“A Waste Of Perfectly Good Yearbook Space” (#41)

“To everyone here who matters, you’re spam. You’re vapor. A waste of perfectly good yearbook space. Nothing’s ever going to change that.” We bet you can’t make that girl with glasses listen to this podcast. In our latest episode, we look back to the teen movie explosion of the late 90s via She’s All That,

‘Walk’ & Talk: Zemeckis (Almost) Pulls Off An Overly Chatty High-Wire Heist

It seems exactly enough time has passed to allow for a film that prominently features New York City’s fallen World Trade Center without any explicit reference to September 11. Though Joseph Gordon-Levitt has top billing, The Walk really belongs to two much bigger stars — the Twin Towers themselves, brought back from the dead in

Top Ten Films: 2005

(A “Then & Now” perspective.) This Top 10 is actually a 20, because sometimes ten just isn’t enough. Actually, it’s because that’s how I wrote it back when it was originally published a decade ago, and if I’m bothering to re-post it I may as well re-post the whole thing, right?

Top Ten Films: 2012

It’s Oscar time! As usual, the Academy Awards are poised to make some very wrong decisions this year. So as usual, I am prematurely correcting them by releasing my Top Ten of the year. That year is 2012, of course — real film critics release such lists at the end of December or beginning of

Abe Is Enough: ‘Lincoln’ Sets Spielberg Free

Four score and seven years ago, it was 1925. That’s not really relevant, but it seems difficult to write a review of Lincoln without including the man’s most famous phrase, even if not that many people even know how many years “four score” is, and even if that’s the least important aspect of his Gettysburg

My Own Worst Enemy: Old Selves Die Hard In ‘Looper’

Movies are a place where anything can and does happen, so it feels like we’ve seen it all. Time travel. Doppelgangers. Dystopias galore. Is anything in Rian Johnson’s Looper a particular revelation? Not exactly. How could it be? Time travel is a familiar concept to moviegoers, in comedy (Back To The Future) and action (Terminator)

Trailer Trash: Steven Spielberg // ‘Lincoln’

The Oscars are coming! The Oscars are coming!

Oh, What A ‘Knight’!: Batman Meets The Bane Of His Existence

Here’s the thing — I like Batman. I like a guy who puts on a cape and cowl and goes out into the night to fight crime. I like the colorful, often kooky villains who bring mayhem to Gotham City. I’ve heard some say they like Spider-Man because Peter Parker is a nerdy everyman they

Top Ten Films: 2009

Continuing my retrospective Top 10 lists… Okay, so this was the year the Oscars got on my nerves for announcing ten Best Picture nominees. (And judging by what was included in those ten, I think we can all agree that I was right to be irked… which is some vindication, at least.)

The Dicks: Bromances & Mantagonists Of 2011

(Films discussed in this post: A Dangerous Method, 50/50, Cedar Rapids, Margin Call, The Perfect Host, The Guard, The Ides Of March, Horrible Bosses, Warrior.) In my post on “The Chicks,” I reflected on the ups and downs for females in film last year, from the ribald shenanigans of Bridesmaids to the slightly-less-ribald racial politics

Hard In The City vs. The Golden Globes: Live Blog & Winners 2012

It’s the Golden Globes! And because I currently have nothing better to do, I am watching and blogging about them. (Nominees here, FYI.) I’ll be doing some sort of live-blogging/recap as we go on, so… enjoy!

Twenty ’12: The 20 Most Anticipated Films Of 2012

It’s a brand new year, which means brand new movies. Largely, 2012 promises more of the same — more sequels, more comic book adaptations, more prestigious literary adaptations, more zombies and vampires. But at least a few motion pictures look to break the mold this year.