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Don’t Take a Chance on This

14 Jul

So … this is what it looks like when Meryl Streep is slumming, eh?

In the film adaptation of Mamma Mia!, the musical about a girl (Amanda Seyfried) who invites three men to her wedding in the hopes of finding out which one is her father (a show I’ve never seen, by the way, and have consciously avoided), Streep plays the girl’s mother, who now runs a hotel on a remote Greek island.

Oh, and the whole thing is set to the music of ABBA.

If you’ve read this far, congratulations. That’s farther than I got seeing the movie. Continue reading →

Not So Super

1 Jul

I suppose the good news is that there’s hope for the rest of us.

That’s because the bad news is Will Smith is not perfect.

His latest movie, Hancock, is one of the bigger disappointments of the season.

The concept’s great: Smith stars as sort of an anti-superhero hero. While the bad guys are shooting ’em up, Hancock is passed out drunk on a bus station bench.

When he does save the day, he causes more damage and destruction. People view him not as a good guy but as an asshole.

(Sorry, Dad. That’s what they call him in the movie.)

So when Hancock inadvertently saves actual good guy and unsuccessful PR agent Ray (Jason Bateman), the hero becomes the unwitting participant in a makeover campaign to improve his public image. Continue reading →

Hello, Wall-E!

26 Jun

The geniuses at Pixar keep on cranking out animated films, and each time they do, people think they’re kids movies.

Well, with Wall-E, they’ve made a film that might not appeal to kids all that much. And that’s fine with me.

Wall-E is a beautiful film about loneliness, love, caring for the Earth, and other grown-up topics, and it stars a robot — not exactly the kind of thing a kid can cuddle up with at night.

In addition, nearly half the film, if not more, is completely dialogue-free, which will surely make the little ones antsy. Continue reading →

My Own Movie Nation

10 Jun

Someone at Boston.com clearly likes me. How else to explain that the site’s linking to my blog again — this time to my review of The Incredible Hulk, which I saw last night. (Last time I got a link from Boston.com, it was to my MGM Grand grand opening recap. Before that, it was a link to a post about my packing and moving process.) Whoever you are over there who keeps providing the links, thanks for the traffic. And to Ty and Wesley: don’t worry, your jobs are secure. For now, anyway. [Insert maniacal laugh here.]

You Won’t Like Him When He’s Angry

9 Jun

What you want to know is this: Is the new The Incredible Hulk movie better than Ang Lee’s Hulk movie from a few years back?

Not really.

But the good news is it’s not any worse. It’s just different.

For example, the story is much better, more focused, and more faithful to the comic book source material than Ang Lee’s daddy-issues epic was.

And the first two-thirds of this film are certainly more enjoyable than most of Ang Lee’s film was.

But that’s pretty much where the good stuff ends.

Continue reading →

Silky Smooth

8 Jun

It’s not meant as damning with faint praise to say You Don’t Mess with the Zohan is Adam Sandler’s best comedy in many years.

(His best movie, of course, was Reign Over Me.)

In fact, surprisingly enough, it’s the funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time.

How funny is it? Well, let’s just say Mariah Carey makes a cameo and even she is funny. Continue reading →

Taking One for the Team

27 May

Though my entertainment preferences might imply otherwise, I am neither gay nor female. Who cares. I still decided to take one for the team and see an advanced screening of Sex and the City.

I was never a huge fan of the show, but I’ve certainly seen my share of the episodes and have even referenced one right here on this very blog. And I guess I’ll admit that I was a little excited to see the movie. Why do I tell you all this? Well, I guess it’s so that you don’t hate me too much when I say the movie really didn’t do it for me.

If you’re a devoted Sexaholic, you’ll no doubt delight in the clothes, the men, the witticisms, and the sheer sight of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda together again. For me, it wasn’t all that. Continue reading →

Martin Lieberman and the Indiana Jones Review

25 May

It starts with the hat.

That’s the first thing we see when Indiana Jones is re-introduced to us after a 19-year absence from the big screen. And then the man, in shadow, picks up his iconic headgear, puts it on, and we see his familiar profile.

It’s fitting that this is how we first see the character, because so much of what is beloved about the Indiana Jones series of films is the title character himself, not so much the plots or the sought-after artifact, and his presence, his shadow, lords over the whole proceeding.

And while Indy’s looking a bit older now, I’m happy to say he hasn’t lost his charm. Welcome back. Continue reading →

High Flying Fun

8 May

Watching Iron Man, it’s almost as if the movie’s not based on a comic book.

Sure, it’s about a guy in a suit who fights evil, but Iron Man deals with contemporary issues — like terrorism — in such a serious way that it’s not as hokey as most other films in the genre typically are.

Not that a film like Batman Begins is hokey, per se, but given that the villains in those movies are all disfigured or “special” in some kind of way, having a bad guy who’s simply a businessman and arms dealer is sort of, ahem, disarming. Continue reading →

Winning Hand

3 May

Finally got around to seeing 21 on Saturday. It’s not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s good escapist fun and I enjoyed it. Seeing that the movie’s been out for more than a month now, I’ll just leave it at that. Oh, and I’ll give it B.

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