Archive for the 'Catch the Network Premiere' Category

X-Files: I Want To Believe

Jul 252008

Full disclosure:  I watched the X-Files television series until the first movie came out.  I was so disgusted with the transparent clumsiness of the story (so much more forgivable on TV) that I stopped watching the show.  Curiosity and a cautious sort of press buzz (”it’s a stand-alone episodes even non-fans can love!”) drew me […]

Made of Honor

May 22008

On its surface, Made of Honor seems like a perfect little girlie diversion.  Platonic (rich handsome) guy friend realizes gal pal is the one, only on the eve of her impending nuptials.  It’s ground that was tread more successfully in 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding (one of the two screenwriters’ work apparently only sings when […]

Diary of the Dead

Feb 152008

George Romero. George George George. You created a mini-genre out of what was at the time an oddity: a monster movie (specifically zombies, for their unique properties) which also was a statement about modern day life. Countless follow-ups by you and others continued this trend and made Zombie Movies an event worth […]

Farewell Darkness

Dec 12007

Occasionally I am contacted directly by distributors or filmmakers of tiny films to see if I will review (and thereby publicize) their movie. I try to only say yes to those I know will really watch, and I also try to be as objective as I can; most times I am not worried if […]

Transformers

Jul 32007

When I saw they were making another Transformers movie, I responded in pretty much the same way I did to the news of a live action Garfield movie: Oh yuck, who cares, and I’m certainly not going to see it.  As momentum (and nerdly peer pressure) built, I realized I couldn’t escape.  I wasn’t expecting […]

The Ex

May 112007

What a cast! Scrubs, Studio 60, and Arrested Development, supported by James Grodin, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Amy Adams, Donal Logue! How could this movie be a dud? I don’t know, exactly why, but it is. The Ex is a high-energy yawn, stuffed with promise and frosted with expectation. First-time […]

Reno 911: Miami

Feb 232007

It is difficult to articulate my fondness for the cast of this semi-improvised Comedy Central show.  They (the characters, not the incredible cast that plays them so straight) are ignorant, bigoted, petty incompetents who stumble through their sheriff’s department duties with a half-assedness that makes for real comedy.
So, the movie will be like the show, […]

The Astronaut Farmer

Feb 232007

This film appears on the surface to be a heartwarming drama based on a true story about a man with a crazy dream who then, of course, succeeds.  What it actually is, well…it’s not basedon a true story, making it an extremely contrived premise (more so than a normal fiction).  It has plot devices that […]

Strangers With Candy

Jun 282006

I never really got much into the television series on which this movie is based, and that may account for my distaste for the film.  However, it should be said that I still really love Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert despite that body of work, so hopefully you Candy fans will appreciate this movie more.
For […]

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Dec 252004

Every once in a while, there comes a movie that so defies explanation that it renders me incapable for writing for a full month. This is that movie. Filmmaker Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tannenbaums) loves the quirky, the ugly (interior), and the true things in the world. He celebrates the wacky […]