate them, you have to respect that his films are not prepackaged creations designed to fit some concept of the popular aesthetic. Like any filmmaker, he wants to connect with an audience, but he is first and foremost interested in making films that he would want to see. Most great filmmakers are. Goldthwait’s World's Greatest Dad is easily his best film to date and one that displays a confidence and awareness that comes with decades of moviemaking experience. He sat down ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Extract

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:41:38 -0400

Sep 04, 2009

Mike Judge has made the blue-collar counterpart to the white-collar comedy that made Office Space one of the most successful cult comedies of the last few years in the even better Extract, one of the funnier films of the year and a great showcase for one of our most underrated comedians. Jason Bateman has finally found a film role that displays the straight-man brilliance he showed off on Arrested Development as Joel, the manager of an Extract plant that finds itself in the middle of a weird comedy of errors. Bateman is simply great. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: All About Steve

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:41:11 -0400

Sep 04, 2009

How can I put into words how completely worthless I find the reprehensible All About Steve? How's this? Stop reading this review. Forget this movie even exists. It's not worth your brain power for the 90 seconds it would probably take you to get to the zero-star rating at the bottom of this piece. Think about anything BUT All About Steve. It's better for the sake of the collective human consciousness. Easily one of the worst movies of the year (if not the decade), there is not one redeeming quality to All About Steve, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: World's Greatest Dad

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:36:42 -0400

Sep 04, 2009

Writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait’s World's Greatest Dad is easily this controversial filmmaker’s best work to date. It’s a daring comedy that displays a confidence and awareness that comes from decades of moviemaking experience and finally reaching a point where a director focuses on what entertains him more than trying to predict test screening responses or box office gross. Clever, entertaining, and very, very dark World's Greatest Dad is unlike any comedy that you've seen this year and, for that fact alone, deserves some attention. Lance Clayton (Robin Williams) is a poetry teacher who wishes he was ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Mike Judge, Director of Extract

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:32:26 -0400

Sep 03, 2009

Mike Judge’s Extract, starring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, Ben Affleck, and J.K. Simmons finds the man who wrote and directed Office Space and Beavis & Butthead Do America back in the world of hard work and immense stupidity. Soft-spoken, smiling, and very friendly, Mike Judge is just as cool as fans of his would think he is in person and his new film is arguably his best. The very talented writer/director sat down with us recently in Chicago to talk about his latest film, his most beloved characters, and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Most Anticipated Movies of Fall 2009

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:23:29 -0400

Sep 02, 2009

Summer went by in a blur, didn't it? Doesn't it feel like it was only yesterday that we were wondering if Star Trek would live up to expectations and lamenting how long it was until Inglourious Basterds was coming out? And yet here we are, two-thirds of the way through the year and looking at a fall lineup that is, well, okay. Is anyone honestly thrilled about the movies slated for Fall 2009?

There were more than enough films to make a top ten anticipated films and a few are sure to be great, but coming up with ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Final Destination

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:10:51 -0400

Aug 28, 2009

Even the gimmick of 3D can't save the fourth (and easily worst) Final Destination film from the trash heap of cinema Hollywood usually produces this time of year, a dark period when studios dump the films that weren’t quite big enough for the summer and aren’t quite good enough for the fall. With less creative effort than most high school film projects, some of the worst acting of the year, shockingly horrendous dialogue, and even a series of deaths that have become completely uninspired, the only distinction that The Final Destination can lay claim ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Taking Woodstock

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:08:03 -0400

Aug 28, 2009

Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock is an incredibly frustrating drama, a film that is so easy to get behind thematically and one with fascinating subject matter, but it's a movie that never gets over some of the stereotypes of its subject matter to present a fully-formed, relatable, human drama. Taking Woodstock should be an experience that transports the viewer to another time and place, bringing to life an era and its people and making them identifiable for modern audiences. Many of the elements for that kind of transformative experience are there, both behind the scenes ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Ten Classic Movie Deaths We Want to See in 3D

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:59:14 -0400

Aug 27, 2009

The Final Destination, the fourth chapter in the horror series, hits theatres this week and, while we might debate (loudly debate) the critical merit of the Final Destination movies as a whole - we'll admit - the movie is a PERFECT choice for 3D. (In case you hadn't heard, the FD series is going into the third-dimension with this movie, which we're sure will inspire a long lame succession of "A new dimension of horror" taglines). The Final Destination movies have always been just montages of semi-creative, increasingly over-the-top death scenes anyway, so ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Lessons Learned from the Best and Worst Movies of Summer 2009

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:47:21 -0400

Aug 25, 2009

They’re not screening The Final Destination or H2: Halloween II for critics (big surprise), so, hate to break it to you, kids, but the summer season is basically over. Thus, it's time to ask the question, movie fans - what did you learn on your summer vacation? Honestly, it doesn't seem like Hollywood learned a lot. The films that connected with the public and the films that connected with critics were generally movies whose trajectory you could chart from their first preview. Is anyone really surprised that Transformers: Revenge of the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:39:35 -0400

Aug 21, 2009

He's done it again. Quentin Tarantino has delivered. Unlike anything you will see the rest of this year or even the next few movie seasons, his Inglourious Basterds is a daring, inventive, genre-defying film that has already polarized viewers. One of the elements missing from this season (and many in recent years) has been a movie worth arguing about. Remember how people ridiculed or adored films like A.I., Eyes Wide Shut, or even The Blair Witch Project? Whatever side of the debate you fall on, doesn't it feel like there are fewer and fewer ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Cold Souls

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:31:26 -0400

Aug 21, 2009

Cold Souls is yet another example of a clever concept hampered by poor follow-through. I love the ideas at play in Cold Souls and casting Paul Giamatti in the lead role was a stroke of genius, but the final film is a frustratingly dull, drab and surface level experience. It's a movie about losing your soul that doesn't really have one; a film school project that feels like it’s trying to come up with something that could be compared to Charlie Kaufman, but missing the emotional weight of that talented writer/director's work. Cold Souls ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Shorts

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:30:01 -0400

Aug 21, 2009

Watching Robert Rodriguez's Shorts is akin to watching a home movie made by your neighbor's kids if they happened to be the offspring of a millionaire filmmaker. Just imagine it. The filmmaker would think that everything his kids did in the name of family entertainment would be delightfully inventive, hysterically funny, and perfectly timed. You would probably disagree. Shorts is shockingly bad, an awkwardly conceived comedy that doesn't seem aimed at children as much as written, produced, and directed by them. Sucking in typically talented actors like Leslie Mann, William H. Macy, Jon Cryer, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Best Performances from the Films of Quentin Tarantino

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:10:31 -0400

Aug 20, 2009

Critics are often praising the incredible ear for dialogue of writer/director Quentin Tarantino (and his new film, Inglourious Basterds, is certainly one of the best screenplays of the year to date) but his body of directorial work is just as notable for the amazing performances he has guided in the last twenty years in only six (and-a-half if you count Four Rooms) films. His characters have become so iconic that their names have become cultural reference points – Mr. Blonde, Vincent Vega, Jackie Brown, Marsellus Wallace, The Bride, and Stuntman Mike to ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Ponyo

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:25:08 -0400

Aug 19, 2009

Like most of Hayao Miyazaki’s films, Ponyo (known as Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea to international audiences more tolerant of long titles) is an operatic fairy tale. It is a beautiful and touching story that eloquently addresses many adult themes (the environment, feminism, love, to name just a few) yet sustains enough whimsy and enchanted storytelling to make it the perfect children’s film.

This wonderfully adapted tale of the Little Mermaid (of Hans Christian Andersen fame) is ostensibly about 5-year-old Sosuke (Frankie Jonas), who lives with his mother (Tina Fey) in a picturesque ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:30:32 -0400

Aug 15, 2009

"Is it too weird?" "No, I think it's kind of magical." There are elements of the “magical” at play in director Robert Schwentke's nearly effective adaptation of the beloved Audrey Niffenegger novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, but, ultimately, the film is far from “too weird.” If anything, it's not weird enough. A tale about a man who travels through time but stays betrothed to his one true love should be awash in romance, magic, and surrealism. It should be poetry, not prose. The fact is that the themes of a piece like this one are much ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Thirst

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:56:03 -0400

Aug 13, 2009

“Stop acting so humane! You’re not even human.” Park Chan-wook's inventive, daring, and sometimes shocking Thirst is an examination of sacrifice, faith, desire, and sin through the eyes of one of the most interesting filmmakers of the '00s. The man who was so intrigued by the concept of vengeance that he made three films about it (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance) is still searching the depths of the human soul for the subjects that truly horrify us. As you might imagine, Thirst is not your average film about bloodsucking freaks. This is ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: District 9

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:31:49 -0400

Aug 13, 2009

Neill Blomkamp's District 9 is a revelatory debut, an inventive, daring, original piece of filmmaking that doesn't just hint at a new arrival on the scene as much as blasts one into the film consciousness. It's a completely different genre, but, at the same time, I'm reminded of the first time I saw Reservoir Dogs in a darkened room. Everyone knew that this young video store clerk with the memorable name was no one-hit wonder. There's enough grin-producing ingenuity at play in District 9 to give critics and film goers that same sensation, that ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: I Sell the Dead

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:29:01 -0400

Aug 13, 2009

The concept behind Glenn McQuaid's I Sell the Dead is so undeniably clever that the film is likely to find a loyal cult audience that's willing to overlook its sizable flaws and embrace it with genre-loving, open arms. Horror fans, especially those who get excited by a cast list that includes Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Larry Fessenden (Wendigo), and Angus Scrimm (Phantasm), can be an incredibly forgiving lot. Sometimes an original concept, a plot that pays homage to a bygone era, and a few cast members who appear to be having a good time is ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Must-See Miyazaki: Five Movies to Watch After You See Ponyo

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:26:22 -0400

Aug 12, 2009

If you don't know the name Hayao Miyazaki, you really don't know movies. Easily one of the most influential filmmakers of the last three decades, he is perhaps the only living man to honestly deserve comparison to Walt Disney. A living legend in his home country of Japan, Miyazaki's films are built on a beautiful foundation of themes that all screenwriting, especially the kind directed at children, could use a lot more of, including a strong feminist ideal and a respect for nature and Mother Earth. Even without their admirable themes, Miyazaki's films ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten All-Time Best Years for Sci-Fi Movies

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:19:40 -0400

Aug 12, 2009

As the buzz continues to build for the Peter Jackson-produced, alien-apartheid thriller District 9, it's been fun to see how much movie-going audiences actually love science fiction films, how excited they get at the prospect of a "good" sci-fi movie hitting their local multiplex. But, while the enthusiasm for the genre is inspiring, it's hard to deny that sci-fi is a difficult genre to pull off on film. For every Blade Runner or Solaris, there are fifty Adventures of Pluto Nash or Spaced Invaders. Maybe that's why it's so ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Sharlto Copley, star of District 9

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:35:26 -0400

Aug 11, 2009

It is incredibly rare to see a debut performer on the cover of Entertainment Weekly and before his movie has even hit theaters, but it is also incredibly rare to have a film with the buzz of District 9. If you haven’t heard it, you simply haven’t been paying attention. Debut actor Sharlto Copley stars in District 9 as Wikus van der Merwe, the unlucky employee of MNU (Multi-National Unit) that has been tasked with leading to the effort to move hundreds of thousands of aliens from their ghetto (named District 9) to another ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Neill Blomkamp, director of District 9

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:31:30 -0400

Aug 10, 2009

Very few films with no star power from first-time directors have ever been preceded by the deafening buzz that is building around District 9. After a Comic-Con screening that had audience members and critics raving, articles started popping up in the New York Times, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, and pretty much everywhere with any kind of movie coverage. The set-up for the film is simple – aliens landed on Earth decades ago and we put them in a slum in South Africa. When tensions build with humans, the Multi-National United Company is tasked ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Revanche

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:58:20 -0400

Aug 07, 2009

A prostitute trying to escape her desperate existence, a bank robber looking for something other than his boring life, a rookie police officer, and a woman unable to get pregnant with her husband. It sounds like the casting agent call sheet for a crackerjack Hollywood thriller full of twists and turns and probably starring someone like Milla Jovovich or Ewan McGregor. Gotz Spielmann's Revanche has thriller elements to be sure, but the Austrian writer/director treats his material more like an old-fashioned noir, filling it with dour, low-key notes that overshadow the more sensational elements of the story and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

District 9 Director and Star Reveal Interest in a Sequel!

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:13:50 -0400

Aug 07, 2009

In a series of exclusive interviews that we'll publish in full on Monday and Tuesday of next week, both star Sharlto Copley and director Neil Blomkamp revealed that they would both be interested in a sequel to the already-buzzed and well-reviewed District 9 if the opportunity presents itself.

Copley expressed no hesitation when asked if he would return to filmmaking duty if a sequel to District 9 was put into production, saying more than once how much he enjoyed the process of making the highly anticipated film, opening August 14th, 2009 from Sony.

Blomkamp ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Remembering John Hughes: A Movie Trailer Retrospective

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:55:50 -0400

Aug 07, 2009

The great John Hughes, possibly one of the most influential and popular writer/directors of the 1980s and the one filmmaker perhaps most often identified with the phrase “teen movie,” died yesterday from a heart attack in New York City at the age of fifty-nine. Hughes’ movies, which frequently featured children and teens struggling to make sense of the world around them, became instant classics – the kinds of movies that were loved by audiences, but could never be described as guilty pleasures. His movies were fun, entertaining, and ridiculously quotable (every person over ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Julie & Julia

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:40:35 -0400

Aug 07, 2009

Very few people in this world have accomplished what they want in life without the support of someone by their side. I can personally attest to the fact that I would not be anywhere near the dream job I have if not for the supportive love of my life. To me, that's the true story at the heart of Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia, a crowd-pleasing dramedy about getting out of your supposedly predetermined roles in life and pursuing your passion. For Julia Child, that was cooking. For Julie Powell, it was writing. The ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: A Perfect Getaway

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:31:51 -0400

Aug 07, 2009

David Twohy's A Perfect Getaway is a relatively shocking surprise in a time of the film going season usually marred by the junk that the studios try to push on the public rather than films they might actually enjoying seeing. Put bluntly, August and September usually blow. I'm not sure about September yet, but I can tell you, without breaking embargo too badly, that for at least the next three weeks August definitely doesn't blow.

One of the more pleasant and biggest surprises of the season is being released on the first Friday of the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Answer Man

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:24:56 -0400

Aug 07, 2009

How can a film with two of the best young actresses of their generation in the supporting cast and the great Jeff Daniels and underrated Lauren Graham as its leads go wrong? Impossible, you say? Kat Dennings and Olivia Thirlby are talented enough that they can carry anything across the "thumbs up" threshold and Daniels and Graham are so incredibly likable and consistent that The Answer Man can't really be bad? Before I saw it, I would have probably agreed. Now, I know the answer.

