Movie Reviews News

11:38 AM
28-October
2009 This Is It ( *** )Well, if you're a big Michael Jackson fan, this is it. This posthumous concert documentary is a self-described "glimpse" of the King of Pop preparing to perform that's been designed, as the film announces early on, "for the fans." That tells you two things: that the memorable Michael Jackson standards (Billie Jean, Thriller, Beat It, Man in the Mirror, etc.) won't be ignored or omitted, and that nothing, whether documented or not, will be included that will be upsetting to those who cherish his memory. In other words: this isn't journalism, it's entertainment. And Michael Jackson remains a mystery. But one who dazzles with his dancing and singing.
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9:46 AM
27-October
2009 Good Hair ( *** )Who says documentaries have to be deadly serious? Good Hair delves into the roots of its subject and manages to make its share of valid sociopolitical points even though its tone is playful and its pace is brisk. Comedian Chris Rock serves as host-narrator-writer-producer. It was his own five-year-old daughter who inspired the film when she asked him, "Daddy, why don't I have good hair?" To answer her, Rock interviews celebrated African-American women, who help to explain why some turn to straightening, and others to extensions, braids, weaves, relaxers, or dreads.
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2:46 PM
22-October
2009 Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant ( **1/2 )Get ready for another vampire movie that bites the neck that feeds it. This fantasy-adventure is loosely based on the first of four Young Adult "Cirque du Freak" trilogies by Darren Shan. It's about two teens who wander into a traveling freak show emceed by a mysterious magician played by John C. Reilly. One of the teens recognizes him from a book he has read about the undead and suspects that he's a vampire. He's right.
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4:42 PM
20-October
2009 Astro Boy ( **1/2 )It's every kid's fantasy: having super-strength, X-ray vision, blistering speed, and the rocket-propelled ability to fly. But it's also every kid's nightmare: being rejected by dad, being told you're not who you think you are, and not really fitting in anywhere. That's the double-edged sword unsheathed in Astro Boy, a CG-animated science fiction adventure about a little robot boy who looks like Bob's Big Boy But Smaller and who acts like Mighty Mouse and, in Japan, is nearly as famous and familiar an icon as Mickey Mouse.
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1:07 PM
15-October
2009 Where the Wild Things Are ( ***1/2 )What's it feel like to be nine years old? Watch Where the Wild Things Are, then we'll talk. Where the Wild Things Are is an edgy, fleshed-out, live-action adaptation of the classic 1963 children's storybook by Maurice Sendak. It's unique and it's powerful and it's marvelous. It may look like a children's film and sound like a children's film -- and no one's saying that kids cannot see it and enjoy it -- but it's not so much for nine-year-olds as for folks who were once nine and perhaps later raised little ones who became nine at some point. Interestingly, the slight book has very little in the way of text: it's a picture book, really, with just a handful of sentences. But director Spike Jonze has done a terrific job of expanding the narrative.
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12:57 PM
15-October
2009 Law Abiding Citizen ( *1/2 )With Gerard Butler's vigilante going Charles Bronson one or two better, Law Abiding Citizen wants to be a Death Wish for the new century. Well, it manages that, all right. This exploitative revenge thriller, which co-stars Jamie Foxx, has a sadistic streak that puts a sour taste in your mouth in its very opening scene that stays there until the final credits roll. By the time the central character has started auditioning for the next Saw sequel, we're squarely in torture-porn territory. The script pretends to be interested in questioning the justice system. But nobody in charge means a word of this. Distinctions between right and wrong, between heroes and villains, between testing boundaries and stampeding over them, are secondary to the film's main concern: setting up its violent set pieces for maximum slobber value.
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9:51 AM
14-October
2009 New York, I Love You ( ** )Paris Je T'Aime was a cinematic love letter to Paris. New York, I Love You, meant to be a love letter to the Big Apple, is the second in a proposed series of celebrations of major cities. But what rendered Paris Je T'Aime good instead of terrific renders New York, I Love You flat instead of sparkly. While the former was charming, the latter is mostly annoying, as it tries to be a combination of Paris Je T'aime and Love Actually, with each of the eleven mini-movies a love story of one sort or another. This hit-or-miss affair has at least as many misses as hits.
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12:00 PM
8-October
2009 The Boys Are Back ( **1/2 )Actors don't come much edgier than Clive Owen. In Croupier, Sin City, Inside Man, Children of Men, The International, Duplicity, and especially The Closer -- for which he was Oscar-nominated -- Owen's edge was front and center. That's part of the reason he was in the running as the new James Bond. But here he, he tucks the edge away without entirely abandoning it. This is a family comedy-drama, inspired by a true story, about a permissive single father dealing with loss and grief while trying to riase two sons after he loses his wife to cancer.
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11:56 AM
8-October
2009 Couples Retreat ( *1/2 )Sitting through this dashed-off destination date-flick romp, it's we who want to retreat. Marrieds Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell announce to their friends that they are headed for divorce after eight seemingly happy years together. They've decided to go to the luxurious Eden Resort, on a tropical island in the South Pacific, to take advantage of the therapy sessions available there in an attempt to save their marriage. So Bateman guilt-trips his buddies -- including co-scripters Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau -- and their significant to accompany them. What the others don't realize is that the therapy sessions are not optional.
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12:11 PM
7-October
2009 Capitalism: A Love Story ( ***1/2 )Say what you will about documentary writer-director and provocateur Michael Moore, but try to deny his cinematic uniqueness. He's explored corporate malfeasance (Roger & Me), terrorism (Fahrenheit 9/11), gun control (Bowling for Columbine), and healthcare (Sicko). So it stands to reason in these perilous times that at some point he would tackle the latest hot-button issue: our global -- but especially national -- economic crisis. Which he does in this rambling but engrossing and disturbing cinematic essay.
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