I've always approached the Bond movies as being little more than escapism, "rebooted Bond" or not, and as a result try not to let reviews sway my perceptions of the latest addition to the franchise. Too many of the reviews I did read of Quantum of Solace however made references to the films made 20 years ago, or with Sean Connery in them. ... Read full entry

Does audience participation by way of singing along, and clapping at the conclusion of pivotal scenes, mean a movie has achieved cult status? This I've seen at Star Trek premieres (the clapping) and The Rock Horror Show (the sing-alongs), so if the indications are anything to go by high school musical Grease, screening to mark the film's 30th anniversary at the ... Read full entry

Based on the autobiographical book of the same title, How To Lose Friends And Alienate People , written by British journalist Toby Young. Sidney (not Toby) Young is a brash writer intent on "shaking things up" when he takes a job with New York magazine Sharps. It's funny, in a twisted sort of way, how such resolves have a way of turning ... Read full entry

Burn After Reading: espionage, divorce lawyers, suburban neurosis, and the CIA descend on Georgetown, Washington DC. While the events that follow defy explanation, at least so far as those involved are concerned, the CIA seems all too adept at covering up the resulting mess.

Why are we revisiting Brideshead? I don't recall going there before. Is it for a romp through the privileged, splendid, and at times decadent, lifestyle of the English nobility, with a dose of obsession and infatuation on top, or did Evelyn Waugh have something else in mind? As we left the screening, an older woman in front of us remarked (and I of course ... Read full entry

The ever versatile Keira Knightley dons elaborate wigs and gowns in The Duchess and portrays the charmingly flamboyant and apparently hedonistic Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, who lived in England in the 18th century. Loveless marriages, mistresses, and lost loves found then lost again, feature aplenty. "There were three people in her marriage" says the movie's tag-line, and indeed, all too poignantly, there were ... Read full entry

Tank (Dane Cook) tries to make the ex-boyfriends of the girls he is paid to "romance" (by the aforementioned ex-boyfriends) look good by taking the unwitting ladies out on dates from hell in My best friend's girl. The lesson from this story? Next time something bad looks better than something worse, stop and take a closer look... two wrongs seldom make a right.

Some days I feel like WALL·E, sitting here by myself, sometimes for days at a time, churning out content, here and elsewhere, wondering if it is just garbage, and feeling as if the occasional cockroach (that chances a visit in here) is the only friend I have. Does the life of a content ... Read full entry

US film critic Roger Ebert talks about how he arrives at a particular rating, that is X number of stars out of five, for the movies he reviews. This paragraph in particular stands out for me: I like movies too much. I walk into the theater not in an adversarial attitude, but with hope and optimism (except for some movies, of course). I know that to get a movie ... Read full entry

The opening scenes of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, set in ancient China, circa 210 BC, set up what promises to be a reasonably entertaining fantasy/fiction flick. Then the story abruptly jumps to England in 1946, and events take a pronounced turn for the worse. That's when Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser), and his wife Evelyn (Maria Bello), make their entrance. Their ... Read full entry