Lead Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels) comes from the school of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Adam

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:18:31 -0400

Aug 07, 2009

Genuine performances and the best of filmmaking intentions cannot disguise as deeply flawed a script as the one for Adam, a generally sweet story brought down by baffling screenwriting decisions and manipulative, mawkish, TV-movie-of-the-week direction. Hugh Dancy (Confessions of a Shopaholic) gives a well-researched, heartfelt, nuanced performance – especially when compared to the typical treatment of the mentally handicapped in cinema – but he's left stranded by a script that never connects its characters or the threads of drama that it's trying to convey. What should be sweet is dull and what should be ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Six Ways the GI Joe Movie Could Be Better Than Transformers 2

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:00:15 -0400

Aug 05, 2009

It was announced on Tuesday that Paramount Pictures wouldn't be screening GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra for critics and, let's be honest, is anyone really that surprised? Trying to explain the critical snub, Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures commented, "After the chasm we experienced with Transformers 2 between the response of audiences and critics, we chose to forgo opening-day print and broadcast reviews as a strategy to promote G.I. Joe." That quote tells us two things: 1). Paramount isn't expecting GI Joe to get the same warm critical ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Funny People

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:51:38 -0400

Jul 31, 2009

Watching Judd Apatow's Funny People is akin to watching a friend try a new stand-up routine. You admire the effort it takes to get up there and put yourself on the line, but it's easier to be kinder to the ambition than the execution. I love many of the pieces of Funny People, but a movie is not about individual parts and the entire sum of Apatow's biggest misstep to date has some undeniable flaws. It's an ambitious, interesting, complex piece that simply got away from one of the most talented comedy writer/directors of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Fragments

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:59:59 -0400

Jul 30, 2009

Ensemble dramas about the ripple effect of tragedy and fate can be a tricky minefield of screenwriting clichés. They can lead to great rewards, but the risk for failure is also high. For every Magnolia or Short Cuts, there are several disastrous efforts that rarely see the light of day outside of the festival circuit. One such effort is just barely seeing the light of day as Fragments (formerly known as Winged Creatures on the festival circuit ... a much better name) is opening in New York today and Los Angeles next week with ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 10 Funniest People Working in Film Today

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:37:56 -0400

Jul 29, 2009

With Funny People hitting theaters this weekend, it got us thinking about the title of Judd Apatow's highly anticipated new comedy. Who are the real funny people in the movie world? Let’s start with perspective. Trying to make a list of funny writers or actors in the entire history of film would be impossible. How do you compare Charlie Chaplin to Mel Brooks to Judd Apatow? It's impossible. So, we decided to stick to the ten funniest people working today. They could be writers, actors, or directors. The only requirement is a consistent delivery ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Orphan

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:08:16 -0400

Jul 24, 2009

Due largely to the excellent work by Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard, Jaume Collet-Serra's Orphan is a surprisingly effective thriller that should deliver exactly what audiences expect from it. Bucking the trend of being just another "demon kid" movie, Orphan features a clever mix of honest emotion and ridiculous, over-the-top, Mommie Dearest-esque insanity. Are the moments of insanity – mostly involving kid-on-kid crime – MEANT to be funny? I'm not sure that it matters. Movies are enjoyable for what they are, not for what they mean to be. And I have to admit to ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: G-Force

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:35:38 -0400

Jul 24, 2009

Every critic tries to go into each screening with a blank slate. But it's naive to think that this kind of critical purity is one hundred percent possible. After all, we are only human. And after being bombarded by ill-conceived, poorly executed, dull, family films – most of them featuring talking animals – I have to admit to a little pessimism going into G-Force, a 3D movie about talking, crime-fighting rodents. For every wonderful film like Coraline or Up, there are usually three family movies that are either boring (Ice Age: Dawn of the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Humpday

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:33:27 -0400

Jul 24, 2009

Lynn Shelton's highly-buzzed Humpday is a very good dissection of friendship, sexuality, ego, domesticity, and our perceptions about who we are and how far we are willing to go to prove that we are not so easily-defined. We are all labeled on a nearly daily basis – "Husband," "Single," "Straight," "Gay" – and most of those labels do a horrible job of telling the whole story. Humpday is about two old friends who have gone in very different directions since college. One wanders the world, choosing where he's going to go and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Other 5 Best Picture Nominees: What if the Academy Had Instituted the New 10 Nominee Rule in 2000?

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:50:32 -0400

Jul 22, 2009

As anyone with an internet connection and an interest in film knows by now, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has expanded the Best Picture category to ten nominees this year instead of the usual five. While everyone is talking about the chances of The Hurt Locker, Public Enemies, Up, and Star Trek to sneak in when they might have had more difficulty with only five choices, it got us thinking about the change in a “what if” kind of way. What if they had made this move earlier? ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Best Performances by Meryl Streep

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:51:39 -0400

Jul 20, 2009

Arguably the best actress of all time turned sixty last month (on June 22, 2009). Do your part to celebrate the birthday of one of the most influential and important movies stars in the history of the form – Meryl Streep. It's amazing to look over the career of any movie star and actually have difficulty narrowing it down to a list of great performances to number ten. The fact is that it would be easy to pick TWENTY performances from Streep that are better than the single best turn from the entire career ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Dead Snow

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:57:14 -0400

Jul 17, 2009

I really hope Sam Raimi sees Dead Snow. Just as Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's great Shaun of the Dead was a cinematic love letter to the work of the masterful George Romero, the Norwegian horror film Dead Snow is a blood-splattered ode to the films that Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell made in the woods so many years ago. Not only are Evil Dead and its sequel actually mentioned by a character in the film, but the style, story, and even the amputation are straight from the "Cult of Ash." The horror movie ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: (500) Days of Summer

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:25:35 -0400

Jul 17, 2009

Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer is a clever dissection of not just romance but the very concept that drives the genre of the love story – that that we all have that one person out there and we're simply waiting for the day when we cross their path, birds sing, lightning strikes, and we find true love. With a witty script, daring structure, and a few visual flourishes, Webb has made a film that many viewers will fall head over heels in love with and plan a second viewing of immediately after the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Three Monkeys

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:21:55 -0400

Jul 17, 2009

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Three Monkeys is a film about aftermath and consequences more than action. With his most forcefully narrative film to date, the great Turkish director tells a story that could play like a Hitchcockian noir in a more conventional filmmaker's hands, but he does so with his own mournful, elegiac style. There is an accidental death, a murder, and infidelity in Three Monkeys but none of it happens on-screen. Ceylan and his co-writers are far more interested in the ripple effect than the actual throwing of the stone. The keeping of the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:20:38 -0400

Jul 15, 2009

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth in the series of films based on J.K. Rowling’s epic novels, and it’s the first to offer a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. Though Harry’s destiny has been clear from the start, his triumphs in past movies have always been rewarded with a seemingly equal number of new hurdles. For those who haven’t been reading the books and don’t know what lies ahead (a group that includes myself), that episodic tone has, at times, tested a filmgoer’s endurance. So it’s a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Brüno

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:22:06 -0400

Jul 10, 2009

The advertising for Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest film, Brüno, uses the clever tagline “Borat was so 2006.” And in an effort to prove that, Cohen spends much of this film working overtime to top the outrageousness of his last one. That is, of course, a tall order, considering the candid-camera style shock tactics of this film cling so tightly to the coattails of Borat, a film that mined many of its pleasures by surprising an audience that was far more unsuspecting three years ago. But Cohen is determined nonetheless and within five minutes of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Il Divo

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:06:13 -0400

Jul 10, 2009

Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo, winner of the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, is finally getting a limited release stateside and audiences open to daring and inventive foreign cinema should not miss one of the better Italian films of the last several years. Il Divo is a stunning piece of work that feels both familiar and completely unique at the same time. The story contains elements of power struggles as old as Shakespeare and modern mafia films, but the structural choices of Sorrentino’s writing and bold decisions of his direction ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Looking Back on the Harry Potter Films ... So Far

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:55:21 -0400

Jul 09, 2009

By now there can’t be too many people on the planet who haven’t at least heard of Harry Potter. Based on the worldwide box office, there are even fewer who have yet to see one of the movies based on J.K. Rowling’s series of books chronicling the adolescence of the young wizard. The latest film in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (directed by David Yates) is set to open worldwide on July 15 and promises to be a much darker Potter adventure than its predecessors. Hopefully, this makes for a more ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Hurt Locker

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:25:41 -0400

Jul 09, 2009

Kathryn Bigelow's riveting The Hurt Locker is unlike any other film experience that you will have this year. It is a masterpiece of the art of building and releasing tension and is an outright spectacular movie. Not only is it the best Iraq War film to date but it is also the best of 2009 (at least so far). Bigelow takes viewers halfway around the world to bring the twisted world of soldiers who diffuse bombs for a living into relatable perspective and she's made a film unlike any other in a very long ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Girl From Monaco

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:02:36 -0400

Jul 03, 2009

Anne Fontaine's The Girl From Monaco is a lovely piece of fluff, a clever and sexy comedy that plays like a summer day in the south of France – lovely and enjoyable while you’re in the moment but ultimately somewhat forgettable. Monaco is the kind of lighthearted farce that art house audiences have come to expect from the phrase "French comedy" and it's mostly delightful with only a dark turn in the final act that doesn't quite fit with the rest of the piece and a bit too little weight to the entire proceeding. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Public Enemies

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:03:31 -0400

Jul 01, 2009

Michael Mann's Public Enemies is an intellectual, epic, dense examination of the days when the bank robber was on the way out the door and the legend of “The G-Man” was on the rise. The former is represented by one of the "public enemies" of the day, John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), and the latter by the man tasked with bringing the notorious criminal to justice by jury or bullet, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale). Dillinger stole money with the ease that many of his peers bought a gallon of milk and flagrantly walked among the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:03:23 -0400

Jul 01, 2009

If you have a child of the right age that you're considering seeing Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs then you may have seen some of the "exclusive" short films that usually accompany high profile DVD releases of kid’s movies. For example, the Madagascar movies usually include a short starring the movie-stealing penguins to push sales of the home release. They are usually harmless, mildly entertaining diversions but they don't have nearly the creativity or drive of the feature film. They're an afterthought that don't grate on the nerves because they only run about five to ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Whatever Works

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:29:19 -0400

Jun 26, 2009

Has there ever been a better mouthpiece for Woody Allen's brand of misanthropic humor than Larry David? It turns out that the answer is a resounding yes and that double the grumpy is not necessarily double the fun. Whatever Works is yet another example of one of the greatest American filmmakers of all time following a success with a misstep (it’s happened a lot in the last couple decades). It's nowhere near the auteur's worst recent films (The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Anything Else will play in a personal circle of Hell), ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Surveillance

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:28:15 -0400

Jun 26, 2009

Watching Jennifer Lynch's Surveillance is like watching air come out of a set of tires. The promise of the set-up and the promising cast slowly dissipates from a screenplay that seems to know that it gets less interesting as it's forced to make more sense. Surveillance falls prey to a common problem of mystery movies in that each revelation does the film a disservice, making it less intriguing instead of more. By the final reveal of Surveillance, there's nothing and no one to care about other than the return of some interesting actors who ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Eleven Woody Allen Movies to Rent Rather Than Seeing Whatever Works

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:48:17 -0400

Jun 25, 2009

Before we get too far – Woody Allen’s Whatever Works is far from the WORST choices at theaters this week. (That title belongs to a little sequel based on a toy line.) But it does stick to the pattern of Allen's career in that he usually follows a hit with a miss. Just as Scoop followed Match Point, Whatever Works follows Vicky Cristina Barcelona. So, why not wait out the next “comeback” and go back to the video store or your Netflix queue this weekend instead of seeing a sub-par Allen script that he ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Best Movie Sequels of the Year from 1989 to 2009

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:35:37 -0400

Jun 24, 2009

We never, NEVER thought we'd hear ourselves saying this, but, dear lord, we need a good sequel and we need one NOW. Fine, the movie sequel has gotten a pretty bad rap over the years - deservedly so - but, even though we've been hurt by sequels before, there's just something about a part two, prequel, or next chapter that revs the soul of our inner movie geeks. Typically, Hollywood goes overboard in the sequel department, but 2009 hasn't exactly been the best year in the history of the form. So far, all we've ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:39:01 -0400

Jun 24, 2009

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a jaw-droppingly awful movie, a piece of loud, cluttered, stupid junk that stands below any that the often criticized Michael Bay has ever directed. Consider that all the warning that you probably need. If you have never felt cheated by movies like The Island, Pearl Harbor, or Bad Boys II, then Revenge of the Fallen has a chance of delivering what you need, but the rest of you should take your least satisfying Bay experience and turn it up to eleven and that will approximate how you ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Moon

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:13:46 -0400

Jun 19, 2009

We all fear being replaced by a younger, faster, healthier model. For a lot of workers, especially those with physical demands on their job, it's an honest and regular concern. Believe it or not, it's that down-to-Earth concept that essentially drives Duncan Jones' Moon, a slice of existential science fiction with a fantastic lead performance from the always-great Sam Rockwell. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a blue-collar worker on the dark side of the moon in a future where we've discovered an energy-producing element far from home. With only the companionship of his loyal robot ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Proposal

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:04:33 -0400

Jun 19, 2009

I have a terrible secret. Even though I regard man-friendly, heroically dystopian flicks like Brazil and Miller's Crossing as among my favorite movies, I have this weird little soft-spot for Sandra Bullock romantic comedies. Maybe something softened when I got married and had a kid, but I don't think that's it. Bullock is simply pretty darn good at what she does, even though some people will never acknowledge - no matter what - that what she does has merit and is harder to pull off than it looks. I equate Bullock's stature in the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Harold Ramis, Year One

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:38:45 -0400

Jun 19, 2009

As the director of films like Caddyshack and Groundhog Day and a writer on movies like Animal House, Stripes, and Ghostbusters, Harold Ramis’ influence on modern comedic cinema can’t be underestimated. Just ask the current king of Hollywood humor, writer/director Judd Apatow, who has often cited Ramis' films as childhood favorites and leapt at the chance to serve as producer on Ramis’ newest film, Year One. This past week, a screening of that movie served as the opening night centerpiece of Chicago’s “Just for Laughs” festival. And just before it began, Harold was the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Year One

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:58:14 -0400

Jun 19, 2009

There are a lot of films that Harold Ramis can be proud of. After all, this is the guy who directed Caddyshack, National Lampoon’s Vacation, and Groundhog Day and wrote a slew of other comedy gems like Stripes, Animal House, and Ghostbusters. He’s even done some flat out awesome work on television (The Office and SCTV). But, there are also an equal, if not greater, number of films and projects that he might not want mentioned too many times alongside his name. Sadly, Year One falls into the latter category. It’s a disjointed, poorly ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Mid-Term Movie Studio Report Card: Are Studios Making the Grade in 2009?

