Film.com Movie Reviews

Review: The Blind Side -- Prepare to Be Pleasantly Surprised

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:34:00 PST

"It's the very likable performances that give the film the most resonance."

Speaking of being blindsided, The Blind Side is good enough to make me almost forgive Sandra Bullock for All About Steve, which is the worst movie I've seen this year. I wasn't sure I'd ever get over that debacle, and yet here we are, barely two months later, and already I'm smiling favorably upon Ms. Bullock again. Why, I barely even remember The Proposal anymore! Sandy, your healing powers are…

Review: Planet 51: A Science Fiction Ode For Families

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:21:00 PST

"Entertaining enough for a family trip to the theater."

Glipforg is just how you might imagine an idyllic American town in the 1950s: neighborly citizens greeting each other by name, driving Thunderbird-esque hovercrafts to their saucer-shaped homes, flipping floating burgers on their backyard barbecues...

The perfect portrait of 1950s-'60s U.S.A. -- on another planet, far from Earth.

But really, other than being green, antennae-d and pant-less, the folks on Planet 51 are just…

Review: (Untitled) Knocks Pompous Artists Down a Few Pegs

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:16:00 PST

"(Untitled) isn't just a takedown of highfalutin creative types but a smart, thoughtful deflating of their egos."

Few subjects are more ripe for ridicule than pretentious artists, and Jonathan Parker's (Untitled) skewers the world of contemporary art in a way that's insightful and funny without becoming a broad parody. The characters, satirical though they are, seem like real human beings. Parker helps us understand them even as he delights in their foibles.

Adrian Jacobs (Adam…

Review: New Moon A Definite Improvement

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:33:00 PST

"A legitimate artistic expression on love, loss, and the obsessive qualities of initial attraction."

From the start of the moody and brooding opening title cards you know you're in for a better experience than the last go-round. Director Chris Weitz has delivered a treat, a legitimate artistic expression on love, loss, and the obsessive qualities of initial attraction. Sure, it has a few flaws, but New Moon succeeds on a level that few films have this year. It gives the people…

Review: Women in Trouble is Trouble

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:16:00 PST

"The type movie you would feel bad recommending to your worst enemy."

Aren't comedies supposed to be funny? Usually there are a few jokes, perhaps a sight gag or two, everyone laughs, and we head home feeling a little better for having seen the film. This is not the case with Women in Trouble, a film written and directed by Sebastian Gutierrez, the man who brought you Gothika and Snakes On A Plane. While nothing better can be expected of someone with such a disappointing…

Review: Boondock Saints 2 a Nice Reunion

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:51:00 PST

"What stands out in All Saints Day isn't the violence or the action but rather the performances of all involved."

Nine years ago The Boondock Saints hit the scene with little to no fanfare. But the film found its audience on DVD and over the years has become somewhat of a cult classic due to its brutal action sequences and religious social commentary. By popular demand, writer/director Troy Duffy and the Saints have returned in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. But will…

Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox is Worth the Price of Admission

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:19:00 PST

"A boisterous and magnificent treat."

Does money actually inhibit creativity? I pondered that as I watched Fantastic Mr. Fox, only a week after taking in the bloated and pricey A Christmas Carol. Evidently Christmas Carol cost around five times what Fantastic Mr. Fox did. And yet, Fantastic Mr. Fox is 10 times the film of the Zemeckis effort. Could it be that Wes Anderson was forced to make more hard decisions, had less resources to work with, and thus knocked it right out of…

Review: 2012 Slightly More Big and Fun Than Dumb

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:31:00 PST

"2012 is good pulp."

2012 is the rare case of a bad film that I'm nevertheless obliged to recommend you see. And really, the first two hours are pretty solid, it's only in the last 40 minutes or so that the story slides directly off the rails. But the special effects? Superb. The acting? Passable? The logic? Uh, not applicable? I mean, there are clearly logic holes you could drive a medium-sized aircraft carrier through, but the film is asking you to suspend disbelief, and…

Review: Tune In to Pirate Radio for a Good Time

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:25:00 PST

"Most of the story is funny and cheerful, and it's bolstered by an utterly fantastic '60s rock soundtrack."

In ancient historical times, i.e., 1966, the officially licensed radio stations in England didn't play rock 'n' roll music. That would have been no great loss in, say, the mid '70s, but 1966? That was the high point of British rock music: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Cream, The Who, et cetera, et cetera. To deprive young Brits of this part of their culture…

Review: Splinterheads Works

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:21:00 PST

"Entertaining and honest."

There's something inherently funny about carnivals. Whether it's the abundance of clowns, the games, the rides, the freak shows, the magic shows, or the carnies themselves, you throw them in a movie and there's almost an instantaneous chuckle or two to be had. That, or they're terrifying as hell. But in the case of Splinterheads, it's all fun and games, giving us a glimpse at a class of carnies known as "splinterheads" that we rarely hear about, as…

Review: The Men Who Stare at Goats is Good, Not Great

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:20:00 PST

"For those looking for something off the beaten path ..."

Almost 20 years ago director Roger Spottiswoode put to the screen an adaptation of an incredible book chronicling some of the crazy, unbelievable things our government, through the CIA, did during the Vietnam War. It was about a group of wild, unruly but brilliant pilots who flew stripped down civilian planes on military missions that NEVER HAPPENED. Drugs, money, weapons -- all to people we weren't supposed to be giving…

Review: A Christmas Carol Not Merry Enough

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:07:00 PST

"This version of A Christmas Carol has very little story and even less Christmas cheer."

The old aphorism goes "don't throw out the baby with the bathwater," but the makers of the latest iteration of A Christmas Carol have flipped the script; they've created a film that looks amazing and combined it with an appalling lack of story. In essence they've provided a lovely, piping hot bath, all the while forgetting to actually place the dirty baby into it. We're left with only a…