Saturday, April 20, 2013
PG-13 film starring Tom Cruise in theaters now.
In director Joseph Kosinski's Oblivion, you can see a love for and desire to expand on the great classics of science fiction on film. With the most impressive use of IMAX for a feature film to date, in that respect he has created something new and exciting, with what is essentially a 3-D movie where you don't need the glasses. Production esigner Darren Gilford (of TRON: Legacy) and cinematographer Claudio Miranda (Oscar winner for Life of Pi) make, to quote the movie, "an effective team." The visual landscapes of the film and the meticulousness taken in the action sequences are extraordinary. Here, the integration of CGI (computer-generated imagery) and live filming is another indication of the rapid advancements happening in …
Sunday, April 7, 2013
The 3D enhancements make Jurassic Park worth seeing again on the big screen.
Once again we are at an old vs. new and purist vs. innovator crossroads. Why in the world would anyone go out to see Jurassic Park in the theatre for $12+ when they can snuggle at home and watch it on their own 40-inch HDTV? What could make this release worth the time of movie fans out there when my own Siren spouse couldn't be cajoled into seeing it with me at the multiplex? It all comes down to the experience. We haven't seen Jurassic Park in the movie theaters since its release in 1993. They could have re-released it without the new bells and whistles and I'd have been halfway there. With all the mediocre new 3D releases depending on the new technology to fill the gap of good story, I really wanted to see one of the favorites of …
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Frenetic fun, Stone Age family-style. Three starfish.
Looking for a showing? The Croods is playing at Tysons Corner AMC or Reston Town Center Stadium (it's not playing at Angelika Film Center or Regal Fairfax Towne Center). The Croods, the new 3D computer-animated feature release from DreamWorks Animation, is the story of a prehistoric family who take a road trip out of necessity. Patriarch Grug (Nicolas Cage) spends every day protecting his family by alternately leading them on life-endangering family hunting trips and terrifying them into staying in their tiny cave-home with stories about everything in the outside world being potentially deadly. "Never not be afraid," he says. Daughter Eep (Emma Stone) believes that's no way to live. Her sense of adventure carries her father away from …
Sunday, March 3, 2013
... doesn't amount to a hill of beans.
Jack The Giant Slayer, which was slated for last summer and tellingly sat on the shelf until now, is exceedingly straight-ahead, uninventive and laden with special effects. It leaves the audience feeling like it spent an evening at an expensive restaurant expecting to taste some delicious, innovative dish only to find themselves digesting a bland, flavorless Betty Crocker casserole. Not only is the cuisine uninspired, ultimately, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. Something new? Not hardly. Jack buys beans, a stalk grows into the sky, where a land of giants just biding their time for another chance to take over the world below awaits. There is the addition of a princess who yearns for adventure, runs away from the castle and the tool of…
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Fifth and last in the blockbuster film series debuts, based on novels by Stephenie Meyer. Rated PG-13.
Fairfax Corner 14 and Regal Fairfax Towne Center are showing "Breaking Dawn Part 2" practically around the clock this weekend, with more than 30 showings at each theater on multiple screens. It debuted there — and everywhere else — Thursday night to large crowds. The big finale of the Twilight Saga needs no help from anyone beyond their fans, thank you very much. You need but look to the scores of Twihards who lined up at movie theaters around the world over a week before the premiere. These fans can rest easy. Director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Dreamgirls) gives them exactly what they expect. For the rest of the planet, it feels cliched and fangless until a rousing last act climbs so over the top it makes it almost worth the …
Friday, November 9, 2012
Review of latest James Bond film.
In its 50th year, there is much at stake for the Bond franchise. So many great movies, producing such a cultural icon, they want to create a movie worthy of release in the anniversary year. Something mediocre or forgettable just wouldn't do (ahem, Moonraker, I'm talking to you…). They have their past and their future to think of. They don't want to be asking "Will Bond live to die another day?" By showing due respect to its pedigree, adding some exciting new elements, featuring a great script, acting, and production design, Skyfall rises to the top as one of this year's best films, Bond or otherwise. Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) helms the story wherein a madman (of course) winds up with the hard drive that reveals …
Friday, February 17, 2012
Celebrating the Secret World
The Secret World of Arrietty, the latest offering from the wildly popular Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli, is being released in the U.S. in partnership with the Disney Company. First released in Japan on July 17, 2010, the North American version makes its debut on February 17. A tiny girl lives with her mother and father. She and her dad "borrow" all they need for their tiny home on the grounds of a sick human boy's grandmother and curious housekeeper. The boy comes to stay and discovers Arrietty, spurring fear and upheaval in the little household, a house that has a strict rule of staying undiscovered by their hosts. The movie is a charming and slow attentive study of a friendship that teaches two budding youths, albeit of …
James
1:52 am on Sunday, April 21, 2013
I'll see it when netflix sends me the dvd. Wake me up when Iron Man 3 is out though! more ›