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:49:58 -0400

Jun 18, 2009

We're nearly halfway through 2009 and, although there has yet to be a major break-out hit on the level of Iron Man or The Dark Knight, there have definitely been a few success stories. And, let's be frank, a few failures. Keeping that in mind, we asked ourselves - which movie studios should be happiest at the mid-term point of 2009? Who should give their marketing team a July bonus? And which studios have been producing with the most consistent level of quality? To determine who makes the grade, first, we took ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Duncan Jones, Director of Moon

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:51:46 -0400

Jun 16, 2009

Duncan Jones is the talented, fascinating young man whose directorial debut, the psychological science fiction drama, Moon, is about to thrill audiences around the country. Moon is a fantastic film about an astronaut (Sam Rockwell) stuck in a space-station on the moon where he mines an energy-producing substance and sends it back to Earth. His three-year assignment with only a robot pal (voiced by Kevin Spacey) to talk to is finally coming to an end, but his last few days on the lunar surface prove to be more than a little unusual. After ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Away We Go

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:04:15 -0400

Jun 12, 2009

There are moments in all of our lives when we find ourselves floating in the wind, unsure of what's coming next or even where we want to be when it arrives. Sam Mendes' Away We Go is about those life-defining moments and is actually an odd companion piece to his divisive Revolutionary Road from just six months ago. In that film, a young couple longed for escape from suburban ennui but kept finding themselves pulled back in by the trappings of family, work, and "normal life." Away We Go is about a young couple looking for ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Taking of Pelham 123

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:04:05 -0400

Jun 12, 2009

Tony Scott's remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 is far from perfect or even really notable for much of anything, but I do think the film will deliver what most ticket-buying audiences are looking for in theaters – a reasonable amount of entertainment for their dollar for the time they're eating popcorn and drinking soda. The opportunity for more than "just not bad" was definitely missed but perhaps the incredibly low expectations I had for not just another remake but another Tony Scott and Denzel Washington collaboration brought this critic to the point ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Enlighten Up

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:03:57 -0400

Jun 12, 2009

What is the connection between twisting yourself into a pretzel in a yoga studio and true spiritual enlightenment? It's an interesting question and the main drive behind Enlighten Up, a successful new documentary about how many different versions, visions, and variations there are in the world of yoga. What makes director Kate Churchill's documentary particularly interesting is the fact that diehard practitioners of spiritual practices like yoga aren't exactly the most open to questioning and skeptics aren’t easy to convince that yoga is the way to mental, emotional, and spiritual happiness. Ask a yogi ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Tulpan

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:03:48 -0400

Jun 12, 2009

Kazakh documentary filmmaker Sergey Dvortsevoy brings his eye for detail to the award-winning Tulpan, a gentle and accomplished slice of realism about the difficulty of finding domestic bliss anywhere, especially in a part of the world with a cultural heritage that seems to be fading from the country to the city. Tulpan is about a young man named Asa (Askhat Kuchinchirekov) who longs for what people want everywhere – a good wife, a good job, and a good life. The difference between you and Asa is that this young man lives in a desolate, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

12 Movies That Absolutely MUST Be Released on Blu-Ray DVD Now!

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:53:38 -0400

Jun 08, 2009

Last week, we gave you a nice shopping list of the best of the best to take to your local Blu-Ray seller and now, this week, we're looking to the future of the format. If you're new to the world of HD video and audio, you've surely had that horrible experience that has befallen us all. You finally got your shiny new toy and you're ready to play with the other kids. You excitedly go online to buy your favorite movie and discover that not only is your dearly beloved not on Blu-Ray yet ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Hangover

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:16:18 -0400

Jun 05, 2009

Todd Phillips's The Hangover appears primed to be the breakout comedy of the year and I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of heat for this but the simple fact is that it's just not that funny or as clever as it should be. Will you have a good time? Maybe. Especially if you can do a few shots before the movie or sneak in a bottle of Wild Turkey. But I'm willing to bet that if I gave the writing assignment of the concept of The Hangover to half of you, the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Land of the Lost

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:16:11 -0400

Jun 05, 2009

Brad Silberling's Land of the Lost is an absolute disaster, an unqualified mess that reminded me of legendary flops like Howard the Duck or Waterworld on more than one occasion. Completely unfunny, horribly conceived, and with absolutely no personality of its own, Land of the Lost is one of the most shockingly inert, dead-on-arrival major films that I've seen in a very long time. The super-charming Anna Friel and a clever cameo by Matt Lauer represent the only two highlights in a film filled with lowlights that's based on the classic TV show. Why ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Downloading Nancy

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:16:00 -0400

Jun 05, 2009

Downloading Nancy is an amazing example of talented actors doing their best to make something genuine of a complex concept but being betrayed by writers and a director who seem afraid to really let the film connect. Maria Bello, Jason Patric, and Rufus Sewell are absolutely fearless in what they deliver as experts in their craft. It's just the way in which that delivery is used that fails to register. Downloading Nancy is a film about raw, emotional issues that is handled like a clinical exam. It's almost worth seeing just because the disparity ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Sleep Dealer

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:15:46 -0400

Jun 05, 2009

There has been a wave of science fiction in 2009 that has offered entertaining escapism (Star Trek), disappointing CGI overload (Terminator: Salvation), and psychological drama (the upcoming Moon). More proof that science fiction is back in a big way is the foreign language indie Sleep Dealer, a clever but deeply flawed film that plays like Guillermo Del Toro's version of an unpublished Philip K. Dick short story. Sounds great, right? Of course, and there are definitely elements of Sleep Dealer that work, but the final product is ultimately a great piece of evidence supporting the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Join the HD Revolution: The First Ten Blu-Rays You Should Buy

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:23:08 -0400

Jun 04, 2009

The Blu-Ray revolution has been more of a slowly rising tide than a tidal wave of 1080P glory that we hoped it would be. With more and more alternative ways to watch films and TV shows, the Blu-Ray market hasn't taken off nearly as rapidly as previous technological advancements or as those of us already “upconverted” think it should. But once you do make that switch and jump into the Blu-Ray ocean, there will be no looking back. With incredible video and audio and revolutionary ways to present behind-the-scenes material, Blu-Ray is an amazing ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Win a Sony Home Theater System From MovieRetriever.com!

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:28:09 -0400

Jun 02, 2009

MovieRetriever.com is for movie hounds looking for the next great movie to watch, at home or in the theater. Our irreverent Barks with Bite blog delivers honest movie reviews, interviews with cast members and more, all with a snarky disposition to keep your tail wagging!

VideoHound’s MovieRetriever.com Bred to answer, “What should I watch next?” Over 30,000 movie reviews Hundreds of outrageous movie lists Hilarious editorial and the Barks with Bite Blog Write reviews and rate movies Create your own movie watch lists! Socialize with other film buffs What's different about MovieRetriever.com?

We created hundreds of unique lists. What is a MovieRetriever list? ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Drag Me to Hell

Fri, 29 May 2009 10:29:31 -0400

May 29, 2009

Sam Raimi returns to the gleefully gory world of horror this week with the above average Drag Me to Hell, a film that nearly brings a genre junkie to comparisons to the Evil Dead trilogy but falls just short of that kind of acclaim. Masterfully directed (certainly more than Spider-Man 3) and with a thoroughly enjoyable screenplay, Drag Me to Hell delivers on what it promises even if it doesn't quite exceed them to make it a pure horror classic. With wonderful sequences that hark back to Ash versus his own hand and a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Pontypool

Fri, 29 May 2009 10:02:25 -0400

May 29, 2009

How would an isolated radio station respond to a zombie apocalypse? In the middle of a small town in Ontario, a trio of people in a very old-fashioned radio station in the titular Pontypool deals with their own version of War of the Worlds. A radio DJ (the excellent Stephen McHattie) sees something very unusual on the way to work but that's nothing compared to the phone call they get from their traffic reporter describing a mob outside a doctor's office that has descended into general, bloody chaos. Wisely keeping the budget low while ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: What Goes Up

Fri, 29 May 2009 07:57:39 -0400

May 29, 2009

Jonathan Glatzer's debut film, What Goes Up, is such a confused, convoluted, odd piece of cinema that I almost recommend seeing it just because it is so very unusual. It’s a comedy/drama/teen movie set in the days preceding the 1986 Challenger explosion. You don’t see that every Friday at the multiplex. Despite its originality and a few decent performances, you will rarely see a film more misguided in its tone changes or awkward in its transitions. Completely misunderstanding its teenage characters and reducing its journalist lead to the only sane man in an asylum, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Departures

Wed, 27 May 2009 17:35:35 -0400

May 27, 2009

When the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was given to the Japanese Departures, it sent shockwaves through Oscar parties around the world. Yes, a select few people who knew the film and Academy voting trends predicted the upset, but it was a surprise nonetheless. With a landmark film like Waltz with Bashir and the beloved The Class both nominated and a great selection of foreign films deemed unworthy or ineligible under the Academy's stupid system (Gomorrah, Let the Right One In, Tell No One, A Christmas Tale), Departures had to be something ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Up

Wed, 27 May 2009 12:17:46 -0400

May 27, 2009

With toys that come to life, a family of superheroes, a refined rat, a lovable robot, and many more characters, Pixar has continually shattered expectations, but even the most creative animation movement since Walt Disney picked up a pen has to break the pattern eventually, right? For everyone out there anxiously awaiting each Pixar film, there's a detractor just waiting for the other shoe to drop. They're going to have to keep waiting. With Up, Pixar has once again proven that this creative force of a studio isn't concerned with expectations of story or ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

MovieRetriever Editors Views: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Wed, 27 May 2009 00:18:48 -0400

May 27, 2009

Now that our critic at large, Brian Tallerico, has given his opinion on Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, we here at MovieRetriever.com thought you might enjoy some additional perspectives from the editors. So, without further adieu, here is the opinion of....Turk182I approached Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian expecting a louder, more obnoxious version of the first film. I thought it would improve on the spectacle but not necessarily be a better movie. I figured I would ultimately feel about it like I did the second and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:34:33 -0400

May 22, 2009

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is a tough film for a critic to review. Your opinion of the film will depend on your expectations and the critical question at play – should you judge a movie solely on how it will satisfy its target audience? We can't ignore that this CGI smorgasbord was made for families to escape the barbecues and parades this Memorial Day weekend. Will they be satisfied by the wacky escapades of Larry Daley (Ben Stiller)? Probably. There's a manic, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach that usually works for air-conditioned toddlers ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Brothers Bloom

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:20:35 -0400

May 22, 2009

Rian Johnson's debut film, Brick, was a riveting noir, an announcement of a new writer in love with how he could manipulate the English language in a brave new way. Brick was an underrated gem that hinted at creative things to come. But would Johnson fall victim to the dreaded sophomore slump? When The Brothers Bloom debuted on the festival circuit last year, the buzz from a lot of critics and fest-goers seemed to confirm that he had. The film was judged as an over-done, manic misstep with some good ideas and performances ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Girlfriend Experience

Fri, 22 May 2009 10:57:55 -0400

May 22, 2009

It's tempting to look at Steven Soderbergh's incredible filmography and apply the old axiom of a filmmaker who does "one for them, one for me." Movie makers often trade off their multiplex fare with smaller films that are usually more personal and intimate. In Soderbergh's case, one could look at films like Bubble or Che and argue and think that they belong in the latter category. The problem with this theory is that it doesn't work for Soderbergh. He loves the Ocean's movies as much as the one about Che Guevara. He simply makes ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Outrage

Fri, 22 May 2009 10:30:19 -0400

May 22, 2009

"The only reason people hate gay people is because their leaders tell them to." - Rep. Barney Frank, (D-MA)

If you don't believe the above quote and think that homophobia is something natural or intrinsic to the human condition then you can stop reading this review now. The color in your sky is different than the one I see and we’re not going to agree on a lot of things, especially not a documentary about gay rights. I think Frank is onto something essential with this simple statement, something about how teachers, religious figures, politicians, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Adoration

Fri, 22 May 2009 10:09:42 -0400

May 22, 2009

Atom Egoyan's Adoration is at least two films in one (arguably more) but they don’t quite come together into anything approaching a cohesive vision and the talented screenwriter/director loses track of the more interesting narrative in a final act that devolves into uninteresting melodrama. And, yet, I still kind of liked Adoration. There are so many interesting ideas in the first two acts of the film, which feel more like the Egoyan who made waves with the excellent Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter, that it's easier to forgive the final act, which feels far ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Rian Johnson, Writer/Director of The Brothers Bloom

Thu, 21 May 2009 17:14:03 -0400

May 21, 2009

Writer/Director Rian Johnson has made two films, the great Brick and the very-good The Brothers Bloom, finally opening this month after many frustrating delays. Johnson is a fascinating young filmmaker, someone in love with the language of cinema. How many filmmakers start their careers with modern noir and modern con man movies? Johnson takes risks and both of them have paid off. He sat down with us on the eve of the Opening Night celebration for The Brothers Bloom at the Chicago International Film Festival. This humble young man was about

Rachel Weisz

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

10 Star Trek Movie Moments That Make Us Proud to Be Trekkies

Thu, 21 May 2009 14:39:39 -0400

May 21, 2009

By now, most Trekkies have probably seen or are planning to see Star Trek, the franchise reboot/restart from director J.J. Abrams. Critical reaction has been almost universally positive and the film has found a receptive audience in both fans and non-fans alike. But, that wasn’t exactly how most Star Trek films have been received. Apart from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the series hasn’t really produced a film that could readily appeal to non-fans. While it’s true that Wrath of Khan and First Contact were extremely popular, they

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Terminator Salvation

Thu, 21 May 2009 00:03:41 -0400

May 21, 2009

Your enjoyment of McG's Terminator Salvation depends largely on your expectations, so let me be blunt – lower them significantly. If you approach the film as an effects-heavy summer extravaganza then you may be satisfied but if you are a purist of the universe that Cameron invented, interested in seeing something human to match the machine, an admirer of the complex work that Christian Bale has delivered in the past, or have any problems at all with 2nd-grade level dialogue, then find an alternate this weekend. Terminator Salvation is CGI masturbation – it's ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Seven Things We Want From Star Trek 2

Wed, 20 May 2009 14:12:47 -0400

May 20, 2009

It's almost hard to believe that the Star Trek universe has been rebooted successfully enough that we're actually looking forward to a sequel and not just assuming the next one will suck (or that the next one will be good, depending on whether the last was an odd or even entry). With the critical and commercial success of J.J. Abrams' incredible film, a sequel is not “likely” or even “planned,” it's as inevitable as the annual Saw movie. It's going to happen. There's nothing you can do about it.As much as we adored

Skydiving to the Narada's drill arm.

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Rachel Weisz from The Brothers Bloom

Tue, 19 May 2009 13:58:38 -0400

May 19, 2009

Rachel Weisz is one of those rare actresses who is both stunningly beautiful in person but also completely down to Earth and incredibly easy to talk to. In other words, she’s a great interview. At last year’s Chicago International Film Festival, Weisz sat down with MovieRetriever, Capone of Ain’t It Cool News, and Peter Sobcysnki of EFilmCritic to promote the opening night film for the fest, The Brothers Bloom. The delightful Bloom from Brick director Rian Johnson finally opens around the rest of the country this month, including this Friday in Chicago.

