Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 21st, 2014
For some reason, I have themes that I keep reviewing time in and time again (regardless of whether I enjoy the subject matter or not). One of those themes or rather people is Allen Ginsberg, one of the most important poets of the 20th century and symbol of the Beat Generation. A few years ago, I reviewed Howl which was more about his 1957 obscenity trial. This film, Kill Your Darlings deals with the relationship between Allen Ginsberg and Lucien Carr. Let us see how well this one turns out.
"Some things once you love them become yours forever.", the narrator speaks as we shift to a scene where a half naked man covered in blood carries another unconscious man. After this shocking imagery, we shift again to see Lucien Carr (played by Dane DeHaan) in jail with Allen Ginsberg (played by Daniel Radcliffe) outside the bars. Lucien tells Allen that he can't tell the story. Allen looks dead at Lucien and says, "Watch Me."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 5th, 2014
"Sometimes I like to think that fever of an unexpected origin, that I never came out of the other side. And that the rest of my life, none of it ever happened, especially that part where I got shot 37 times, giving my Bonnie Parker her big ending."
When you're telling the story of Bonnie and Clyde, it's very hard to say anything new. The exploits of the pair were followed closely by the entire nation. Newspaper accounts and silver screen newsreels took advantage of every turn of events in the case. Most of you think that today's wall-to-wall coverage of tragic events is something new and disturbing. Not so; the case of Bonnie and Clyde covered not just the crimes, but the lifestyles. They published Bonnie's rambling poetry and posed photos the pair themselves sent to the papers. Film trailer voices boomed the events with dramatic telling. It was all out there to see.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 29th, 2014
"My name is Flint Lockwood. My whole life I always wanted to be a great inventor just like my hero. It was like Chester V. was speaking directly to me using the language of science."
In 2009 Sony Pictures had finally learned to use the language of science when it comes to the world of animation. I'm talking the computer-animated feature film. Of course, they've been in the game for a while, but it was with the release of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs that this reviewer believes they delivered on the kinds of things that Pixar and Dreamworks have been delivering for quite some time. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs was a pretty big hit with both adults and kids, a combination absolutely essential to creating box office magic with a computer-generated animation feature. Based on the children's book by Judi and Ron Barrett, the film contained incredible charm. It pulled in a modest $135 million at the box office, but the film had pretty good legs on home video. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion there would be another one. But sequels are rarely as good as the original film, and it's even more rare to find one that is actually better than what came before. Consider Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 one of those uncommon events. The original was, as I mentioned, charming. It was pretty good. The sequel is better than good. The franchise has a future that is anything but cloudy.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on July 16th, 2013
“You want to end this once and for all? Now’s your f---ing chance.”
And with those words, spoken during the closing minutes of the fifth and final season premiere of Damages, Patty Hewes sets the stage for her ultimate showdown with protégé/frenemy/surrogate daughter Ellen Parsons. (As you can see, Patty also takes advantage of the fact that the show — which began its life on FX — migrated to DirecTV for its final two seasons, allowing her to drop that F-bomb.)
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on March 15th, 2013
If the last few decades are any indication, TV viewers can’t get enough medical shows, while mob dramas seem to develop some of the most fervent followings. The Mob Doctor — the Fox drama canceled shortly after its debut last fall — suggests those two great tastes don’t necessarily taste great together. The network wound up airing all 13 episodes, and now Sony has released every installment of the watchable, uneven drama on DVD.
Dr. Grace Devlin (Jordana Spiro) is a young, talented surgical resident at Chicago’s best hospital. She works alongside her good-guy boyfriend Dr. Brett Robinson (Zach Gilford), loyal best friend Nurse Ro Quintero (Floriana Lima), jealous colleague Dr. Olivia Cox (Jaime Lee Kirchner) and protective chief of surgery Dr. Stafford White (Zeljko Ivanek). What none of these people know is that Grace — like so many other small-screen antiheroes these days — leads a dark double life.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 12th, 2013
“I don’t know if I’m an alcoholic, really, I just drink. I drink a lot.”
