Film reviews, entertainment news, and insight.
Review
All movie reviews
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Jan 13th
Director: Charlie Kaufman | Rated: R | Review date: 13-Jan-2010
Synecdoche, New York is the film directorial debut for Charlie Kaufman, who’s wrote such acclaimed pieces as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. One thing is clear after viewing this cinematic gem: Mr. Kaufman has the eerie ability to transfer his deep and profound writing onto the screen. This film is unlike anything I’ve seen in quite some time. The obscure and often bizarre visuals almost resemble a David Lynch-like world of imagination and physical metaphors.
The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Caden Cotard, a great theater director More >
Whatever Works (2009)
Jan 12th
Director: Woody Allen | Rated: PG-13 | Review date: 12-Jan-2010
Comedic master Larry David stars in Woody Allen’s latest narrative, Whatever Works. David plays Boris Yellnikoff, an egotistical, rude, and anti-everything scholar who seems to be too smart for his own good. His know-it-all attitude causes his relationships to deteriorate and frequently pushes him into a suicidal state. Everything changes when Boris meets Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood). The southern bell lands literally on Boris’ doorstep and he reluctantly allows her to stay with him.
Melodie’s sunny personality is ignorant to Boris’ constant belittling, which slowly causes an unlikely relationship. David and Wood play More >
Paper Heart (2009)
Jan 11th
Director: Nicholas Jasenovec | Rated: PG-13 | Review date: 11-Jan-2010
Charlyne Yi wrote and stars in this little quirky pseudo-documentary about discovering the many wonders of love. Aside from interviews, the film attempts to take a more dramatic turn when Yi becomes involved with actor Michael Cera. I found this angle of the story to be slightly boring and uninteresting. Both Cera’s and Yi’s acting felt unnatural and made them seem a bit drab on camera. I would have preferred this film had been an actual documentary as the interviews, even the quirky little puppet shows in between, were cute and More >
Lovely Bones, The (2010)
Jan 9th
Director: Peter Jackson | Rated: PG-13 | Review date: 9-Jan-2010
The Lovely Bones is director Peter Jackson’s follow up to 2005′s King Kong, which is based on the novel of the same name by Alice Sebol. The fantastical crime drama follows the Salmon family after daughter Susie (Saoirse Ronan) is brutally murdered. Mark Wahlberg plays Jack, the father, who goes a bit overboard in search of Susie’s killer. Things take more of an imaginative turn when Susie begins to give her family signs, which are received mostly by Jack.
It wouldn’t be a Peter Jackson movie without some kind of stunning visual More >
Up in the Air (2009)
Jan 6th
Director: Jason Reitman | Rated: R | Review date: 6-Jan-2010
Up in the Air, Jason Reitman’s follow-up to the phenomenally successful Juno, stars George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a man who’s career is based around ending those of others. His work takes him around the country firing individuals, though Ryan doesn’t seem to have a problem with it – in fact he is quite content with his lonesome lifestyle. I can’t say I’ve disliked Clooney in any movie even if the movie itself wasn’t great, and this is no exception. Clooney is superb and movingly captures his character’s sometimes depressing self-realizations. More >