Rachel Weisz

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Pete Docter, Director of Up

Fri, 15 May 2009 11:11:59 -0400

May 15, 2009

If you have heard any of the growing buzz coming out of the Cannes Film Festival, you will probably not be surprised to hear that Pixar has done it again. That buzz is about to become a deafening roar by the time it gets to the United States. Pete Docter’s Up is going to be one of the most beloved films of not just the season but the year. We'll be back soon (next week) to review the actual film but we got a wonderful, exclusive sit-down with Docter, the director of Up

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Angels & Demons

Fri, 15 May 2009 09:39:38 -0400

May 15, 2009

Ron Howard's Angels & Demons is an unqualified disaster, a film that makes the practically narcoleptic The Da Vinci Code look like a Hitchcockian masterpiece in comparison. I've been a little hard on Howard in the past, professing the opinion that almost everything he delivers feels a bit too safe. He is the ultimate B-movie director, never taking true risks and, therefore, never deserving the acclaimed auteur status that I feel some of have anointed him with since his second Oscar nomination for Frost/Nixon, another 3-star, B-level film. Occasionally, Howard slightly elevates his ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Management

Fri, 15 May 2009 09:36:18 -0400

May 15, 2009

Stephen Belber's Management is an odd slice of whimsy, a film that contains familiar elements of standard romantic comedies but strives for something unique in its blend of humor, romance, drama, and character-driven quirkiness. The film doesn't completely come together, but it does hint at a bright future for filmmaker Stephen Belber, the acclaimed playwright who helped bring The Laramie Project and Richard Linklater's Tape to life. His directorial debut displays enough originality in its tone and ambition in its ideas that it will be worth the trip for audiences looking for a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Rudo y Cursi

Fri, 15 May 2009 09:33:44 -0400

May 15, 2009

Carlos Cuaron's Rudo y Cursi is a genial, light film that I truly want to recommend. I'm a huge fan of a lot of Mexican cinema of the last few years, think Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna are fascinating young actors, and would like to see more films like this gentle tale of brothers who become soccer stars and watch their fame and flaws tear their lives apart. But I just can't do it. Rudo y Cursi is an open shot on an empty goal. With its great leads and talented writer/director, the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Stephen Belber, Writer/Director of Management

Thu, 14 May 2009 14:49:56 -0400

May 14, 2009

Stephen Belber, the acclaimed playwright who helped bring The Laramie Project and Tape to film, makes his directorial debut this week with the quirky comedy Management, starring Steve Zahn, Jennifer Aniston, and Woody Harrelson. Management is about a motel employee who goes to extremes to get the buttoned-up saleswoman who crosses his path to realize she loves him too. Belber took time out of his busy schedule to make an international call, getting in touch with us from Paris, France to discuss his film, process, past, and future.

--Brian Tallerico

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview with Marc Caro, Director of Dante 01, Delicatessen, City of Lost Children

Wed, 13 May 2009 12:49:57 -0400

May 13, 2009

In the ‘90s, Marc Caro became internationally known as half of one of the world's most inspiring teams of foreign filmmakers by making Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children with Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Those two masterpieces hinted at wonderful things to come. Well, Jeunet went on to make Amelie and A Very Long Engagement, but Caro essentially disappeared with only one TV credit between Children and this year. Somewhat surprisingly, at least to this viewer, Caro’s Dante 01 hit DVD on April 21st, 2009. This dark sci-fi vision has

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

MovieRetriever Editors Views: Star Trek

Fri, 08 May 2009 00:41:10 -0400

May 08, 2009

J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the Star Trek franchise will easily be the biggest movie of the weekend and, if audiences can get past their Trek prejudice, might be one of the biggest movies of the summer. The film has received a largely rapturous critical response so far (there have been, per usual, a few dissenters), but we’re still encountering lots of people who are unsure whether they want to see Star Trek. Some because they don’t know what the movie is about, some because they simply don’t like Trek’s legacy, and some because

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Director/Writer Derick Martini on Lymelife

Thu, 07 May 2009 14:19:09 -0400

May 07, 2009

Derick Martini cares enough about his directorial debut, the very promising and well-made Lymelife, that he took the time and went out of his way to get in touch with us mere days after his wife gave birth to his first child via emergency section. In a very long, fascinating conversation, only part of which is reproduced below, Derick and I spoke about a wide variety of topics including the films that inspired Lymelife, the current state of cinema, how arthouse films are marketed, and working with Alec Baldwin.--Brian Tallerico**********

MOVIE RETRIEVER: How's

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Movie Review: Star Trek

Thu, 07 May 2009 00:17:11 -0400

May 07, 2009

It's early in the year, but you probably won't see a more straight-up entertaining ride of a movie than J.J. Abrams' rollicking reboot of Star Trek, a film that not only stands tall above most of its many sub-genre peers (one of the best reboots/sequels/sci-fi/summer/etc movies) but also simply works on almost every single level. Like Casino Royale did with Bond, the new Star Trek has taken a large chapter of my youth and not just kick-started it again for a new generation but enhanced the entire mythology of the series. Honestly, if someone ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Early 2009: The Best and Worst Movies of the Year to Date

Wed, 06 May 2009 11:34:23 -0400

May 06, 2009

Before summer gets thoroughly underway with Star Trek (because, let's be honest, the lackluster X-Men Origins: Wolverine doesn't really count for anything), we thought we'd take a minute to look back at the first four months of 2009. Were there any films or performances that critics or awards groups will remember in eight month's time? Was there a Richard Jenkins in The Visitor? Even a Silence of the Lambs (a rare February release that went onto big things over a year later at the Oscars)? Was there anything out there that will

Coraline

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Movie Review: The Skeptic

Wed, 06 May 2009 10:51:09 -0400

May 06, 2009

They don't make old-fashioned ghost stories as often as they used to, particularly now that the horror market is flooded with Saw rip-offs and torture porn. Consequently, I'm usually a little forgiving of films that remind me of the great horror classics that influenced the way I look at the genre like Carnival of Souls or The Haunting. To be blunt, I'm forgiving of ghost stories. And yet, I still can't quite get behind Tennyson Bardwell's The Skeptic, a film with good ideas and performances but weak, predictable, two-dimensional, frustrating dialogue. It's a feature ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Looking Back on the Star Trek Films

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:12:52 -0400

May 05, 2009

Regardless of its incarnation (be it television show, film, cartoon, video game, etc.), Star Trek has largely been considered a nerd-based franchise for the bulk of its existence. That is about to change following the release of the wildly anticipated reboot of the brand from director J. J. Abrams called simply Star Trek. The film looks to reinvigorate the story of the original crew of the Enterprise by exploring their formative years while simultaneously delivering a legitimate and well-made action-adventure film (something that has been lacking all too

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Interview: Director Sacha Gervasi on Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Mon, 04 May 2009 10:57:17 -0400

May 04, 2009

The best documentary of the year, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, is captivating audiences around the country. How big is the Anvil buzz? When I called director Sacha Gervasi this week, he was mid-meeting with VH1 about expanding the film to over 200 more cities. Most documentaries are lucky to play in the Big Apple alone and Anvil is looking at a nationwide expansion. The band that never broke it big officially has turned into superstars (check out the latest Rolling Stone if you don’t believe it). Gervasi took time out of

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Fri, 01 May 2009 09:23:00 -0400

May 01, 2009

Does the first big summer movie set the tone for the entire season? Last summer, Iron Man rocked audiences and most critics, and I think any summer movie season that gives us Wall-E and The Dark Knight needs to be looked at as a good one. The year before was the disappointing Spider-Man 3 and the disappointment continued with Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean 3. If there's anything to the idea that the first weekend in May can serve as a canary in the movie coal mine, indicating good or ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Tyson

Fri, 01 May 2009 09:19:21 -0400

May 01, 2009

How does one even begin to try and capture a man as unique and un-definable as Mike Tyson on film? Writer/director James Toback made the brilliant decision to let the only person who truly knows Tyson to write his biography, the champ himself. With only his own words, spoken over five days spent with his "autobiographer," edited together with fight/archival footage and footage of a modern athlete walking on a California beach, Toback's Tyson paints a riveting portrait of a man with many more shades of gray than his typical black and white ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Lymelife

Fri, 01 May 2009 09:17:10 -0400

May 01, 2009

Quirky indie films about families adapting to change in the '70s or '80s have become alarmingly common and commonly alarming. To this critic, most of them are overdone examples of what's wrong with independent filmmaking. They're usually way too self-conscious, as if you're watching a film student's home movies that only he finds interesting, funny, or insightful. The teenagers always talk like NYC film grads (because wouldn't we all like to think we were actually cool and misunderstood instead of just dorky), the parents are always grotesquely exaggerated in their bad behavior, and everybody ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Box Office Predictions: The Top 20 Movies of Summer 2009

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:41:04 -0400

Apr 30, 2009

The star-powered summer movie season is finally upon us and it's filled with more box office potential than perhaps any year previous. Economic times are tough, but the super-grosses of early 2009 films like Paul Blart and Taken have proven that, despite foreclosures and 401K implosions, people are still going to the movies in droves. In fact, some have argued that people need Hollywood escapism now more than ever. Well, audiences will be getting heavy doses of such escapism, to the tune of billions of dollars, over the next four months. So, when the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Director James Toback Talks Tyson

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:29:25 -0400

Apr 28, 2009

James Toback has been a controversial figure in Hollywood for years, dividing audiences and critics over films like Fingers, Exposed, Two Girls and a Guy, and Black and White. There's no divisiveness in opinion over the quality of his latest film, a riveting self-portrait of a fascinating man called Tyson. In no one's words but Mike Tyson’s own, Toback allows one of the greatest boxers who ever lived an amazing self-examination captured on celluloid. The response has been nearly universal in its acclaim. Mixing archival footage and a few

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Reviews: April Showers

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:22:01 -0400

Apr 28, 2009

For this critic, reviewing a movie like April Showers is very difficult. I often think that movies made this recently about a tragedy as deep and damaging as what happened at Columbine High School ten years ago this month veer dangerously close to exploitation. It turns out that a label like that would be too easy a way to write off this accomplished, harrowing, and deeply, deeply personal film. Writer/director Andrew Robinson was actually there on that day in that school. A Columbine grad, a decade later he has become a filmmaker with ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Twenty Film Franchises in Need of a Reboot

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:33:38 -0400

Apr 27, 2009

Movie sequels and remakes have been almost universally decried as being creatively corrupt, yet audiences and critics alike seem infinitely more forgiving of the franchise "reboot." Most notably, Batman Begins injected new life into the masked corpse left by Joel Schumacher and Casino Royale completely re-imagined the Bond franchise. (And Ed Norton's The Incredible Hulk reboot was marginally less disappointing than Ang Lee's Hulk.) This summer, Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation will attempt to work that reboot magic again on two legendary franchises that had grown seriously stale.

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Movie Review: The Mutant Chronicles

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:47:00 -0400

Apr 23, 2009

Reviews of CGI-heavy, stylized, futuristic movies often use the phrase "looks like watching someone playing a video game." For Simon Hunter’s The Mutant Chronicles, I'd adjust it slightly, yet it's an important difference - "looks like someone else watching an AWFUL video game cut scene." Actually, video games usually look better than this, one of the most bizarrely-designed films I've seen in a very long time. Combine some of the most misguided design decisions in years with dialogue (“Any last words?” “Shut the f*** up.”), plot, and characters out of an Uwe Boll film ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Beyond Wolverine: Ten Other Movie Origins We'd Like to See

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:24:22 -0400

Apr 23, 2009

"All legends have an origin." So goes the over-played preview for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. All of them? Really? Does the legend of Harry from Harry and the Hendersons have an origin worth telling? Howard the Duck? Monkeybone? Probably not. Clearly, however, there’s something there in the idea that great characters from movie history might have a back story worth telling. It’s time for a list.

With X-Men Origins: Wolverine opening next week, it got our twisted minds thinking about what other origin stories we'd like to see on the big screen.

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Movie Review: State of Play

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:12:37 -0400

Apr 17, 2009

The BBC mini-series version of State of Play is one of the most acclaimed things to ever appear on television stateside or across the pond. The truncated, defanged, and neutralized theatrical version of essentially the same bare bones of the story - directed by Kevin Macdonald and starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, and Robin Wright Penn - might stand reasonably tall on its own merits, but it's merely a shadow of its source material. Viewers completely unfamiliar with the original may find enough to like here. Some of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Hunger

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:09:41 -0400

Apr 17, 2009

Steve McQueen's Hunger is a daring, brutal, vital piece of filmmaking. It made my list as one of the best films of 2008, after a brief qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles, and is only now getting a wide release theatrically. In fact, there's been a bit of controversy over whether or not Hunger qualifies as a 2008 or 2009 film. Who cares? It's a great piece of dramatic work in either year. Hunger may have won the prize at Cannes last May for best first feature and will probably be included ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Sugar

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:07:18 -0400

Apr 17, 2009

Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's Half Nelson was one of the best films of 2006 and yet I somehow approached their follow-up Sugar with trepidation. Maybe it's the fear of the sophomore slump. Maybe it's the vastly different kind of material I knew this sports drama would be. Maybe it's my own ignorance at assuming that they couldn't do it again without the incredible performances by Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, and Anthony Mackie to anchor their drama. Mere minutes into Sugar, I felt those concerns dissipate. I don't think this is quite the masterwork ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: American Violet

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:03:57 -0400

Apr 17, 2009

Tim Disney's American Violet is a film of which I don’t enjoy being overly critical. It’s easy and kind of fun to rip into worthless junk like Death Race, but this drama has such a righteous and respectable goal that gives me no pleasure in pointing out its shortcomings. Everyone's heart is in the right place and the way that drug laws are ridiculously enforced in this country should definitely be brought to the forefront of more people's minds. Minimum sentences, rushed plea bargains, and over-the-top drug enforcement tactics that claim innocent bystanders on ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Potential Sleeper Movie Hits of Summer 2009

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:08:58 -0400

Apr 16, 2009

The likely hits of the upcoming summer movie season - films like Terminator Salvation or Angels & Demons - seem even easier to spot than most previous years. Sure, there's probably reason for producers to be a little bit nervous about the box office potential of films like Land of the Lost and G.I. Joe, but most of the big movies scheduled for summer 2009 feel like fastballs down the middle – guaranteed hits. But, if that's the case, where will the surprises come from? Will there be a movie

Sasha Grey in Steven Soderbergh's "The Girlfriend Experience"

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Movie Review: Tokyo Sonata

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:04:47 -0400

Apr 13, 2009

The definition of "sonata" – a composition for one or two instruments, typically in three or four movements in contrasted forms and keys.

The instruments at play in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s excellent Tokyo Sonata are the four members of a family, and they are definitely in contrasted forms and keys. This very good dissection of the dissolution of a once-stable family is like watching the air leak out of a balloon. It's slow, painful, and drawn out with one inevitable conclusion (although the final act of Tokyo Sonata is incredibly unpredictable). Sonata is an effective, memorable ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Observe and Report

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:49:12 -0400

Apr 10, 2009

Jody Hill's excellent and sure-to-be divisive Observe and Report takes the average comedy about goofy authority figures and turns it on its head. Hill, Seth Rogen, and the rest of the talented team behind this truly twisted movie recognize that if one was to honestly look at characters like Paul Blart or any of the morons from the Police Academy train wrecks, they would have to admit that they're probably a little crazy. Ronnie Barnhardt, the lead in Observe and Report, is a LOT crazy. This dark, subversive film was reportedly inspired by Taxi ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Most Anticipated Summer Movies of 2009

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:42:33 -0400

Apr 09, 2009

The box office party doesn't usually start for Hollywood until the first weekend in May. Of course, anyone who's paid any attention to the charts so far this year knows that we've practically been in blockbuster season since January. Just look at the grosses for Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Taken, Friday the 13th, and Fast & Furious. Some of the most high-profile films coming out this summer probably won't out-earn those early-year mega-hits and that’s more than a little unusual.

Perhaps that's why we're going into this summer season somewhat apathetically.

Woody Allen (left), Evan Rachel Wood (center), and Larry David (right) on the set of WHATEVER WORKS.

