>> Hancock (7/10)

Nobody likes Hancock.  That’s the conflict at the start of the new superhero film starring Will Smith as a drunken, impatient hobo with the powers of a god.  To offset this conflict, to make sure that the audience secretly does like Hancock, even when characters in the movie do not, the filmmakers cast WIll Smith.  [...]

>> Get Smart (7/10)

Movies are products, especially Summer movies.  They’re designed specifically to make money by providing widely appealing entertainment for two hours in an air-conditioned environment.  They are perfectly timed for home video release at the start of the Christmas shopping season, so that these exercises in mass appeal can be given as gifts, and the giver [...]

>> The Love Guru (6/10)

So, I saw this year’s most publicly reviled film so far, Mike Myer’s new comedy The Love Guru, and I didn’t hate it.  This is not, as some would have you believe, the end of Mike Myers’ career in comedy.  There will always be a home in comedy for wacky characters and off-color childishness, and [...]

>> Wanted (5.5/10)

It’s math time! Take how clever the movie Wanted thinks that it is, then divide that by half. Subtract characterization. Add stupidity. Take a scene in which two bullets collide with each other in slow-motion and multiply that scene by eight. Subtract all body fat from Angelina Jolie. Divide [...]

>> Wall-E (9/10)

Thanks to Pixar, I have no choice but to go into wild, unrestrained hyperbole regarding their new film, the animated sci-fi adventure love story titled Wall-E. Ready? Here we go. Visionary. Emotional. Fantastic. A Must-See. A Thrill Ride. Romantic. Eye-Popping. Incredible. Instant Classic. [...]

>> Kung Fu Panda (7/10)

Where exactly is the line between cliche and homage? That line is easily found in Dreamworks Animation’s new film, Kung Fu Panda, cutting right down the middle, between adoring tribute and tired idea. Of course, children won’t understand either one. They won’t know that stories about an unlikely “chosen one” are a [...]

>> The Foot Fist Way (7/10)

Fred Simmons grew on me.
I didn’t like him at first. I didn’t like his pompous attitude, I didn’t like how talentless he appeared, especially in regards to his ego, and I didn’t like the condescending way he interacted with others. So, when this movie was about ten minutes in, I got a little [...]

>> The Incredible Hulk (7.5/10)

Let’s answer the big question first; the one everyone will be asking, “Is The Incredible Hulk better than Ang Lee’s Hulk?” Yes. If by “better”, you mean louder, faster, more exciting, more thrilling, and way cooler than the 2004 version, then, yes, it is better. However, if your definition of “better” includes [...]

Some thoughts on “Pennies” and missed screenings

I missed the Machine Girl screening, because I’m stuck in Crockett waiting for a key to show up before I can hit the road to Austin. Crockett mail is notoriously slow, so I had my reservations that it would get here today, despite being sent on Thursday from South Texas.
In addition to Sole Suvivor [...]

Some thoughts on this very site right here…

Woman: “Money can’t buy happiness.”
Doctor: “It can’t buy poverty either.”
That’s some choice dialogue right there from 1984’s Sole Survivor. I looked up from folding my laundry, trying to figure out just what the heck that exchange meant. The film arrived from Netflix over the weekend, where I’d heard it was a [...]