This Stephen King movie is a little more typical King than Stand By Me but there are plenty of similarities: the era, the cool best friend, the narration, the friend girl (wait, that was from It). Hearts In Atlantis is worth seeing. King always fleshes out his characters (often at the expensive of [...]
This movie was done very well. I don’t think I can complain about anything at all except that I just didn’t like it very much. It didn’t satisfy me. It left me wanting more but not in a “damn that’s a good burger” sort of way, more like a “what? is [...]
The Majestic was supposed to be Jim Carrey’s attempt at a good, honest, straight role. At least that is what it seemed like to me. The only redeeming value I found in the movie was that he did an incredible job of not acting like Jim Carrey. It wasn’t enough to make [...]
Phillip K Dick was born on this day in 1928. PKD wrote the books and stories that were later the basis for movies including Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck, and (though uncredited and disputed) The Truman Show.
If The Shipping News was Northern Exposure, then Northfork is Twin Peaks. Northfork is a town that, like my hometown, suddenly grew a lake (thanks to an electric company’s dam). This movie, to some extent, is the story of the people staying behind after the town, which will be underwater in days, is [...]
The Shipping News, in a strange way, reminds me of Northern Exposure. The Latitude (though The Shipping News’ Newfoundland vs. Northern Exposure’s Alaska), the weather, the quirky character-driven vignettes wrapped in a slightly bizarre but still safe wrapper. With Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, some localized mythology and snow-driven insanity, The Shipping News is [...]
Sideways is a buddy movie/road trip movie. Like all buddy/road trip flicks, it needs a device, a gimmick, and the gimmick here is the week before a wedding, a tour of California’s wine country, and wine. Add to that the fact that the director’s last 2 films were Election (1999) and About [...]
The Ladykillers is a quirky, dark, and funny ensemble heist flick set in the dank South. Tom Hanks is in it, which means it is almost guaranteed to be worth watching (as long as you disregard The Polar Express and The Terminal). It may go down in history as a low point in [...]
Actor John Barrymore, father of Drew Barrymore, dead at 72.
Respect.
Donnie Darko (2001) was one of my favorite movies the first time I saw it. The second viewing solidified that and caused me to buy the DVD. When I saw the dozens of deleted scenes, I realized how bad the movie actually was. The movie wasn’t bad compared to the competition that [...]