You know what my least favorite part of Batman Begins is? The title. Batman Begins. It just kind of sits there on the page, doing absolutely nothing to excite me about what it is I came to see. The movie is based on a graphic novel titled Batman : Year One, which itself is cleaner and sounds much less like a kid’s picture book than the former. Luckily though, marketing a film goes far, far outside of just the title and Batman Begins flat appellation effects very little of the film it precedes.
Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray, Full List
Tagged Batman Begins, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Opinion, Reviews
Christopher Guest has to be the most successful mockumentarian to date. The competition is pretty thin, but the caliber at which Guest has been performing since way back with This is Spinal Tap sufficiently distances him from all comers. While he has written and directed at least three phenomenal entries to the genre, the endless number of bizarre, captivating, charming, endearing and thoroughly unique characters he’s devised easily earns him a spot at the top. To put it more plainly, Christopher Guest is to mockumentaries what Julia Child is to TV cooking. Or to put it even more plainly, Christopher Guest is Julia Child.
Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray, Full List
Tagged Best in Show, Christopher Guest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Opinion, Reviews
When it comes to storytelling (or songwriting for that matter) love is probably the most over-utilized jumping off point. It’s to be expected. So many of us spend so much of our time longing for it or working towards it or doing our best to maintain it. The stakes of losing love are high enough as to almost necessitate injecting it into a story whenever you can. It’s the most basic tale we can tell. What has manifested then is a genre that uses love as a starting point while spending much more time exploring it’s minutiae. And so, All the Real Girls.
Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray, Full List
Tagged All the Real Girls, David Gordon Green, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Opinion, Paul Schneider, Reviews, Zooey Deschanel
It seems like comedy has more to do with putting yourself out there completely than anything else. If it’s not funny then it’s not funny, likewise for being overly offensive or dated, but if the comedy is non-committal than everything else will fall short anyway. With his latest direction, Funny People, Judd Apatow exercises this notion possibly to a fault. The director throws everything he’s got into his third feature film, an exercise made more strenuous by the looming uncertainty of what this film is…Comedy? Drama? Both? Neither? B-Movie Sex Horror? No…no, it’s not that.
Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray, Full List
Tagged Adam Sandler, Entertainment, Eric Bana, Film, Judd Apatow, Leslie Mann, Media, Movies, Opinion, Reviews, Seth Rogen
It’s always seemed that my parent’s generation has a tendency to think of Adam Sandler as a comedy buffoon. In the early years he made a name as a high-energy goofball and the loudest guy in the room. Both Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore follow this blueprint with an excess of voices and slapstick and dirty jokes. His newer films feel pretty much the same, just a little older, a little less energy. It works for him, and perhaps because it’s something I grew up with I’ve never had a problem with it. On the other hand, there’s nothing fresh about Adam Sandler’s comedy. As much as you’re laughing, you’re never remarking on its quality, never aware of any polish. And while there certainly are notable titles in Sandler’s comedic filmography, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan is definitively NOT one of them.
When Reservoir Dogs was first released, it divided critics. It utilizes a type of intensity that wasn’t yet as commonplace as it might be now. Violence and profanity and few, if any moments where the viewer can simply catch his breath. But it isn’t a cut and dry gangster flick, nor is it a simple heist movie, or even the kind of obscene death porn that Eli Roth has made a name shoving at us. Reservoir Dogs is an examination of men under extreme duress who are no longer afforded the luxury of trust.
Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray, Full List
Tagged Entertainment, Film, Harvey Keitel, Media, Michael Madsen, Movies, Opinion, Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs, Reviews, Steve Buschemi, Tim Roth
Ahhh, the pot movie. The stoner flick. Such a well-traversed and easily discounted genre. The luxury of these features is that the expectations are never very high. Even for comedy, the writers/producers/directors of a movie about weed are generally held to a pretty light standard. There’s a built in audience and that audience isn’t always the most discerning. Nonetheless, Pineapple Express strives to be among those few standouts of the genre. Up in Smoke, Dazed and Confused, Friday, Harold and Kumar, and Pineapple Express? Sure, why not.
Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray, Full List
Tagged David Gordon Green, Entertainment, Film, James Franco, Media, Movies, Opinion, Pineapple Express, Reviews, Seth Rogen
There are elements of story, structure and general film making concepts that are universally heralded or criticized. Conflict is good, artificial dialogue is bad. Character development is good, cliche is bad. And so it goes. But there are also enumerable aspects of a film which can’t truly be judged in the same way. Special effects come to mind as something that can at once be either terribly off-putting or the outstanding piece of the puzzle. Similarly, an adaptation can fill seats or turn viewers off based solely on it’s faithfulness to the original material. With Up, this dilemma presents itself in the form of sentimentality. There’s no lack of emotional resonance here, no shortage of moments that bring a visceral response…that is, if you’re into that sort of thing. Continue reading
Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray, Full List, Oscar Nominee, Oscar Winner
Tagged Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Opinion, Oscar Nominee, Pixar, Reviews, Up
A glance at James Cameron‘s filmography reveals a Director mildly obsessed with doing things on an epic scale. The only names that come to mind who might epic him out of the top spot would be Bay and Bruckheimer, and those guys don’t generally hold a lot of water with critical minds. Cameron however seems to ride that line between over the top and elegant. The distinction most probably lies with Cameron’s credits as a Director and a Writer. While technology and visual magnificence hold his regard, I don’t believe they do so exclusively. Particularly with his last few films, James Cameron has shone an eye for story that allows him to do the remarkable things he can do visually while not bombarding his audience with absurd or scoff-worthy moments. This is not to say that Cameron isn’t melodramatic, but coupling melodrama with compelling characters, complex situations and, again, astonishing visual effects, might just be the perfect recipe for the epic of the new millennium.
Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray, Five Stars, Full List, Oscar Nominee, Oscar Winner
Tagged Avatar, Entertainment, Film, James Cameron, Media, Movies, Opinion, Oscar Nominee, Reviews
I love Zooey Deschanel. I think she’s adorable and it’s a point of contention in my current relationship. I was thusly disappointed by the character she plays in 500 Days of Summer…no, not disappointed, that’s not right. I hated her character and I hated this movie. Here’s the long and short:
This film comes with the preface, “This is not a love story, but a story about love,” which really doesn’t mean anything at all. In love stories and stories about love we follow two people as they make their way through that universal gauntlet. They struggle with some sort of inner or outer dissonance, and hopefully, finally, find their way to one another and stroll into the sunset of love, prepared forever to face all problems as one. Or not. Whatever. 500 Days of Summer utilizes this introduction to avoid the necessity of a happy ending, or at least one you recognize. Which is fine, if it’s executed properly. Continue reading
Posted in Bad, Bad Films, DVD/Blu-Ray, Full List
Tagged 500 Days of Summer, Entertainment, Film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Media, Movies, Opinion, Reviews, Zooey Deschanel
Peter Wertz
Wertz of Wisdom 
