Between my awe at this film and the regrettable downfall of my cable modem service, I have been unable to share truly how impressed I was and am at this film. Opening the movie are some tight, gliding images of desolation and human suffering in Somalia, with the back story for the events of […]
The night I saw this film, I know I enjoyed it, but I didn’t realize to what extent until afterward, when I was explaining it to a fellow ex-dot-commer. As a documentary, one has to wonder how it ever got made - it appears to be a Pulitzer-prize worthy stumble of luck on the […]
When was the last time you saw a boom mike drop into frame in a major motion picture? In this Photoshop age, how does such a thing make it into release? I’ll tell you how - through slipshod filmmaking, specifically the kind of slapdash production that allows for more serious gaffes to make […]
The Contender
Matinee Price Plus Snacks
I don’t normally get into politics, and I will come right out and say that movies like Dave and The American President work on me because I am a liberal and I am an idealist. That said, a film like The Contender should not be maligned or neglected due to […]
Reviewing a movie with such a loaded topic presents some difficulty for a reviewer of any color - and how to refer to the various “thems” without seeming to be, well, implying something? The one thing I can say about Black and White that anyone would agree with, is that it didn’t really explore […]
I saw this movie because it was free. I admit it. I was not all that interested in Julia Roberts in A Civil Action II, but I went. And two-time Oscar nominee Roberts did not let me down; in fact, I liked this movie on its own merit, not just the merit […]
This wee film, shot entirely within the confines of a small diner (presumably) in Aztec, Colorado, and a surprisingly entertaining one. Despite all our relaxed attitude about the Cold War relative to the 1980’s, I think the general threat of nuclear terrorism still lurks within us when we hear the repeating tape loop at […]
This very personal documentary about the Japanese-American internment during World War II is dotted with newsreel footage, personal testimonies, and composed imagery. It was written, directed, and mostly narrated by Emiko Omori, who was 18 months old when her parents and two older sisters were taken to their camp. The resultant fracture […]
Directed by Edward Zwick, the man who brought you Glory and Courage Under Fire, The Siege is an over the top terrorist drama about national reaction to terrorism and specifically, Arab terrorists. Using his favorite (and mine) director of photography Roger Deakins, Zwick makes this otherwise mildly silly movie pretty dang watchable. It […]
Matinee Price with your brain and some popcorn
Wag the Dog is an interesting, wry, Bob Robertsian commentary on the power of the media and politics. It is not a rollicking comedy, as the previews would lead you to believe, but a thoughtful one, and it is not a Robert De Niro ego party. […]