Movies that deal with alcoholism tend to either be relentless downers (Leaving Las Vegas, When a Man Loves a Woman) or use drunkenness as a catalyst for Hangover-style shenanigans and tipsy laughs (Arthur; Dean Martin’s entire act). In other words, drunks on film don’t usually look like Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Smashed, the brisk, well-acted dramedy from writer-director James Ponsoldt.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on February 26th, 2013
Here’s how hot Jennifer Love Hewitt is in The Client List, Lifetime’s breezy, sexy hit dramedy. My wise, eternally-patient girlfriend and I watch the show together, and she doesn’t even get jealous or make any sort of catty remarks at our TV. Instead, she figuratively tips her cap to Hewitt’s hotness the same way a golfer might compliment an opponent for making an impossible shot. (Game recognizes game, I suppose.)
The Client List stars Hewitt as Riley Parks, a Texas housewife who is abandoned by her husband Kyle (Brian Hallisay) during tough financial times. Riley begins working as a massage therapist at an upscale day spa called The Rub, owned by the savvy Georgia Cummings (Loretta Devine). Unfortunately, no one told Riley certain clients expect, ahem, “extras” with their massages. (Maybe Riley’s first clue should’ve been that her boss’s name is “Georgia Cummings.”) Faced with having to support two children, Riley eventually decides to, um, hand out extras.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 7th, 2013
You don’t usually get too many legendary (and wildly polarizing) filmmakers coming off the biggest hit of their careers — unadjusted for inflation, of course — at age 77. Yet that’s exactly where Woody Allen found himself with To Rome with Love, his pleasant, witty, not-at-all-groundbreaking follow-up to Midnight in Paris. The writer-director originally named this film The Bop Decameron before changing it to Nero Fiddled. I’m guessing somebody (smartly) figured the suddenly buzzworthy director’s next film should have a less esoteric title; and if there was a way to incorporate a European city into the name, even better.
Luckily, the film’s more genetic moniker is actually a much better fit for this simple, engaging collection of stories set in the Eternal City. The movie is comprised of a series of parallel vignettes, but I really wish the director had found a clever way to connect these stories beyond the fact that they’re each set in contemporary Rome.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2012
In the same fashion as Batman Begins, Casino Royale the 21st Bond film ït starts over the franchise with a new outlook. Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in this film based on the 1953 novel by Ian Fleming, which hopes to rejuvenate the series by getting rid of some of franchise trademarks as well as the gadgets they supply. Grossing nearly 600 million dollars worldwide, Casino Royale was commercially a great success, but does the new bond fall short of past expectations, or does this reboot on the series provide for good cinema?
James Bond isn't yet an agent of double-0 status, but in order to accomplish this he is sent to Prague to assassinate a rogue agent who has been selling British secrets, as well as his associate. After accomplishing this, the film opening begins in traditional bond fashion with a fresh gun barrel sequence followed by the opening credits. Already the film appears to be a lot darker than past Bond films, and I have yet to hear a corny catch phrase as well.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on December 4th, 2012
Help me out here. I know the traditional gift for a couple’s 25th wedding anniversary is silver and that gold is supposed to mark 50 years. But what do you get a spouse to commemorate your considerably less ceremonial 31-year wedding anniversary? I’m not sure what the answer is, but I don’t think one week of intensive marriage counseling is the conventional way to go.
Kay (Meryl Streep) is desperate to reconnect with her husband, Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones). Kay and Arnold are unquestionably devoted to each other, but their love life is mired in a years-long rut. (They sleep in separate bedrooms and we eventually learn they haven’t had sex in nearly five years.) To help reignite the spark in their marriage, Kay signs the couple up for a weeklong series of sessions with renowned couples’ specialist Dr. Bernard Feld (Steve Carell) in the quaint town of Great Hope Springs, Maine.
