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Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category

Friday Morning Notebook

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

(Some of you may have noticed this post previously marked for Thursday morning. I was just in a fog earlier. It is beginning to lift.)

A few thoughts on summer movies I want to see are here.

My review of "Made of Honor" is here. Short version: I didn't like it.

Later today I expect to post about "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost."

And here's a little bit of the legendary Wanda Jackson to liven up your day. "Do you like love songs," indeed. …

Here's another one that shows how radical Jackson was as a star. Look at the way the women behind her are dressed — and how modern/flashy Jackson is in comparison.

British Film Awards Announced

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

"Atonement," Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard are among the winners. Complete list here.

17 Reasons Why I Prefer to Watch Movies at Home

Monday, February 4th, 2008

I did squeeze in a viewing of "Atonement" this afternoon completing my circuit of Oscar's best-picture nominees. I've already started an "Oscar Watch" post about it, but first let me give you the 17 reasons …

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Golden (Yawn) Globes

Thursday, December 13th, 2007

You can find all the nominees here.

My friend Alan Sepinwall makes an interesting point about the Globes' TV nominees on his blog (as well as giving me props for the Chamber of Commerce theory of awards). But I'm going to focus on the movie noms here.

I know there's all that talk about the Globes as a barometer for Oscars, and I like some of the nominees. But the Globes still strike me as an award best known for letting potential winners drink before they get their prizes.

As barometers go, they're a weird one because they split so many movie categories between drama and comedy/musical, giving them twice as many chances to pick a winner as the Oscars have. (Or more than twice as many. There are seven nominees for best drama this year.)

And they are prone to the same inconsistencies seen in some other awards. Take "There Will Be Blood," nominated for best drama, and with Daniel Day-Lewis nominated as best actor in a drama, but shut out of the director and screenplay categories.

I know, the Globes build a funnel, since they don't split director and screenplay into drama and comedy/musical, but it still suggests that some movies were simply born, rather than being written and directed.

Day/Night Movie Doubleheader

Tuesday, November 6th, 2007

Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett as one of many Bob Dylans in "I'm Not There"

Redford
Robert Redford, director and co-star of "Lions for Lambs"

I had hoped to post at least briefly last night but had technical difficulties. Probably just as well, since I was a little weary, but I had a few brief comments about the movies illustrated above. …

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The Great Movies/TV Divide

Monday, September 17th, 2007

For those of you who have not yet found it online, my fall-season rumination is here. (The first line in text is actually a subhead, with the story beginning on the following line.)

But, even as we all get psyched about the TV season to varying degrees, there are still those who view TV as an entertainment stepchild to the movies. I am thinking specifically of Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly, who wrote a recent article about writer-director Paul Haggis ("The Great Divider," Sept. 21 issue).

Paul Haggis
Paul Haggis, movie guy — and TV guy

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Harry Potter Rules the Movie World

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

So says Warner Bros., in an announcement proclaiming that the "Harry Potter" movies in total have now grossed more worldwide than any other film franchise, including "Star Wars" and James Bond. (Potter still trails top-ranked "Star Wars" and Bond at the North American box office, according to Box Office Mojo.

Harry kisses

Warner gleefully notes there are still two Potter movies to come. Of course, there can still be more Bond movies — generations of them, casting permitting.

Detailed announcement after the jump …

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More on "3:10 to Yuma"

Friday, September 7th, 2007

You can find my review of the Russell Crowe western here. It's not a hugely enthusiastic review, and I think I've figured out why.

Yuma photo

It's not just that the movie is merely OK. It's that it kept hinting at the possiblity that it could be something more extravagant. I am thinking of Ben Foster's performance, which would have fit more readily into "Tombstone" than "Yuma," and of the way Peter Fonda leaves the movie. …

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The Passed-by Moment of Alicia Silverstone

Friday, August 31st, 2007
Flixster - Share Movies

I've got these sounds in my head. …

Not just the woman this morning who, in a drive-through lane at the bank, screamed "GET IN THE CAR SEAT" over and over at a kid who had crawled from the back to the front. Or "Don't Stop Believin'," a semi-constant presence since the "Sopranos" finale. There's also Aerosmith …

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When Good Actors Play Good People Doing Bad Things …

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

Yesterday morning I saw "The Brave One," the upcoming movie with Jodie Foster as a woman who begins killing bad guys as a way of dealing with her own feelings of victimization after being brutally beaten. (See trailer below) …

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Something I Should Write More About …

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007

I've lost track of how long I've been meaning to write a column about movie (and possibly TV) romances where the wrong couple ends up together. Not a situation where, as happens on TV, the wrong couple is together but breaks up a season later, but ones where the whole thing ends and you're just going, that's so wrong.

Among the items on my list: "Reality Bites," since Ben Stiller was obviously the best guy for Winona Ryder; "Gentleman's Agreement," where Celeste Holm was by every measure the better woman for Gregory Peck, and "Pretty in Pink," where Molly Ringwald should have ended up with Jon Cryer — and the original script for the movie apparently had it that way, before the final product wimped out and went with the more crowd-pleasing, pretty-boy ending. Not that I'm bitter about it or anything. But you can see how I think there's more to talk about.

Any other suggestions? Or do you disagree with mine?

Technology, Relentlessness and "Live Free or Die Hard"

Sunday, August 12th, 2007

The bride and I finally got to "Live Free or Die Hard," which has been on our viewing list for some time, but which always seemed to bump against another obligation. The watching not only included a reasonable amount of over-the-top action but a few thoughts about James Cameron, and the parallels between "Live Free" and "The Bourne Ultimatum."

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Which Stars Are Worth Their Paychecks?

Monday, August 6th, 2007

In some of my recent public appearances, I've more than once mentioned "Evan Almighty." The reason: It's a good example of the financial definitions of Hollywood success. According to Boxofficemojo.com, it has so far taken in more than $97 million at the U.S. box office (about $109 million when you throw in international revenues). But, since it cost an estimated $175 million to make, it is so far a financial flop — and it will need to sell a lot of DVDs to show a profit.

I was thinking about this again today because Forbes has done a financial analysis of stars' box-office clout. Best value: Matt Damon among men, Jennifer Aniston among women. …

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So Much for "Grindhouse"

Wednesday, August 1st, 2007

When the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature comes to DVD, the movies will be split into separate sets …

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The Miracle of Barbara Stanwyck

Sunday, July 22nd, 2007

Richard Corliss's profile of John Travolta in the July 30 begins with Travolta talking about old Hollywood stars and his presenting an honorary Oscar to Barbara Stanwyck in 1982.

"If you'd met Stanwyck," he explains, "she would have crushed you with her ability to adore and adorn you, just like a Southern belle." …. "Oh, you came here to give me my Oscar!" he whispers in a dewy approximation of Stanwyck's purr to Henry Fonda in "The Lady Eve." … He says in his own voice, "And I'm standing here thinking she's an 80-year-old woman, and I am captivated."

Well, yeah. It was Barbara Stanwyck …

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