Movie Review:
"American Animal"
(B+) May 18, 2012
He's pathetic ... and sadly familiar
"American Animal" is a work of astonishing ego. It was written, directed, and edited by 27-year-old Matt D'Elia, his feature-film debut. D'Elia is also the film's star, though he's never acted before. Oh, and he's naked a lot of the time. A man who will cast himself as the frequently nude main character in a movie which he will also write, direct, and edit is a man brimming with confidence, or possibly foolishness, or possibly both. If the movie doesn't work, it's going to be nobody's fault but Matt D'Elia's.
Movie Review:
"Hysteria"
(B-) May 18, 2012
All of Victorian England is abuzz!
In the olden days, "hysteria" was a medical term applied to women (it comes from the Greek for "uterus") to describe everything from anxiety to melancholy to fluid retention. Some of the symptoms were eventually attributed to a lack of sexual satisfaction, though it took a while for doctors to express this directly. Anyway, the point is, the movie "Hysteria" is about the invention of the vibrator.
Movie Review:
"Mansome (documentary)"
(C) May 18, 2012
Men's grooming doc ignores the roots
With "Mansome," Morgan Spurlock had the opportunity to make a fascinating documentary about men's grooming habits, and what it means to be "masculine" in the 21st century. Instead, he made a shallow, disposal trifle about beards and waxing: the People magazine version of anthropology.
Movie Review:
"The Dictator"
(C+) May 16, 2012
Borat takes a field trip to the U.N.
"The Dictator" is a departure for Sacha Baron Cohen. Oh, don't worry, it's as self-consciously vulgar and politically incorrect as "Borat" and "Bruno," and in many of the same ways, with outrageously bigoted characters providing satire of bigotry. What's different is that Baron Cohen has shifted from the mockumentary style in favor of a traditional narrative structure.
Movie Review:
"Sleepless Night (French)"
(B+) May 14, 2012
An unusually painful night at the club
"Sleepless Night" is a workmanlike action thriller from France that's so unfussily entertaining -- and inexpensive to produce -- that Hollywood's urge to remake it will be irresistible. (Indeed, the rights to do so have already been purchased.) Along with last year's "Point Blank," this is evidence of a new wave of knuckle-cracking French action.
Movie Review:
"Sound of My Voice"
(B+) May 14, 2012
Some are skeptical of basement cults
"Sound of My Voice" takes place mostly in an unremarkable finished basement in an ordinary Southern California tract home, in which a young woman of average physical appearance named Maggie tells a small group of regular people the most extraordinary things. Chief among them: that she is from the year 2054 and can help us prepare for the future.
Eric's Blog May 12, 2012
Weekly link roundup - May 7-13
Bon voyage, me! I'm leaving Monday night for the Cannes Film Festival, located in far-away "France"! Very excited about this, as I've never been to this festival (or even this country) before. My podcast cohost Jeff Bayer and I will be doing daily shows from Cannes starting on Thursday, reviewing the movies we've seen and recounting the presumably hilarious things that have befallen us. You may keep abreast of this at the Movie B.S. with Bayer and Snider website, or by keeping an eye on my Twitter feed. Merci in advance! (That is French.)
Movie Review:
"A Bag of Hammers"
(B) May 11, 2012
Two nice crooks, a makeshift family
Your complaint that "A Bag of Hammers" is slight, oversimplified, and unrealistic is not unfounded. You have a good point. I hear what you're saying. And I don't care. Because "A Bag of Hammers" is also happy, uncynical, and heartfelt, so gosh-darned likable that any flaws in its methods are easily overlooked.
Movie Review:
"Dark Shadows"
(D) May 11, 2012
Burton and Depp go sleepwalking
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are known to be huge fans of two things: each other, and the old ABC daytime soap opera Dark Shadows. The supernatural series ran on weekday afternoons from June 1966 to April 1971, racking up 1,225 episodes and entertaining millions of viewers with its Gothic tales of vampires, ghosts, time travel, and shoddily constructed sets. It's easy to see why Burton and Depp would be fans of it, and easy to see why they'd be considered the perfect team to adapt it into a film.
Movie Review:
"God Bless America"
(B-) May 11, 2012
Morbid cynicism with no place to go
Bobcat Goldthwait makes some barbed and highly accurate observations in "God Bless America," the perverse black comedy about the idiocy of modern culture that he wrote and directed. We have an overdeveloped sensed of entitlement, he says, with no regard for the way our actions affect others. We watch TV shows devoted to the mockery of people whose behavior is bad enough to make us feel better about our own, or who are weaker than we are. "We've lost our kindness," Goldthwait says through his avatar, a beaten-down middle-aged man named Frank (Joel Murray). "We've lost our soul."
Movie Reviews
The last 60 days:
-
96 Minutes
C
R 04/27/12
-
American Animal
B+
Not Rated 05/18/12
-
American Reunion
C-
R 04/06/12
-
The Avengers
B+
PG-13 05/04/12
-
A Bag of Hammers
B
Not Rated 05/11/12
-
Bernie
B
PG-13 04/27/12
-
Blue Like Jazz
C
PG-13 04/13/12
-
Bully (documentary)
B
PG-13 03/30/12
-
The Cabin in the Woods
A
R 04/13/12
-
Dark Shadows
D
PG-13 05/11/12
-
The Dictator
C+
R 05/16/12
-
The Five-Year Engagement
C
R 04/27/12
-
God Bless America
B-
R 05/11/12
-
Goon
B+
R 03/30/12
-
Headhunters (Norwegian)
B+
R 04/27/12
-
The Hunger Games
B
PG-13 03/23/12
-
Hysteria
B-
R 05/18/12
-
Intruders
C
R 03/30/12
-
The Lucky One
D+
PG-13 04/20/12
-
Mansome (documentary)
C
PG-13 05/18/12
-
Mirror Mirror
B
PG 03/30/12
-
The Raid: Redemption (Indonesian)
B+
R 03/23/12
-
The Raven
C-
R 04/27/12
-
Sleepless Night (French)
B+
R 05/11/12
-
Sound of My Voice
B+
R 04/27/12
-
Think Like a Man
C+
PG-13 04/20/12
-
The Three Stooges
C
PG 04/13/12
-
Wrath of the Titans
C-
PG-13 03/30/12
- Most Recent Comments:
- Movie Review: I'm Not Scared (Italian)
- Movie Review: My Girlfriend's Boyfriend
- Snide Remarks: A Grimm View of Politics
- Movie Review: Dark Shadows
- Movie Review: The Lucky One
- Snide Remarks: Los Churros del Diablo
- Movie Review: The Avengers
- Movie Review: Haywire
- Movie Review: The Five-Year Engagement
- Movie Review: Goon
