Category: Movie Reviews
-
CPE and Em: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Slightly better than expected
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – 2012 Directed by Peter Jackson Starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Sylvester McCoy, Manu Bennett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Barry Humpheries, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott Screenplay Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens, Guillermo Del Toro, Jackson Upon discovering that…
-
To Rome with Love – Rented by mistake
\To Rome with Love – 2012 Written and Directed by Woody Allen Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin, Penélope Cruz, Woody Allen, Roberto Begnini, Judy Davis, Greta Gerwig, Allison Pill, Flavio Parenti, Alessandro Tiberi, Alessandra Mastronardi When my wife told me she rented To Rome with Love, she seemed kind of curious. She no doubt had seen the…
-
The Queen of Versailles: Down but not out
The Queen of Versailles – 2012 Directed by Laura Greenfield Featuring David and Jackie Siegel David Siegel claims to have personally gotten George W. Bush elected President. He claims that it was not necessarily done in a legal fashion. He says this with a mixture of pride and shame. He knows the price that is being paid…
-
Frankenweenie: Where everyone looks dead, and the dog is.
Frankenweenie – 2012 Directed by Tim Burton Starring Charlie Tahan, Frank Welker, Winona Rider, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Landau, Martin Short, Robert Capron, Atticus Shaffer Screenplay by John August Tim Burton has occupied this strange place in Americana as “macabre for the family.” His mixture of preciousness, precociousness and comedy has been imitated, but not as often as his…
-
Dredd: A world that no one wants to live in
Dredd – 2012 Director Pete Travis Starring Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Wood Harris, Leana Headey Written Alex Garland One could suppose that there is an attempt at some artistic statement to be made with the world as it appears in Dredd, which is the 2nd attempt at starting a franchise based on the comic book. Something akin to…
-
Django Unchained: If Samuel L. Jackson doesn’t win an Oscar, there is no justice
Django Unchained – 2012 Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio, Don Johnson, Walton Goggins, James Remar, Michael Parks, Dennis Christopher There is a scene that resonates deeply. On the way into Candyland, Jamie Foxx’s freed slave, Django, rides along a group of men in chains.…
-
Pitch Perfect: Hits almost every note
Pitch Perfect – 2012 Director Jason Moore Starring Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Skylar Astin, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Ben Platt, Adam Devine, Freddie Stroma, Hana Mae Lee, Alexis Knapp, Ester Dean, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Benjamin Hickey Screenplay Kay Cannon based on the book by Mickey Rapkin One thing that film makers and media…
-
Looper is wound just right
Looper – 2012 Written and Directed by Rian Johnson Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan, Jeff Daniels, Pierce Gagnon, Garrett Dillahunt, Piper Perabo, Xu Quing, Joe Brennan The only thing that gives one pause in the first 20 minutes of the Looper is the obviously disfigured face of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Even as…
-
Liberal Arts: Radnor is no Woody Allen, Thank God
Liberal Arts – 2012 Written and Directed by Josh Radnor Starring Radnor, Elizabeth Olson, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney, John Magaro, Zac Efron, Elizabeth Reaser As a 35-year-old college admissions officer in New York, Josh Radnor has the face that crosses most people after they’ve been gone from college for long enough to realize that this is all…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 