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Movie Review: Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:22:34 -0400

Apr 08, 2009

It's early in 2009 but you probably won't see a more enjoyable, uplifting, simply fantastic documentary this year than Sacha Gervasi's great Anvil! The Story of Anvil, a sublime film that could be pitched by a studio head as "American Movie meets Metallica: Some Kind of Monster". If you know how great those two docs are, buy your tickets to the rock show that is Anvil! before it sells out. Humorous documentaries like Spellbound, Young@Heart, and The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters have developed cult followings over the last few years ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:44:05 -0400

Apr 08, 2009

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a low-budget, low-level, low-energy film with some pretty high-profile voices behind it. The film is based on the first book ever-written by the amazing author Michael Chabon (The Yiddish Policeman's Union, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay), was adapted into a feature film and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball), and features the gorgeous Sienna Miller (Factory Girl), super-talented Peter Sarsgaard (Kinsey), and intriguing Jon Foster (The Door in the Floor). The film struggled in development for years (Jason Schwartzman was nearly attached a few years ago) and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Fast & Furious

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:53:02 -0400

Apr 03, 2009

"Maybe you're not a good guy pretending to be a bad guy. Maybe you're a bad guy pretending to be a good guy." It was at this point, as these lines were delivered by the lovely Jordana Brewster to the half-asleep Paul Walker and everyone involved on both sides of the camera appeared to maintain a straight face, that I not only audibly swore at the screen, but also checked out of Fast & Furious never to return. Of course, defenders of junk like this will say, "It's only an action movie. The dialogue ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Director Cary Fukunaga Talks Sin Nombre

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:49:33 -0400

Apr 02, 2009

Cary Fukunaga has made a debut film that will not soon be forgotten. His Sin Nombre is not only one of the best debuts of the year, but also one of the best of the last several years. The Sundance Film Festival, a forum that usually spreads the wealth, gave the film their Best Director and Best Cinematography trophies in 2008. Following Sundance, Focus Features waited for the right moment to unleash this excellent thriller about a gang member and a Honduran girl trying to make it to the United States with a

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Sin Nombre

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:41:36 -0400

Apr 02, 2009

You probably don't know the name Cary Joji Fukunaga. You will. This debut director's amazing Sin Nombre has already won some major film awards, including Best Director AND Best Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008, and he's already been signed to a development deal by a fantastic studio that doesn't often put rookie filmmakers on the payroll - Focus Features (home of Milk, Brokeback Mountain, and many more). And it won't be long into Sin Nombre before you know why. A shockingly confident, riveting, dark examination of life from the South end ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Shall We Kiss?

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:38:17 -0400

Apr 02, 2009

Emmanuel Mouret's Shall We Kiss? has earned accurate comparisons to the work of Woody Allen and Eric Rohmer, particularly thanks to the way its creator is so clearly in love with the way men and women use words in the silly dance of love. It's a relatively delightful, if sometimes forced, examination of the fine line between friendship and romance and the collateral damage caused by crossing it. Like in some of Allen's comedies, the witty banter can sometimes seems overly mannered and a bit too smart for its own good, but there's a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Director Ramin Bahrani Talks Goodbye Solo

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:58:19 -0400

Mar 27, 2009

Roger Ebert has called Ramin Bahrani “The New Great American Director” and, after you’ve seen Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, and this week’s Goodbye Solo, you’ll understand why. Solo is a cab driver who befriends an elderly gentleman named William who has asked him to drive him to Blowing Rock, an immense cliff in North Carolina, in a few weeks. Solo suspects that William has no plans to come back and tries to work his way into this lonely man’s life in the hope of pulling him back from the edge of the

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Monsters vs. Aliens

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:18:20 -0400

Mar 27, 2009

As a film critic, I'm often asked about the incredible Pixar animation streak that has produced masterpieces like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and WALL-E in such a relatively short period of time. In decades, people will look back at this period of Pixar like they do the early years of Disney films, which included such recognized classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Sleeping Beauty. But the question isn't IF what Pixar is doing is great, but rather why? What are they doing that studios like Sony and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Monsters vs. Aliens: Who Would Win?

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:04:01 -0400

Mar 26, 2009

DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens is an automatic conversation starter for hardcore movie fans. And by “hardcore,” we mean movie shirt-wearing, convention-attending, quote-spewing movie fans. Anyone who doesn’t openly acknowledge their deep movie dorkness should move on now. It’s gonna get ugly.

With references to Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, The Blob, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and more, Monsters vs. Aliens was clearly made with a history of movie creatures in mind. But it just scrapes the iceberg of movie history when it comes to monsters and aliens. It really

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Goodbye Solo

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:08:35 -0400

Mar 26, 2009

I don't usually open up about my own emotional reaction to a film, but my response to Ramin Bahrani's excellent Goodbye Solo was unusual enough that I believe it says something about the caliber of what this mega-talented young filmmaker has accomplished. I was riveted throughout the entire film by two of the most genuine performances I've seen in a long time and I was certainly intrigued by the story, but there was little emotional response. No quivering lip, drying eyes, or embarrassing snort of impending tears. The drama of the story certainly merited ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: I Love You, Man

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:51:36 -0400

Mar 20, 2009

It's not surprising that I Love You, Man comes from the mind of John Hamburg - the writer/director best known for authoring the screenplay for Meet the Parents (and its lesser sequel, Meet the Fockers) and for directing Along Came Polly - because the dominant impression one gets after leaving I Love You, Man is that Paul Rudd has become the new Ben Stiller. While Rudd has earned major comedy street cred over the past few years, alternating between projects with the Judd Apatow (Anchorman, Knocked Up) and the State (Wet Hot American Summer, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Duplicity

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:57:48 -0400

Mar 20, 2009

Tony Gilroy is back with the same whip-smart ear for dialogue that helped make Michael Clayton one of the more acclaimed films of the last few years and another ridiculously talented ensemble working on all cylinders to produce the light, breezy, enjoyable Duplicity. After the intense mystery of Clayton, Gilroy has produced its mirror image in a con game that feels like a throwback to an era of charismatic, world-hopping and be-hopping mysteries (like Charade) that they just don't make that often any more. Duplicity falls short of Clayton and some its own potential ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Sunshine Cleaning

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:53:45 -0400

Mar 20, 2009

Amy Adams shines in the mostly charming Sunshine Cleaning, a film with elements that truly work and a fantastic central performance, but that never quite comes together as perfectly as one would hope. Co-starring Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Steve Zahn, and Clifton Collins Jr., this is a comedy that could easily satisfy any audience member who went out and bought Little Miss Sunshine and Juno the day they hit DVD. Is there such a thing as a "Sundance-esque comedy"? Think quirky characters, clever writing, a great ensemble, a final act emotional push, and usually ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Great Buck Howard

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:49:32 -0400

Mar 20, 2009

Sean McGinley's The Great Buck Howard tells the story of a man whose form of entertainment has gone the way of the dodo, vaudeville, and the career of Steven Seagal and yet feels old-fashioned in its own right, the kind of comedy/coming-of-age story with a wide demographic appeal but no direct hook to a target audience that doesn’t get made that often any more. The Great Buck Howard is likely to slip through your movie-going cracks and has clearly been a problem for Magnolia, as they've held onto it for well over a year, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Shuttle

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:45:23 -0400

Mar 20, 2009

Film critics that also happen to be horror movie junkies are an unusual breed. I happen to be one, so I know of what I speak. More than, say, drama, comedy, or Belgian movie fans, I feel like we're constantly searching for that next indie horror movie fix, going out of our way to support the little man trying to scare you. There are a number of reasons for this mindset. Of course, most of us have been so deeply damaged by the mainstream state of the genre - thanks to junk like the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Best Vampire Movies of the Modern Era

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:18:56 -0400

Mar 20, 2009

With Underworld: Rise of the Lycans opening earlier this year, Let the Right One In winning awards right and left (but getting snubbed by the Oscars), and every casting rumor about the Twilight sequel, The Twilight Saga's New Moon, turning the internet into a message board-posting rampage, blood-sucking creatures of the night are the "in creature" for 2009. A few years ago it was all about zombies and maybe Benicio Del Toro can bring it back to werewolves with The Wolf Man, but we are undeniably in the year of the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Colin Hanks Talks About The Great Buck Howard

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:30:22 -0400

Mar 17, 2009

He doesn’t make a big splash on the red carpet and isn’t on the cover of Us magazine every other week (to his great credit), but Colin Hanks has worked steadily and consistently for years in Hollywood. In 2008 alone, he appeared in W., Untraceable, The House Bunny, and episodes of Mad Men and Numb3rs. He also played the lead in The Great Buck Howard, co-starring John Malkovich, Emily Blunt, Steve Zahn, and Tom Hanks, from writer/director Sean McGinly. In Buck Howard, Hanks plays Troy Gabel, a young man searching

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Top Ten Remakes Nobody Asked For

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:42:47 -0400

Mar 13, 2009

With two remakes opening this weekend – Last House on the Left and Race to Witch Mountain – and dozens more in some state of production, the remake pattern is no longer a "trend," it's simply a part of moviemaking. Trends come and go. Remakes aren't going anywhere. But not all remakes are created equal. Some are certainly better (Last House on the Left, Dawn of the Dead) than others (Halloween, The Fog), but picking out the good from the bad is overdone. We know that lists of the best

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Last House on the Left

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:28:12 -0400

Mar 13, 2009

Modern audiences are SO much different now than they were when Wes Craven first unleashed his original Last House on the Left on the world that a remake almost seems justified. It's not like Friday the 13th or Halloween because not only do those original films still have much of the impact they did when they were first released but they also have endless sequels have kept them in the public mind's eye. Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers didn't need resurrecting because they never were given a chance to die. The characters and plot ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Crossing Over

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:24:48 -0400

Mar 13, 2009

One of the best actors of all time, Sean Penn, was once in Wayne Kramer's Crossing Over. The story behind why he's no longer in the film reportedly goes that he saw the final product and disapproved of a subplot involving an Iranian honor killing. Now, having seen the final film, I can tell you that this is no small subplot. It's not something he might have easily missed with even one read of the screenplay or asking someone on set, “Hey, what’s this movie about?” So, we have two possibilities – either he ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Tokyo!

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:21:09 -0400

Mar 13, 2009

Anthology movies are always hit-and-miss. If you're lucky, a majority of the short trees that make up the movie forest are worth your time and you walk away satisfied. Such is the case with the intriguing Tokyo!, a trifecta of short films loosely about the Japanese metropolis directed by three people who are not from there – Frenchmen Michel Gondry and Leos Carax and South Korean Bong Joon-Ho. Two-and-a-half out of three isn't bad for a movie like this one. Yes, it could have been a more cohesive vision – each film only very ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Brothers at War

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:18:06 -0400

Mar 13, 2009

On the way out of Brothers at War, one of my esteemed colleagues in the Chicago Film Critics Association summed up a pretty natural response to the documentary when he said, "Well, I guess if we have to sit through left-wing propaganda about the war then we should have to sit through right-wing propaganda too." Propaganda might be a harsh word for Jacob Rademacher's film about his two siblings serving in Iraq, but it's not far off. Rademacher and executive producer Gary Sinise are clearly the kind of people who believe that not only ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Everlasting Moments

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:15:25 -0400

Mar 13, 2009

Everlasting Moments gained a pre-release reputation for at least one wrong reason. This is the movie that made it impossible for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to even consider nominating the amazing Let the Right One In, one of the most beloved films of 2008 in any language. Because of an outdated and asinine rule, the Academy only considers one movie per country every year and Sweden didn't submit Tomas Alfredson's film. They chose Everlasting Moments. I know it's a pipe dream that the Academy would have considered Let the Right ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Eight Complaints about Watchmen That Are Hard to Dismiss

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:51:24 -0400

Mar 12, 2009

To begin, before the full-on flame assault commences, we should say upfront that we really, really wanted to like Watchmen. We love the original book, we definitely liked most of director Zack Snyder's previous stuff (Dawn of the Dead and 300 were fun), and we flat-out adored all of the advance material we saw - the trailers, the posters, the viral marketing campaign, complete with fake newscasts and 80s-era videogames... there was a lot to enjoy. Then we saw the movie. And, to quote Rorschach, "Hurm." (Or, in the

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Watchmen

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:26:32 -0500

Mar 06, 2009

Alan Moore was right. His masterful and influential Watchmen may be forever un-filmable. It certainly wasn't filmable by Zack Snyder. The director of 300 has made a loud, violent, poorly paced, disjointed, and misguided film that's both too loyal to its source material and uncertain of what that source material was trying to say. Snyder and writers David Hayter and Alex Tse have taken one of the most influential books of the last quarter-century and compressed into a confusing and confused pop epic that only registers at all because of the ambitiousness of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Black Balloon

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:29:49 -0500

Mar 06, 2009

Elissa Down's The Black Balloon is a tough film to review. It's easy to see that everyone involved has their heart in the right place. They're trying to make an honest film about the difficulty of growing up in a family with an autistic child. When people like Ashton Kutcher or Eva Longoria make completely worthless drivel, it somehow makes a critic feel like they're doing something responsible by warning audiences what they're in for with that junk. It’s easy to do so and, I’ll admit it, kind of fun. But not all bad ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Top Ten Non-Superhero Comic Book Movies

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:22:47 -0500

Mar 05, 2009

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen is a graphic novel that attempts to deconstruct the mythology of the superhero. It uses elements of a traditional superhero story but also comments, satirizes them, and blows them to pieces. As such, should it really be lumped into the same category as Superman and Iron Man, as a lot of critics are doing in their reviews of the Zack Snyder film?

It got us at MovieRetriever thinking about movies based on comic books and graphic novels that aren't your typical superhero stories. Believe it

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Why Watchmen's Alan Moore Hates the Movie Industry (And Who Can Blame Him?)

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:05:17 -0500

Mar 03, 2009

"I find film in its modern form to be quite bullying. It spoon-feeds us, which has the effect of watering down our collective cultural imagination. It is as if we are freshly hatched birds looking up with our mouths open waiting for Hollywood to feed us more regurgitated worms. The Watchmen film sounds like more regurgitated worms. I for one am sick of worms. Can't we get something else? Perhaps some takeout? Even Chinese worms would be a nice change." - Alan Moore, Los Angeles Times, 9/18/08.

There may be fanboys everywhere counting

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Five Graphic Novels Hollywood Needs to Stay Away From

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:15:46 -0500

Mar 01, 2009

It's safe to say that next week's release of Watchmen - Zack Snyder's long-awaited film adaptation of one of the most-acclaimed graphic novels of all time - will greeted by a reaction that can perhaps best be described as a "geek-gasm." Outpourings of nerdy love for the film have already begun cascading across the internet with fanboy staples like Ain't-it-Cool-News' Harry Knowles and net icon Wil Wheaton already penning virtual love letters to Watchmen, a movie that comic book fans never really thought they'd ever see on the big screen. And

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Two Lovers

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:40:59 -0500

Feb 26, 2009

James Gray's excellent Two Lovers is not your standard romantic drama. There are no pop music montages, no gross-out humor, and no cases of mistaken identity or dark secrets waiting to be revealed. Gray's film is a shockingly old-fashioned character study, a movie that looks and feels like a transplant from the 1970s, but also shares a lot in common with much older tales of unrequited love, longing, and loss. With one of the best performances of Joaquin Phoenix's career and a style and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Gomorrah

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:39:39 -0500

Feb 26, 2009

Matteo Garrone's controversial Gomorrah is a mob movie like no other. To lump it in the same category as Scarface or GoodFellas would be misleading. No one is going to have posters of these characters on their wall or quote their over-the-top dialogue. In fact, Gomorrah may be the most deglamorized look at mafia culture ever made. It is a daring, sprawling film about the blanket effect of both the actual Italian mob and the impact of its reputation. Kids run around pointing guns, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

MovieRetriever Editors Appear on the Radio!

