Young Victoria, The
Matinee with Snacks
Many films and novels have examined the political maelstrom and religious upheaval that attended the life of Queen Elizabeth I, but Queen Victoria is not as well-known, it seems. As a female ascendant to the throne, naturally Victoria is surrounded by men eager to manage her and further themselves with [...]

How lovely to see a romance and flirtation and obstacles in a comedy based on history and life connections rather than lumbar tattoos and skateboarding talent. Even lovelier is getting to see the funny and playful Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin emobdy a divorced couple circling each other, drawn by the heady scent of [...]

You may have watched the preview for Sherlock Holmes and thought, “This looks like Long Raging Bull Goodnight: Die Harder.” I suppose we have Hollywood to blame for that. Over the years they took Arthur Conan Doyle’s brilliant deductionist who had training in fisticuffs and made him an effete snooty cartoon – more [...]

Writer/director Robert Siegel previously made a dramatic splash with his wonderful screenplay for The Wrestler. With Big Fan, Siegel shows his continued facility for taking a sad sack character who might otherwise be branded as a loser and making him sympathetic, even a little heroic in a quietly desperate way. Patton Oswalt turned [...]

A Single Man has such a simple premise, but one that is so ripe with promise, that it didn’t even need the added attraction of Colin Firth. George is a gay man (Firth) in 1961 who loses his lover, and copes in secret. It sounds sad, and it is. During the height [...]

With a brief background on Nelson Mandela morphing from political prisoner/terrorist to president of a new South Africa, Invictus then leaps into the real focus of the story: Mandela’s drive to unify his countrymen through the national rugby team (long associated with apartheid) and their push for the World Cup. It’s an inspirational story, [...]

If this wasn’t a true story, it would seem incredibly pat and manipulative and impossibly rapid.  The Blind Side was based on the book Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, by Michael Lewis, and follows the amazing story of Michael Oher from the underbelly of society to the spotlight.  The story seems rushed, fueling its [...]

Up In The Air
Matinee with Snacks
Who better to play a man ho eschews human connections and possessions than George Clooney, career bachelor and ladies man? His character, Ryan Bingham, is an axeman for hire – sensitive to the toll of his work, but shielded by his own capacity to live as an island. [...]

By now, most of you with an interest in this topic will have read Fast Food Nation or seen its odd film adaptation, or enjoyed the gastronomic minefield of Supersize Me. Food, Inc. is less about the horrible contents of processed food and more about the unseen machinations in boardrooms and government buildings, as [...]

I’m not giving anything away when I say that 2012 is about the day our world ends. No stakes could possibly be higher. It’s not just human civilization (though there’s some of that being lost certainly) but the whole freaking planet. By now you have seen some of the spectacular previews with [...]