Movies
CategoryA 20th Anniversary “Muppet Christmas Carol” Drinking Game
Take a drink:
• Every time you see anthropomorphic food.
• Every time a bell or chime rings.
• Gonzo directly quotes Dickens.
..
Joe Wright’s Lavish “Anna Karenina” is Pretty Good, Once You Get Used to It
Joe Wright’s new adaptation of Anna Karenina is absorbing and moving—eventually. The showy director burdens this film with such a heavy st..
Why I Expected to Hate “Cloud Atlas” But Actually Didn’t At All
In the summer of 2010 I almost started to cry when, reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, I encountered the first mention of the titl..
Yeah, “Argo” Probably Will Win the Oscar for Best Picture, Because It’s a Perfectly Decent Movie
On paper, Argo sounds like material for a comedy, even a farce: adapted by Chris Terrio from a true story, Ben Affleck’s film centers ..
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” Isn’t Just Bad, It’s Offensive
Charlie—the hero of The Perks of Being a Wallflower—and I have a lot in common. We both went to high school in the early 90s, we both were..
Elizabeth Olsen in “Liberal Arts”: Manic pixie dream school
Earlier this year I wrote a post called “What It Means To Be 36.” I wrote, “I don’t want to be ‘36’—or ‘26,’ or ‘46.’ This is nothing ..
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master”: L. Ron Hubbard Redux
When I was a tween sci-fi reader, L. Ron Hubbard’s Mission Earth dekalogy—Hubbard’s publisher coined that term specifically for the pu..
Whitney gets one last curtain call in the otherwise turgid Sparkle
There’s a moment in Sparkle where Whitney Houston’s stern matriarch character looks directly at her fame-seeking daughters over Sunday..
Christopher Nolan Rises to His Own Standard with “The Dark Knight Rises”
As much as I was vibrating out of my skin with excitement over The Avengers, I have been filled with doubt and anxiety for months over..
“The Avengers”: Nerd-Approved
HULK SMASH! HULK MAKE EPIC COMEBACK FROM TWO CRAPPY MOVIES! HULK SMASH…
Wait…I should back up. Hi. We haven’t met yet. I’m a ne..
True-Life Horror at the Fast-Food Dinner Rush: Why “Compliance” Might Be the Year’s Best Movie
There are many things art can do, and one of the most essential is help us understand ourselves better as human beings: communicate or exp..
Nicholas Sparks Movies Make Me Hate My Life
I saw that new Nicholas Sparks movie last night after drooling over the trailer for about a month. If you’re unaware of it, it’s call..