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:25:20 -0500

Feb 23, 2009

MovieRetriever.com Editors Mike Tyrkus and Tom Burns (Turk182 and CoolerKing to the cognoscenti) were guests of The Internet Advisor radio talkshow on WJR in Detroit, Michigan over the weekend. Over the course of the half-hour interview, they discussed the 2009 Academy Awards as well as the history of the site and the general goings on at MovieRetriever.com with the hosts of the show (Gary Baker and Foster Braun, Ed Rudel, and Lauren Baker).

MovieRetriever.com editors Tom Burns (l) and Mike Tyrkus (r) during their appearance on The Internet Advisor.

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 2009 Academy Award Winners (and How Close Our Picks Came)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:47:06 -0500

Feb 23, 2009

The 81st annual Academy Awards were handed out on Sunday, February 22, 2009 and there were a few surprises (not many, but there were a few). Hugh Jackman did a fine job as host, though the humor displayed by past hosts was missed. His opening musical number was excellent (see the clip below) but that tribute to musicals in the middle of the ceremony might have gone on just a little too long (but that’s just our opinion). Dispensing with excessive clips for the acting awards and going with the pseudo-roast format was ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Who Will Win (And Who Should Win) at the 2009 Oscars

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:29:58 -0500

Feb 20, 2009

When I spoke to Danny Boyle last October, he was surprised by the positive response that his Slumdog Millionaire was starting to receive stateside after buzz from the Toronto Film Festival began getting louder and louder. Four months later, in the wake of dozens of awards and on the eve of an Oscars in which most people predict Slumdog will win at least half a dozen awards, I often wonder if he's still surprised now. What would surprise him more? A win for best Picture, Director, or Adapted Screenplay? ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Just Another Love Story

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:26:56 -0500

Feb 20, 2009

Scandinavian Ole Bornedal's Just Another Love Story is not really "just another" anything. The clever title of this arthouse release, now playing in some cities and opening in Chicago on February 20th, could have been "just another mystery," "just another noir," "just another thriller," "just another mid-life crisis," or "just another mind-f***". Whatever he calls it, Bornedal has made an effective, entertaining slice of weirdness, a movie with just enough twists and turns to make it easy to get over the sensation that its creator thinks the world of himself and his film. Occasionally ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Must Read After My Death

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:07:01 -0500

Feb 18, 2009

Like the remarkable Capturing the Friedmans, Morgan Dews' Must Read After My Death is a riveting examination of family at its most dysfunctional told entirely with home movies and personal recordings. Using nothing but his editorial skills with the footage he found when his grandmother passed away in 2001, Dews reaches behind the closed doors of the picket fence, much like AMC's Mad Men or Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road and finds unbelievable darkness behind it. The difference, of course, is that Must Read After ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Biggest Acting Oscar Snubs of the '00s

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:15:26 -0500

Feb 15, 2009

Sally Hawkins, Michelle Williams, and Kristin Scott Thomas had something in common this year. They all had the same chance of hearing their names read at the Academy Awards. All were mentioned as contenders for Best Actress during at least one part of the awards season, but the tough competition last year left them on the outside looking in. Of course, they're not alone. An entire book could be written about the mistakes the Academy has made in their five-nominee short lists over the eighty-plus years they've been handing out awards. We don't have

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Friday the 13th

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:31:24 -0500

Feb 13, 2009

There's really only one question surrounding director Marcus Nispel and producer Michael Bay's reboot of the Friday the 13th franchise - um, what's the point? The new Friday the 13th is essentially just another entry in the original franchise with new faces and a glossier sheen than, say, Jason Takes Manhattan. The problem with this new film is that it completely wastes any opportunity to update the series that made Jason Voorhees a household name around the world. The result is a film that I don’t find nearly as loathsome as the recent reboots ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The International

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:21:59 -0500

Feb 13, 2009

The International starts promisingly and has an absolutely amazing sequence about two-thirds of the way through, but everything that surrounds that roughly fifteen minutes of screen time is cinematic valium, the kind of overly talky script that is somehow both over-written and predictable at the same time. As I was watching The International the same three words kept running through my mind and it's not a phrase that any filmmaker wants to hear - "stuck in neutral." Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer has made a shockingly inert film where every character is trapped ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Five Books That Should Be Turned Into Stop-Motion Animated Movies

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:48:18 -0500

Feb 10, 2009

With Neil Gaiman's Coraline becoming one of the first critical and commercial hits of the year, it got us thinking about how stop-motion animation has evolved over the years - from creepy old Russian fairy tales to Rankin/Bass Christmas specials to The Nightmare Before Christmas. And now that, with few box-office successes under its belt, stop-motion has arguably worked itself into the Hollywood mainstream, we can't help up think of how it could be used to bring some of the most beloved books of our childhood to life. Coraline is a massive

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Your Guide to the Oscar-Nominated Short Films

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:36:54 -0500

Feb 09, 2009

For the last few years, Magnolia Pictures and Shorts International have been expertly taking the ten nominated films for the Oscar for Short Film: Live Action & Animation and presenting them in two theatrical programs for separate admissions. The lineup is currently playing at the Music Box in Chicago and in theatres in New York and Los Angeles and is expanding to 60 cities throughout the country in the following weeks. Together with the theatrical run, the nominated short films will be released on iTunes on February 17th on iTunes stores in the US,

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Coraline

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:32:51 -0500

Feb 06, 2009

Henry Selick's Coraline is a mesmerizing, nearly great trip to the world of stop-motion animation that further proves that this art form is not a genre, it's a medium. Animation can support films as diverse as Kung Fu Panda, Waltz With Bashir, and Coraline, an impressive 3D exploration of childhood fantasies gone wrong. Based on the beloved book by Neil Gaiman and featuring excellent voice work by Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, and Ian McShane, Coraline is a continuously inspiring journey with a new, wonderful surprise around every corner. If it came out ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: He's Just Not That Into You

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:28:13 -0500

Feb 06, 2009

Isn't it a little weird to turn a non-fiction book about how women have fallen for countless romantic clichés like "he's being mean to you because he likes you" or "never call him, wait for him to call you" into a romantic comedy, which is easily the most cliché-ridden genre in the history of film? What's even weirder is that it mostly works. Like any relationship, He's Just Not That Into You has its bumpy spots, but Ken Kwapis' film is surprisingly mature, enjoyable, and well-done. On one hand, it can be looked at ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Fanboys

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:24:47 -0500

Feb 06, 2009

Kyle Newman's long-delayed and controversial Fanboys is finally getting a release after years of meddling by The Weinstein Company. Having spoken to Newman about the proposed changes to his comedy, I can honestly tell you that what is hitting theaters is probably the best version of Fanboys we could have been given. What Newman reports that the studio wanted to do to this film - removing the emotional core, adding stupid humor - would have made it significantly worse and I think it probably would have never seen the light of day, becoming a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Class

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:16:53 -0500

Feb 06, 2009

The modern trend in education is moving towards the median. Smart kids are not encouraged because it's assumed they don't need the help or attention, while the students who don't perform are given all of a teacher's time. It has created a disturbing "settling" in classrooms around the world, as we all work towards the average. There's more than just that going on in Laurent Cantet's very good The Class, but the trend towards mediocrity in education is what I took away from the very depressing but realistic slice of life in a French ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Viola Davis, Oscar-Nominated Star of DOUBT

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:37:08 -0500

Feb 05, 2009

Very few actresses have made such an impact with as little screen time as Viola Davis has with her two-scene role in Doubt. But it’s not the first time Davis has walked off with a major movie, stealing Antwone Fisher and World Trade Center with similar-sized roles and also appearing in Far From Heaven, Solaris, and Disturbia. In person, Davis is charming, fascinating, and the kind of interview subject that you wish you could spend a whole day with. She was kind enough to take a little time

Meryl Streep and Viola Davis in Doubt

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Henry Selick, Director of CORALINE

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:26:38 -0500

Feb 05, 2009

Quick – Who directed Nightmare Before Christmas? Most people incorrectly answer “Tim Burton." Granted, it was his vision originally, but director Henry Selick brought it to life in a film that many people still hold dear to their heart. Selick returns this week with a film likely to find a similar cult following, Coraline, the story of a young girl who finds a secret door in her house to an alternate world. Selick, who bears a striking resemblance to Jack Skellington (tall, thin, a little pale), is a gentle, fascinating man, who

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Top of the Charts: The Top Ten Musical Biopics

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:24:26 -0500

Feb 04, 2009

We recently revisited the musical biopic The Buddy Holly Story following the 50th anniversary of the death of Holly (Buddy died along with Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper on February 3, 1950). This got us to thinking about the music biopic genre as a whole and the characteristics movies within the genre share.

Many of these films feature a singularly excellent performance by the lead actor or actress that so embodies the subject that it can ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Interview: Kyle Newman, Director of FANBOYS

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:25:03 -0500

Feb 03, 2009

It’s been a long few years for Kyle Newman. The young director’s comedy, Fanboys, following a group of George Lucas-obsessed friends on a quest to see Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace before its released, wrapped in the summer of 2006 and is just now being released in theaters on February 6th, 2009. What took so long? Well, the involvement of Harvey Weinstein, another director, reshoots, new cameos, and the removal of an entire plotline can lead to a long post-production. But with the help of an intense internet campaign,

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Taken

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:46:40 -0500

Jan 30, 2009

Imagine Jason Bourne or Jack Bauer twenty years down the road with an ex-wife and a daughter who doesn't think he's all that cool any more. Sure, they’ve put their spy skills on the back burner, but kicking ass is like riding a bicycle. You don't forget the basics. Now imagine that Bourne or Bauer's daughter is kidnapped and imagine the ass that would be kicked to get her back. That's the basic premise of Taken, a swiftly-paced and shockingly satisfying thriller that deserves ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Wendy and Lucy

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:43:54 -0500

Jan 30, 2009

Wendy and Lucy is a heart-wrenching, tragic look at the human strays of society, the people who have either left the mainstream on their own or who we have left behind in our general pursuit of the American dream. What happens to the people who fall through the economic and social cracks? Where do the drifters and the unemployed go when there are fewer and fewer places for them? And when they get lost, who finds them and gives ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Waltz With Bashir

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:41:57 -0500

Jan 23, 2009

Waltz With Bashir is one of the most riveting, evocative, and memorable experiences I've had in a movie theater in a very long time. It's hard to put into words the emotional impact a critic can experience when he sees something as daringly new as Ari Folman's masterful dissection of memory and regret. It’s like eating a good meal after a steady diet of Hot Pockets. It’s why we do what we do. In a wonderful, beautiful world, Bashir would become the art house ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Donkey Punch

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:35:33 -0500

Jan 23, 2009

"Anyone heard of a donkey punch?"

Donkey Punch, the controversial film from last year's festival circuit about beautiful people doing VERY ugly things, has finally made its way to stateside theaters and it feels like a movie sure to find a cult following but also disappoints on many levels. Oliver Blackburn's film is essentially another variation on the Very Bad Things concept - the idea that relatively good people will do very bad things if ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 81st Annual Academy Award Nominations Have Been Announced!

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:45:36 -0500

Jan 22, 2009

The 81st annual Academy Award nominations were announced earlier today (see the clip below for the announcement), and, per usual, there's a lot of be happy about and a lot to make you fall to your knees, reach up to the sky and scream "WHY?" The biggest story of the day will probably be the snubs with the highest grossing movie of the year, The Dark Knight, losing out in most of the major categories and only receiving nods for best supporting actor (a foregone conclusion) and its technical ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

They Made Another Crocodile Dundee? Movie Three-quels Nobody Asked For!

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:55:39 -0500

Jan 22, 2009

Not all three-quels are created equal. For every Bourne Ultimatum, we have to sit through a dozen or so films of the quality of X-Men: The Last Stand. But even with the VAST chasm of difference in quality between those two films, they do share something in common - they were inevitable. The Bourne Supremacy and X2: X-Men United were huge hits, a lot of their stars came back for the next film, and, most importantly, the fans downright demanded they be made. We're not here ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

And the Nominees for the 81st Academy Awards Will Be...

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:24:06 -0500

Jan 19, 2009

MovieRetriever.com is going on record. Write it down. Impress your friends. These WILL be the nominees when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences goes through their annual routine on Thursday morning at 5:30am PST. Yes, we're confident. You almost have to be in a year as weird as this one. Or, at least, Hollywood is that predictable. These aren't necessarily our picks for best of the year, but, given eighty previous years of ceremonies, these are pretty informed guesses. So, without further ado...

...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Che

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:06:08 -0500

Jan 16, 2009

Before we get started, because it's opening here in Chicago as one film and it is useless to see one without the other, Steven Soderbergh's Che will be reviewed and discussed as one experience, even though each half will be mentioned, as they clearly have different dramatic purposes. Having said that, I think giving each film a separate grade, as some publications have chosen to do, is ridiculous. It's equivalent to reviewing the pre- and post-intermission parts of Gone With the Wind separately. No ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Defiance

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:04:24 -0500

Jan 16, 2009

If you're a fan of Edward Zwick's previous films like Blood Diamond, Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai, and The Siege, then you will probably like more of the same in Defiance. I'm not a fan of those films and got exactly what I expected with Zwick’s latest. I think, on film, Zwick is one of the least subtle and most over-the-top directors that works regularly. He chooses emotionally resonant themes like the violence of the diamond trade in Africa or the heroic ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Last Chance Harvey

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:02:26 -0500

Jan 16, 2009

Last Chance Harvey is one of those simple, gentle movies that doesn't really do anything remarkable but features two performances strong enough to get nearly any audience member over the generic attributes of its screenplay. It’s an old-fashioned crowd pleaser about two lonely but likable people who become a little less lonely and a little more likable over the running time of a feature film. Featuring Dustin Hoffman's best work in at least a decade, arguably two, and a charming, delightful turn from the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Greatest Canines in Cinema History

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:56:18 -0500

Jan 15, 2009

As you may have guessed, we here at MovieRetriever.com have a certain affinity for dogs (in case you’re just joining us – our mascot is an anthropomorphic movie-reviewing Labrador retriever). So, you can imagine how thrilled we are with the recent slew of films concerning man’s best friend that have come our way via the multiplex. There’s Marley & Me, which strikes just the right balance of humor and emotion and Bolt which proves that not all non-Pixar made animated films have to necessarily suck. There’s even another live-action canine caper in ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Eight Movies Hollywood Should Remake in 3D

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:12:09 -0500

Jan 14, 2009

Before people start losing their minds and sending us hate mail, it's not like we're suggesting that movies should ever be remade. But that's like saying it should never rain. Good luck with that. As Hollywood continues its headlong run into being completely creatively bankrupt, there are more and more remakes every year. In just January, horror fans will be subjected to The Uninvited, a remake of the great The Tale of Two Sisters, and a 3D version of My Bloody Valentine. With Jeffrey Katzenberg's recent claim ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Timecrimes

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:39:43 -0500

Jan 13, 2009

It's not often that you see what could be called "a simple time travel movie.” That's why I kind of love Timecrimes, the latest Spanish sensation on the arthouse circuit and one of the more original and unique science fiction movies in years. Of course, there's nothing simple about jumping through small periods of time, and Timecrimes is complex in its own interesting way, but what debut director Nacho Vigalondo wisely never does is to fall into the hyperbole that seems to have pervaded the genre. For years, every ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Yonkers Joe

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:38:30 -0500

Jan 13, 2009

Hollywood has long been obsessed with the aging con man. It’s ironic but all actors of a certain age inevitably play a cop looking to close one last case or a criminal looking to get one last score. The title character in Yonkers Joe is the latter, a guy who is cut from an old-fashioned cloth of con men and who struggles with the iron-clad security of modern casinos. Joe (Chazz Palminteri) is a dice man. Within the blink of an eye, he can replace the dice at a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 2009 Golden Globe�Winners!

