Arts and Culture (Movie Reviews)

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 6/30/11

Super 8

JJ Abrams writes a love note to Stephen Spielberg with aliens, explosions and boyish wonder

Did you ever wonder what would have happened if ET had been found by the government instead of that adorable moppet Elliott? When extraterrestrials don’t get to phone home, they get mightily pissed, according to JJ Abrams’ (Star Trek) new film Super 8. Less an original monster movie than a homage to Stephen Spielberg’s ET and works of the 1970s and ‘80s, Abrams gets away with the tribute by keeping his writing solid and his cast of characters...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Richard E. Wilson - 6/23/11

Green Lantern

While some of this sci-fi flick’s multi-faceted plot is beyond preposterous, it’s still good fun.

Here’s a rarity: The Green Lantern is a sci-fi movie that strays from the well-trampled aliens vs. Earth-guy story. What’s especially rare in sci-fi films is a plot that is multi-threaded and multi-faceted with enough twists to maintain interest. In The Green Lantern we are given not only a genuine, self-effacing super-hero but also a mad scientist who’s just as smart as our hero and who comes within a hair of taking over the world. Just for kicks, we have some friendly aliens...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Richard E. Wilson - 6/16/11

The Hangover Part II

In this follow-up, the guys travel to exotic Thailand for Stu’s wedding, and what happens in Bangkok can be imagined.

There’s a big joke in this movie somewhere, but I can’t tell you what or where it is. Perhaps it’s the serious raunchiness that pervades. Maybe the producers of II made a ton of money from I, so they figured, What the heck, they laughed once, they’ll laugh again. If you’ve seen the first Hangover, you’ll have context for the present action. It’s now two years after the Las Vegas venture in Hangover I, and another of the four buddies...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 6/9/11

X-Men: First Class

An excellent origins story is bogged down by too many mutants with no motivation

In the swinging 1960s, two mutant men set very different goals for themselves. Charles Xavier (James McAvoy: Gnomeo and Juliet) is hoping to use his telepathic abilities to score college co-eds — oh, and to unite other mutants, in hopes of celebrating the beauty of genetics. Shoah survivor Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender: Jane Eyre) is set on using his metal manipulating skills to hunt down and murder the Nazis who experimented on him and killed his mother. The men...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 6/2/11

Kung Fu Panda 2

Po and his band of martial arts friends make feathers fly in this fun sequel

After becoming the famed Dragon Warrior in his last film, tubby panda warrior Po (Jack Black: Gulliver’s Travels) is living large. He trains, signs autographs and eats, while enjoying a partnership with the legendary Furious Five — Tigress (Angelina Jolie: Salt); Viper (Lucy Liu: East Fifth Bliss); Praying Mantis (Seth Rogen: Paul); Crane (David Cross: Running Wilde); and Monkey (Jackie Chan: The Karate Kid). Their days are spent training and protecting the Valley of Peace. ...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 5/26/11

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

A fresh start offers the same old problems

A lonely Spanish fishing boat pulls up a man in its net. Clasping a map and suddenly reanimated, he mumbles something about the Fountain of Youth. To the king! When the British discover that the Spaniards have set off in search of Ponce de Leon’s discovery, they set their own ships after the armada. Led by newly minted king’s privateer Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush: The King’s Speech), the Brits try to recruit the infamous Captain Jack...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 5/19/11

Bridesmaids

Kristen Wiig proves that women can be funny too, when they write the script.

Annie (Kristen Wiig: Paul) isn’t having the best year. Her cake-baking business went under in the recession. She’s in a sex-only relationship with a vapid but handsome user (Jon Hamm: Mad Men). Now childhood friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph: Saturday Night Live) asks Annie to be her maid of honor. This should be good news. But as Annie fumbles through planning bachelorette parties and showers, she discovers that weddings are a nightmare. Already...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 5/12/11

Thor

The God of Thunder rumbles through two worlds in this fun comic book adaptation

Life ain’t easy when you’re the son of the Asgardian king. Well, actually, it’s pretty easy, but arrogant young Thor (Chris Hemsworth: Ca$h) makes life hard for himself. A hothead, Thor wants nothing more than to fight and smirk the days away, counting the seconds until he inherits his father’s crown. When this attitude incites a war in Asgard, papa Odin (Anthony Hopkins: The Rite) puts his foot down, casting Thor from the kingdom and stripping him of...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 5/5/11

Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil

A fractured fairytale gets more splintered with poor storytelling

If a terrible movie bombs at the box office, does anyone care what a reviewer writes about it? We’re about to find out. In the sequel to 2005’s Hoodwinked, The Weinstein Company managed to produce the ultimate anti-Pixar film: dull, ugly and devoid of humor. This is quite a feat considering that the original garnered praise for its wit and Rashamon-like take on a classic fairytale. This follow-up forgets the original, reinventing established...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 4/28/11

African Cats

A G rating takes the teeth out of this lion and cheetah documentary

Cheetah mother Sita stalks an antelope in the tall grasses of the Kenyan savannah. She chases her quarry, closing the gap between them with bounding strides. Sita leaps, claws out, and lands upon the antelope’s hindquarters. And cut! The director returns to Sita later, face smeared with blood, feeding her hungry cubs. The antelope, curiously, is nowhere to be found. African Cats is an entertaining, if bloodless, look at the lives...