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:46:25 -0500

Jan 12, 2009

Well, this year’s Golden Globe Awards ceremony has come and gone and its Slumdog Millionaire by a mile taking home four major awards (though curiously no acting accolades). The ceremony was far better than last year’s lackluster press conference due to the writer’s strike (but really, that bar wasn’t very high).

While we’re big fans of Danny Boyle and Slumdog Millionaire is definitely one of our favorite films this year, we enjoyed the acting awards a bit more this year. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Ten of the Worst Movies Ever Released in January

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:36:54 -0500

Jan 09, 2009

There's a science to releasing movies, a time-tested methodology that studios have refined to maximize profits by premiering certain films at certain times of the year. Some months are traditionally great for date movies, others for family fare, and so on. The rules are constantly changing, but there's one release rule that seems pretty consistent through Hollywood's history - if a movie is being released in January, it's probably a big piece of crap.

Sure, there are some exceptions - ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Unborn

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:04:40 -0500

Jan 09, 2009

David S. Goyer's The Unborn is like a bad remake of a good Asian horror movie except there's no source material from which the American version could get be accused of being lost in translation. This one is just lost from inception. Actually, The Unborn practically feels like a remake of one of 2009's worst - One Missed Call - from its dull brunette lead to its lack of genuine scares to featuring Meagan Good in the supporting cast. An odd blend of superstition, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Not Easily Broken

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:02:56 -0500

Jan 09, 2009

Not Easily Broken is a film not easily reviewed. For every element of the production that doesn't work, there's something that pulls the film back from being one that's easy to dismiss. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert used to the word "marginal" to qualify their film reviews when they could have been easily swayed to "thumbs up" or "thumbs down". Not Easily Broken is as "marginal" as a movie as you may see in all of 2009. From moment to moment, Bill Duke's domestic ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Revolutionary Road

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:55:50 -0500

Jan 02, 2009

What would the bickering George and Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf have been like thirty years before that fateful night? A better question might be - would they be as interesting without the gravity of time, which is such a major part of Edward Albee's amazing play? Would the audience care about their squabbles and their selfish, ego-driven grievances? The answer presented by Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road is a resounding "no."

Revolutionary ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Lessons Learned from the Worst Movies of 2008

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:29:05 -0500

Dec 30, 2008

Unbearable romantic comedies, star vehicles with the parking brake stuck in the "on" position, sequels that nobody asked even be made much less wanted to see, and careers that should have ended years ago - 2008 was head-scratchingly bad when it came to the bottom of the cinematic barrel. Wouldn't you think that the continuing diversity of entertainment would make for better movies? When people have more and more options to watch movies on everything from their iPod to their PS3 to their cell phone, Hollywood is going to ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:47:00 -0500

Dec 25, 2008

What would you learn about life if you lived it in reverse? If you were born with the calm wisdom of an older gentleman, how would it affect the way you approach the world? Would you be less passionate with the furor of adolescence replaced with the complacency of old age? That's just one of many interesting questions posed by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, one of the most ambitious and technically accomplished films of 2008. David Fincher's incredibly detailed film may not ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Wrestler

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:45:11 -0500

Dec 25, 2008

Mickey Rourke's work in The Wrestler is not just a lead in another sports movie. It's as iconic a performance as we've seen in all of 2008. It's rare, but every once in a while, you see a film character emerge who you know immediately will become a well-known part of the common knowledge of movie history. They're names that everyone knows - Tony Montana, Rocky Balboa, Jake La Motta, Don Corleone. Randy “The Ram” Robinson joins that elite group of people that immediately ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Reader

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:42:56 -0500

Dec 25, 2008

An oddly cool, distant movie about very emotionally raw issues, Stephen Daldry's The Reader is not a complete success but features enough quality work by Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet to merit recommendation. Honestly, The Reader is one of those movies that I find hard to criticize or praise too vehemently. It's practically what I like to call a "shrug film,” one of those flicks that dissipates from memory without much negative or positive to make it worth talking about. Only the work of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Valkyrie

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:40:10 -0500

Dec 25, 2008

In the right material - Magnolia, Born on the Fourth of July, Minority Report - Tom Cruise can be a powerfully vibrant actor. But there's a resonance, a gravity that some actors bring to the big screen that Mr. Cruise simply does not have. I like Cruise, but actors need to know their strengths and, in the wrong material, Tom too often mistakes morose for serious and looks drowsy instead of intense. That sensation pervades Valkyrie, a film that needed to have a crackerjack ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Happy Holidays from the Hound!

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:35:31 -0500

Dec 25, 2008

It’s that time of year again. That wonderful, blessed season where everyone pretends to embrace their fellow man, regardless of race, creed, or political affiliation and yet – no matter how many times we force ourselves to say “Happy Holidays” – it’s still hard to ignore that 95% of the Western world is swathed in Christmas decorations and the only thing on TV is George Bailey and Rudolph. But, if you forget about the hypocrisy of the season for just a tiny bit, you’ll realize that the holidays aren’t ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Best Movies of 2008

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 01:06:42 -0500

Dec 22, 2008

It's that time of year when critics make the often futile attempt to sum up hundreds of movies and twelve months of viewing into a nice, neat package. How do you define 2008 in movies? Personally, I found myself turning away from films that were too focused on the depressing. The movies that I loved not only transcended criticism but also were more often than not "positive." Maybe Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky wore off on me but bleak films like Revolutionary Road, Changeling, Ballast, Wendy and Lucy, and I've Loved ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Yes Man

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:45:20 -0500

Dec 20, 2008

Jim Carrey has had a few projects recently that he probably should have said "no" to when offered. The Number 23 and Fun With Dick and Jane spring immediately to mind. So, it's tempting to fall back on that critical crutch for his latest work, Yes Man, but I can't whole-heartedly exclaim in my best Gene Shalit impression, "Say NO to Yes Man!" The comedy doesn't come together, but it's not a complete disaster and I could see movie goers high on eggnog and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Seven Pounds

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:43:28 -0500

Dec 19, 2008

"There's been a suicide."

"Who's the victim?"

"I am."

No, actually, the paying audience is the victim. With those opening lines spoken by a distraught Will Smith, Gabriele Muccino begins his overly sentimental, mawkish, ridiculous drama, Seven Pounds, a movie that transcends melodrama in its first few minutes and proceeds into the overdone stratosphere. The message of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Best Supporting Performances of 2008

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:45:14 -0500

Dec 19, 2008

For the best lead performances of 2008, check out the first half of this feature, posted yesterday (The Best Lead Performances of 2008). Today, we move on to the supporting performances. Just as Brett Favre is nothing without his receivers and every Cy Young award-winning pitcher should share it with the catcher who called the pitches, great performances are usually nothing without a great supporting turn to balance it. As mentioned yesterday, I loved Viola Davis in Doubt and Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road, but they're ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Gran Torino

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:01:03 -0500

Dec 19, 2008

The critics blindly defending Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino are looking at the film through the warped lens of history. No one loves Clint Eastwood more than I do. I've seen every film that Clint made with Sergio Leone and the Dirty Harry anthology repeatedly and would take Unforgiven to my desert island. Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River were near the top of the list for their respective years. I'll even stand up and defend his less popular films like A Perfect World, Heartbreak ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Tale of Despereaux

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:40:46 -0500

Dec 19, 2008

The Tale of Despereaux is not one of those antic, schticky animated movies that have littered the landscape like straight-to-video sequels to The Land Before Time, and yet it's just as much of a misstep, proving that there's more than one way to make a bad cartoon. With design that borders on creepy more than creative, voice work that rarely seems inspired, and a story that may work on the page but falls flat on the big screen, The Tale of Despereaux only saves ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Best Lead Performances of 2008

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:51:23 -0500

Dec 17, 2008

Sing along – “It's the most critical time of the year.” If you desire, you could read hundreds of articles giving away critics awards, making top ten lists, and assembling Oscar predictions for the best of 2008, but it can be difficult to separate the best performances from the ones that are just well-marketed. In an effort to separate the For Your Consideration campaigns from the work that will honestly be remembered beyond next year's award season, we're here to break down the best of the four major acting ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Day The Earth Stood Still

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:10:38 -0500

Dec 12, 2008

The rumbling sound you hear that shakes the theaters playing The Day the Earth Stood Still this weekend isn't an awesome sound system. It's everyone involved with the original turning over in their grave. Only loosely related to the sci-fi classic from which it steals its name, the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still is being advertised as a "reimagining," but the words "bastardization" or "plundering" would be more appropriate. Director Scott Derrickson and the producers of the new film haven't just ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Frost/Nixon

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:08:41 -0500

Dec 12, 2008

There is inherent drama in the true story of David Frost's landmark interview with Richard Nixon in 1977. There's a "David and Goliath” story, an "Abuse of Power" story, and a showcase for acting powerhouses. It's right up Ron Howard's alley. Sadly, it also easily falls prey to the director's lack of passion and general whitewashing of cinema. Almost every movie that Ron Howard has directed has been "good-not-great.” He's perhaps the most consistent, 3-star director of all time, and this highly-buzzed picture does ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Doubt

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:06:30 -0500

Dec 12, 2008

Based on John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Doubt is an acting powerhouse, a dialogue-driven dissection of faith, religion, sin, and belief, which might not deliver the gut punch that it could have in a better director's hands but is a must-see for some of the best performances of the year and the kind of exercise in acting that you don’t see that often any more.

Doubt is essentially a three-person show - Sister ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Nothing Like the Holidays

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:04:17 -0500

Dec 12, 2008

Nothing Like the Holidays? Really, nothing? Aren't there a few things like the holidays? Nothing Like the Holidays is this year's slice of ethnic-spiced pumpkin pie a la This Christmas or The Perfect Holiday from last season. Originally titled "Humboldt Park" and probably more about the thriving and wonderful Hispanic neighborhood on the west side of Chicago, Nothing Like the Holidays is as generic and predictable as they come. The talented ensemble lifts the film above some of its ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Dark Streets

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:39 -0500

Dec 12, 2008

This year's Idlewild or Romance and Cigarettes is finally here in Dark Streets, another musically ambitious film that mistakes flair for soul and fancy costumes for style. A unique but ultimately disastrous semi-noir, semi-musical, semi-comedy, and semi-mystery, Dark Streets is a semi-film, a movie that never comes together into anything coherent or worth caring about. A few scene-stealing actors save it from complete disaster, although a lackluster lead keeps trying to drag it away from them and back down the alley of cinematic shame. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Best Movies of 2009 - That's Right, 2009

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:54:24 -0500

Dec 11, 2008

[Editor's Note: Although this piece was originally written in late 2008 and was intended as a possible look into the future, we here at MovieRetriever.com are fairly proud of how spot on most of the predictions were. Even though a few movies have slipped into 2010 (Shutter Island) and a few (Watchmen) may no longer be considered by most to be some of the year's best, we're still confident you'll find the piece insightful and entertaining. Enjoy.]

Now that ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

In Memoriam: Forrest J. Ackerman: 1916-2008

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:37:31 -0500

Dec 09, 2008

In what will be a blow to Sci-Fi fans everywhere, the man largely credited with creating the term has passed on. Forrest J. Ackerman passed away late last Thursday night after a bout with illness. He was one of science fiction’s greatest fans and helped spawn the careers of many of its classic writers and inspired many film effects artists, and directors.

Along with publishing the legendary Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, he co-wrote stories ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Best Movie Trailer Songs of 2008

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:19:57 -0500

Dec 04, 2008

Movie trailers have evolved into works of art unto themselves, and, aside from featuring some of the best editing in Hollywood, they also use music more effectively than 80% of most mainstream films. Coming attractions are part preview, part sales pitch, part music video, and the truly great trailer editors can bring all of those elements together in a rousing package that forces you to turn to your best friend and whisper, “Dude, we HAVE to see that.” And music is a big part of eliciting that reaction from ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Milk

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:51:13 -0500

Dec 02, 2008

"My name is Harvey Milk and I'm here to recruit you." I have long bristled at the suggestion that film has the power to change minds or effect the world of human rights. Art is art, and we shouldn't put too much pressure on filmmakers to be world-changers. But Gus Van Sant's absolutely brilliant Milk has made me rethink that idea. Harvey Milk, a crucial leader of the gay rights movement in the '70s, told people that it wasn't just okay to be who they were, if it meant ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

10 Terrible Life Lessons from Your Favorite Christmas Movies

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:58:24 -0500

Dec 01, 2008

It's finally December and you know what that means - despite all your best attempts to remain non-denominational and "Happy Holidays" friendly, you're going to spend a LARGE portion of this month watching Christmas movies. If you own a TV, it's a foregone conclusion that you're going to see A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life, at least, four times each, so - regardless of your race, gender, or creed - you need to prepare yourself for liberal doses of Hollywood-approved X-Mas spirit. However, even though ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: My Name Is Bruce

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:57:02 -0500

Nov 28, 2008

A loser teenager in a Bubba Ho-Tep shirt tries to pick up a girl with lines like "Give me some sugar, baby." As much as the critic in me knows it's goofy, the boy who watched Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness forty-five times is smiling. My Name is Bruce is a movie made for fans of one of the best B-movie actors of all time, and the final product is a sometimes-clever, very self-aware ode to the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Eight Classic Movie Bars for the Biggest Bar Weekend of 2008

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:03:51 -0500

Nov 26, 2008

Let's be frank. Thanksgiving is nice - cardboard pilgrim hats, feigning interest in parades, silently unbuckling your belt under the dinner table - but it's really just a means to an end. The REAL holiday is the night before, because we all know that the pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday is the only holiday that gives St. Patrick's Day any competition for the most alcohol-fueled day of the year. That's right. November 26th is Christmas for alcoholics, kicking off the biggest bar weekend of the year, so prepare yourself to run into ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Australia

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:10:53 -0500

Nov 26, 2008

Baz Luhrmann has never been accused of subtlety. His gloriously romantic vision led to the charming simplicity of Strictly Ballroom, the unapologetic theatricality of Romeo Juliet, and the absolutely wonderful Moulin Rouge! I love all three of those movies. I find myself having to make excuses for his latest, Australia, in order to even say that I like it at all. It's a deeply flawed, bloated, distant, poorly paced film with some beautiful scenery, old-fashioned storytelling, and solid performances. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Transporter 3

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:09:25 -0500

Nov 26, 2008

After the recent press screening of Transporter 3, there was actually discussion among the critics in attendance as to whether or not the Jason Statham vehicles (pun intended) might qualify as the worst trilogy of ALL TIME. (I’ll admit it. I started it. But it wasn’t long before others were in agreement.) The rule was that any of the first three movies of any film franchise could count (so, as painful as they were, you couldn't include Saw IV ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

A Teen's Take on Twilight

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:06:17 -0500

Nov 21, 2008

Earlier this week, we did a feature on excuses grown-ups could use to justify going to see the much buzzed-about teen vampire flick Twilight this weekend, and do you know why we did that article? Because even though most people we’ve talked to over the age of 25 have said either they don’t understand the appeal of Stephenie Meyer’s modern gothic romance or something akin to “Why am I only hearing about this Twilight movie now?,” the truth of the matter is... EVERYONE is going to see it ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Bolt

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:03:00 -0500

Nov 21, 2008

If you take Pixar out of the equation, the current state of movie animation is pretty dire. With a few exceptions (Monster House, Meet the Robinsons), the boom in CGI technology has taken the drive out of storytelling. Walt Disney and the other pioneers who always saw the form as a way to tell a wonderful tale above all else would turn away from the recent flock of animated films that have turned the emphasis to the visual and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: A Christmas Tale

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:01:18 -0500

Nov 21, 2008

A Christmas Tale is not your standard dysfunctional family drama. There's not only a lot more to it than the predictable cliches that the genre usually delivers - don't expect a heartwarming ending - but also it's never once intended to be about a "traditional holiday experience.” Yes, you will probably see something of yourself or your siblings in the incredibly twisted and damaged clan of the Vuillards, but Arnaud Desplechin's film is a character study of a different ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Six Excuses Grown-Ups Can Use for Going to See Twilight This Weekend

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:48:44 -0500

Nov 19, 2008

Sigh... it's going to be a rough time at the multiplex for anyone old enough to legally drink this weekend. The last pre-Thanksgiving movie releases are always typically family-friendly, but, this year, there are only two real choices if you want to see a new movie (and have already seen Quantum of Solace), and both have their baggage, particularly for audiences over twelve years old. First, there's Bolt, which has had good trailers and Pixar's resident genius John Lasseter working behind the scenes (big pluses), but it's ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Let the Right One In

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:37:01 -0500

Nov 14, 2008

There's just something vampirism and adolescence that makes for a perfect fit. If you think about it, the legend of the vampire has always been one of the outcast, the count in his castle who can never find love because he's only going to outlive his mortal beloved or end up sucking her blood. And when did you feel the most like an outcast? Like someone who will never find true love? Puberty. The Twilight books have turned the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Ashes of Times Redux

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:35:45 -0500

Nov 14, 2008

It's been an unusual year for Wong Kar-Wai fans. First, there was My Blueberry Nights, a film that caused quite a stir at Cannes, most of which was not positive. The highly edited version of Nights that ended up stateside feels like the least essential film in the WKW filmography to this massive fan of the visually stunning director. (If you haven't seen In the Mood For Love and 2046, get thee to a DVD store or Netflix queue ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The 007 Best Bond Theme Songs

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:53:51 -0500

Nov 13, 2008

As long as there have been James Bond films (nearly five decades now) there has been some degree of anticipation of the new James Bond theme with each new theatrical release. While the series stumbled early on in terms of theme songs (Dr. No didn’t even feature a song – though we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the “James Bond Theme” written either by Monty Norman or John Barry (depending on which piece of litigation you subscribe to) for the film, as the signature piece of music that ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Quantum of Solace

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:01:03 -0500

Nov 13, 2008

If Casino Royale was an earthquake that shook the world of twenty-first action movies and rearranged the landscape, Quantum of Solace is the aftershock. It may not have the direct, unexpected impact of the original tremor, but it still has enough power to knock you on your ass. The first direct sequel in James Bond history - the film picks up nearly immediately after the end of Royale - Quantum of Solace is an effective, thrilling action movie, if not ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:11:24 -0500

Nov 12, 2008

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire is so many movies blended into one film - a nearly perfect film - that it's almost impossible to accurately put into words what this masterful director has accomplished with one of the best movies of the year. Just see it. The comparison that keeps coming to my mind is a movie that you would probably never equate with a story about a homeless Indian teenager. Remember how Quentin Tarantino took familiar elements of the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Ten Movie Endings That Should've Been Re-Shot

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:40:30 -0500

Nov 11, 2008

There's been a lot of talk about how movies end lately, particularly with the news that Baz Luhrmann was forced to reshoot the ending of his upcoming Nicole Kidman/Hugh Jackman epic, Australia, to give it a more uplifting ending (beware spoiler-heavy news items on that one - they reveal who lives and who dies) and with director Zack Synder's recent admission that he altered the ending of his greatly anticipated comic-book adaptation, Watchmen, despite having spent the past year selling the film to fanboys with the promise ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:11:47 -0500

Nov 07, 2008

Some movies vacillate between good and bad. Certain films can start off interesting and fall apart as they progress, while others may grow on you as they unspool (although it's a lot rarer for a failed project to save itself than for a quality to flick to go south). Unless it's a masterpiece or an unqualified disaster, most movies are going to have their pluses and minuses on display at different moments during their running time. Perhaps the most ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Synecdoche, New York

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:09:53 -0500

Nov 07, 2008

And you thought Charlie Kaufman's earlier movies didn't make sense? The brilliant writer's first foray into direction produces his least easy-to-define film to date, a movie that turns in on itself so many times that it somewhat loses its way. The best cast of the year and one of the most original screenplays of all time make Synecdoche, New York worth seeing, but Kaufman's writing requires masterful direction from people like Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry to really come ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Role Models

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:07:49 -0500

Nov 07, 2008

David Wain's Role Models is a great set-up for a movie with a fantastic cast, but the talented comedian behind the great and underrated Wet Hot American Summer forgot the follow-through. The first half hour of Role Models is as laugh-out-loud funny as practically anything in this great year for comedy (it's been the most thriving genre of 2008 from Sarah Marshall through the R-rated trifecta of late summer to Zack and Miri and now this), but it will ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:06:05 -0500

Nov 07, 2008

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas will undoubtedly pull many a heartstring and make many an audience member shed a tear, but, with a premise and execution this hollow and manipulative, I beg you, don't fall for it. Don't give into filmmakers who know that children in peril and Holocaust stories have an inherent emotional power and are prepared to use that power to do whatever it takes to make you cry. Striped Pajamas is not just misguided drama. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Who Should Direct the Movie Versions of Crichton's Final Novels?

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:25:16 -0500

Nov 06, 2008

Fans were shocked this week by the sudden death of Michael Crichton, the award-winning writer and producer who was best known as the godfather of the techno-thriller genre as well as for Hollywood's big-ticket film adaptations of his novels. For a large portion of the 1990s, a new Crichton movie was an annual event - starting with 1993's Jurassic Park, there was at least one movie based on a Crichton novel released every year until 1999, with the exception of 1996, which can be excused since that year ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Five Remakes That Suck and Five That Don't

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:27:06 -0500

Nov 05, 2008

We here at MovieRetriever.com have (please forgive the pun) a bone to pick with the film industry. The disturbing trend of remaking or recycling classic or popular films and/or properties into vehicles designed to appeal solely to a target demographic has really got us annoyed (witness this week's release of the much hyped remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still for example). More often than not (and let’s be honest, it’s usually the former), this practice is done for profit and it has to stop. The number of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

McCain or Obama: How Movie Superheroes Would Vote in '08

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:23:47 -0500

Nov 02, 2008

The long journey to Election Day is finally ending, and the campaign has been the topic of much discussion around the MovieRetriever.com offices - in between, you know, arguments about the relative merits of Superman Returns vs. Spider-Man 3 (lesser of two evils battle) and Dark Knight vs. Iron Man (too close to call). Somehow, these two disparate threads tied together, and we wondered how some of our most beloved cinematic superheroes would view this election, were they not busy with nocturnal crime fighting, saving the world from aliens, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

The Ten Goriest Horror Movie Scenes

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:38:07 -0400

Oct 31, 2008

Halloween is a great time to curl up and watch a scary movie or two with someone you love, or perhaps even by yourself. But, we wouldn’t recommend going solo – who are you going to send to the kitchen to get more popcorn? – after all, there could be a psychopath in there waiting to chop you up into little bits. Anyway, some of the best thrills to be had when watching a horror film are found in the gorier entries to the genre. It’s is for this reason that we here ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:23:48 -0400

Oct 31, 2008

It seemed inevitable that the Judd Apatow-verse and the View Askew-verse headed by Kevin Smith would eventually merge. Smith himself has even credited Knocked Up with showing him not just that Seth Rogen was MADE to star in a film co-starring Jason Mewes but that the ceiling on his brand of raunchy humor wasn't as low as he suspected. If they could make a blockbuster out of a schlub who smokes pot all the time, has a career goal that involves celebrity nudity, and ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Fear(s) of the Dark

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:53:30 -0400

Oct 31, 2008

Hollywood doesn't really understand what scares you anymore. I honestly don't believe anyone over the age of fifteen is scared by the Saw movies. They're action movies or, more accurately, exercises in the twisted human desire to watch people get tortured. The fact is that most modern horror movies aren't really going for scares any more. They're going for the jump, the racing heart, and the gory finish. But that doesn't last. It doesn't stick with you. The fact is that a creaking floorboard ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Ballast

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:43:00 -0400

Oct 31, 2008

Lance Hammer's highly acclaimed Ballast is a painful, depressing experience. In fact, some could easily argue that it borders on audience torture. Ballast is not only bereft of a single laugh, there's not even a crack of a smile. It's about people who are no longer physically able to look on the bright side of life, and it features some of the most heart-wrenching dramatic material of the year. But to what end? What is the dramatic purpose of a movie like Ballast, a ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: I've Loved You So Long

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:39:25 -0400

Oct 31, 2008

Sometimes movies seem to come out of the personality of the stars at the center of the film. It can be something as simple as how John Wayne's movies seemed to be written around The Duke's persona or the fact that a lot of Al Pacino flicks seem to have scripts driven by the amount of scenery-chewing moments they provide the star. But, occasionally, a star's personality can positively impact and truly define a movie. It's that sensation that not only was an actor ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: RockNRolla

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:33:40 -0400

Oct 31, 2008

What the hell happened to Guy Ritchie? Sure, it's easy to point a finger at Madonna (and the cynical side of me thinks that all the press lately surrounding their miserable marriage is just publicity for Guy's new movie), but it's truly shocking how drastically this once uber-promising writer/director has fallen. After Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, Ritchie was on top of the hip movie world. He was the British Quentin Tarantino, a guy who had his finger on the pulse ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Five Movies That Kevin Smith Should Direct

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:12:06 -0400

Oct 30, 2008

Chances are - unless you live in a fundamentalist, anti-technology commune in Utah or unless all your friends are vigilant about keeping a swear jar - someone you know is a fan of Kevin Smith. Even if you missed the original indie firestorm created by Smith's low-budget debut, Clerks, back in 1994, there's a good chance that you've witnessed some part of the writer/director/actor's impressive resume in the subsequent 14 years. Since Clerks, he's written and directed Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Dear Zachary

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:12:18 -0400

Oct 29, 2008

Critics constantly overuse phrases like "gut-wrenching" and "heartbreaking" when it comes to writing about emotionally devastating films, almost to the point where those words don't even mean much anymore. They certainly only begin to capture what you feel when you’re stuck trying to review a movie that honestly did leave you emotionally shattered. Here's the best way I can put it - I was lucky enough to see Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father on a screener in the comfort ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

A Teen's Take on High School Musical 3

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:28:12 -0400

Oct 28, 2008

This weekend, High School Musical 3: Senior Year made over $42 million at the box office, shattering the record for highest grossing movie musical ever and surprising absolutely NO ONE under the age of 15. Maybe it’s a generational thing, maybe we’ve missed the Disney Corporation’s subliminal mind rays that pulse out from every episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, or maybe it’s because most of us were born before 1980 (the horror!), but even the stunted man-boys at the MovieRetriever offices can’t really understand ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Uwe Boll Offers Alternatives to Seeing Saw V

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:22:13 -0400

Oct 24, 2008

We received a pained phone call from our theatrical critic this week, asking (as polite as he could) whether we wanted him to pay out of his own pocket to see Saw V. You see, certain movies tend not to hold critic screenings before they're released and, generally, those films are, almost always, giant piles of crap. There are certain movies that are just considered "critic proof," either because they're obviously popcorn thrills of the lowest common denominator - meant more for Joe ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Changeling

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:20:58 -0400

Oct 24, 2008

The best Clint Eastwood films typically deal with people caught in complex, morally gray situations. The heroes of Unforgiven, Mystic River, and Million Dollar Baby are all faced with tough decisions and questions without easy answers. The man who made his legacy playing violent heroes in spaghetti westerns understands that sometimes good and bad can reside together in the same troubled soul. I mention this because the complexity and subtlety that has defined Eastwood's past masterpieces is missing from ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Happy-Go-Lucky

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:19:23 -0400

Oct 24, 2008

My mother once asked me if I was a "generally happy" person. I'm still not sure of the answer, but I'm fascinated by the question. What does that mean? Who is without sadness at times? And who can say for sure if the balance makes one "generally happy" or "generally sad"? I’m not sure about myself, but I can tell you one thing for sure - Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is generally happy. Poppy is over-the-top, out-of-control, stupid happy, the ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: Pride and Glory

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:17:49 -0400

Oct 24, 2008

How do so many talented people go so far awry? Edward Norton is usually very smart about the projects he picks (even The Incredible Hulk was a smart movie and the failure of it was not his fault) and Colin Farrell has shown signs of life in the past with recent underrated performances in Cassandra's Dream and In Bruges. When they heard the pitch for Pride and Glory, they must have assumed that they would be making a gritty ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

How to Pick the Perfect Movie to Watch on Halloween

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:55:38 -0400

Oct 23, 2008

Holiday weekends are always big for movie-going. Families spend Thanksgiving evening going to see Harry Potter (well, they were going to), Christmas Day perusing the Oscar hopefuls, Memorial Day helping people like Michael Bay break the bank, and the Fourth of July worshipping at the altar of Will Smith. But, even though it never gets the same attention as those others, Halloween is truly one of the biggest movie holidays of the year. Don't believe us? Go to a Blockbuster at about 7 pm Halloween night and just TRY ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Ten Baseball Movies That Belong in the Hall of Fame

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:59:29 -0400

Oct 21, 2008

“The one constant through all the years…has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past…. It reminds us of all that once was good and could be again.” When James Earl Jones delivers these lines as writer Terence Mann near the end of Field of Dreams it solidifies the fact that baseball is woven into the fabric of our national consciousness. Simply put, ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com

Movie Review: W.

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:11:56 -0400

Oct 17, 2008

What is Oliver Stone's W.? The previews made it seem like it would be a satirical slice of presidential life. How else to explain the use of "What a Wonderful World" over footage of the nightmare of the last eight years? But the final product itself is more (and kind of less) than a comedy. In fact, and maybe this is a personal thing, there's not a lot to laugh about when it comes to President George W. Bush. Yes, I gleefully smiled at ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com