tagged w/ Movie Reviews
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Critics Jill Simonian and Alonso Duralde joined Ellen Fox and Brett Erlich to review "Ramona and Beezus," the film adaptation of Beverly Cleary's novel "Beezus and Ramona," on The Rotten Tomatoes Show last night. Here's a clip from the show:
Ramona and Beezus reviewed by The Rotten Tomatoes Show
The film opens this weekend, and towards the end of the review Alonso Duralde said something that stuck with me.
"'Ramona and Beezus' is a fun and smart movie for kids. It will encourage them to read some great books by Beverly Cleary if they haven't already."
It's no secret that Hollywood is in the business of remakes, adaptations, and sequels. Adaptations are sometimes the most tricky. If a book, or series of books, are so popular, they could be adapted into the ultimate cash cow for a studio: the adapted franchise. Adapting Cleary's work could potentially fall into that realm, and depending upon how well it does this weekend at the box office the Quimby sisters could be introduced to a whole new generation of fans.
So here's my question, is it the responsibility of the filmmakers to inspire audiences leaving the cinemas this weekend to go out and pick up one of Cleary's novels? Or, should the responsibility of encouraging kids to read fall on the parents?
Critics Jill Simonian and Alonso Duralde joined Ellen Fox and Brett Erlich to review... more
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On this week's Rotten Tomatoes Show, Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox lead reviews of the movies "Predators," "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and "Inception," Christopher Nolan's psychological thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Plus, we get Helen Mirren's Secret Movie Confession and ask viewers to settle the score on the movie dumbest movie villain of all time.
The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a movie review show that airs on Thursday nights at 10:30 e/p on Current TV. From reviews of the newest releases to commentary on cult favorites and movie trends, each episode of The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a fast-paced, comedic journey through the week in cinema.
For more from the Rotten Tomatoes Show: http://rottentomatoesshow.comOn this week's Rotten Tomatoes Show, Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox lead reviews of... more
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The Rotten Tomatoes Show names the best of this weekend's highlights in new releases for both DVD and theaters. Those looking to stay in can find three movies available for purchase. Pick up "The Bounty Hunter," "Greenberg," and "Chloe," starring Amanda Seyfried as a prostitute hired by a suspicious wife.
Check out the Rotten Tomatoes review for a closer look:
http://current.com/shows/the-rotten-tomatoes-show/92358642_chloe-reviewed-by-the-rotten-tomatoes-show.htm
If films on the big screen are what you're after, then check out the three films we reviewed: "Inception," "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and "Predators."
The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a movie review show that airs on Thursday nights at 10:30 e/p on Current TV. From reviews of the newest releases to commentary on cult favorites and movie trends, each episode of The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a fast-paced, comedic journey through the week in cinema.
For more from the Rotten Tomatoes Show: http://rottentomatoesshow.comThe Rotten Tomatoes Show names the best of this weekend's highlights in new... more
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I have long argued that action movies to do not have to be dumb, mindless, explosive affairs. They do not have to follow the Michael Bay school of filmmaking. They can have interesting, well-defined characters. They can be smart. And, most importantly, the action scenes do not have to be chopped up into so many incomprehensible pieces.
...Read more : http://cafemagazine.com/index.php/reviews/143-1007/1120-mister-nolan-bring-me-a-dreamI have long argued that action movies to do not have to be dumb, mindless, explosive... more
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Earth! Wind! Fire! Water! Heart!
No, that is not in reference to Captain Planet and the Planeteers, it is the foundation of M. Night Shyamalan’s latest cinematic venture, The Last Airbender – well, minus the “heart.” – and I say that literally and figuratively.
Based on the Nickelodeon cartoon of the same name, The Last Airbender is obviously about the last airbender. And what exactly is an “airbender?” Well, I am glad you asked.
In a world that is wedged somewhere between Narnia and Middle Earth there are four nations: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. In these nations, people have the ability to manipulate or “bend” the elements on command – but the Fire Nation of badasses don’t like it when people do that; so they’ve conquered the Earth Nation and prohibited them from using their bending powers and the Water Nation is next on their list. As for the Air Nation, it doesn’t exist – until Aang (Noah Ringer), the last airbender is hatched out of a glacier in the Water Nation alongside Appa, his gigantic flying noble furry beaver/buffalo that looks like a descendant of Falkor from The Neverending Story. As inhabitants of the Water Nation, the waterbending Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her bro Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) discover Aang while playing in the snow in their Ugg boots and they all become fast friends.
But wait! There’s more!
Follow the link to read more....
http://blog.dinoray.com/2010/07/01/the-last-airbender-will-make-you-break-wind/Earth! Wind! Fire! Water! Heart!
No, that is not in reference to Captain Planet and... more
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It’s 9 p.m. June 29th. It’s a Tuesday night. I just came out of a screening for The Last Airbender and as soon as I walked to Mission and 4th street, I saw a huge line snaking around the Metreon. It was almost one entire block of people waiting for the midnight screening of Eclipse, the 3rd installment of The Twilight Saga which sprung from the mind of author Stephenie Meyer.
Thank God I was lucky enough to see it beforehand (yes, I am gloating). I thank God even more that I didn’t have to go through the Twi-hard fueled opening night of tweens who actually think these characters are real – but that’s part of the appeal about this Twilight pandemonium, right? It’s all about the fans. The franchise is 75 percent fandom, 25 percent substance.
I try to claim that I have to watch these movies because it is my civic duty as a pop culture journalist. But I didn’t have to read all four books. I didn’t have to get the special edition DVDs as soon as they came out. I didn’t have to interview Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz when they were in San Francisco. I didn’t have to have an exclusive one-on-one interview with Robert Pattinson when he came to the city to promote the first movie. I didn’t have to watch New Moon whilst writing this blog post.
Yes, I am a fan. I refuse to be called a Twi-hard. That just sounds dirty – just like the term “imprinting.”
Nonetheless, Eclipse picks up where New Moon left off (obviously). The evil crimson-haired Victoria (now played by a girl that looks like Ron Howard’s daughter) is still hunting for Bella’s (Kristen Stewart) blood. But this time, she brought some friends. She created a new vampire named Riley (Xavier Samuel) and he is instructed to create an army of newborn vampires (the most dangerous kind) in order to search for our awkward heroine and destroy her. This prompts the wolves and vampires of Forks to band together and protect the oh-so-important Bella. All the while, Jacob (Taylor Lautner) copes with his shirt deficiency and Edward (Robert Pattinson) tries 101 different ways to give us brooding looks. And both are constantly comparing the girth of their love for Bella.
The book was probably the best in the series – and the movie is just as good. Why was it so good? I am glad you asked:
1.) New director, more extreme close-ups: New director David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) totally “lifted” this movie and gave it a cooler point-of-view. He kept with the tone of the movie, but made it – how should I put it – more entertaining. The ratio of cheesy romance scenes to vampire-shattering action scenes was much appreciated. And the numerous close-ups were very intrusive and oddly enjoyable.
2.) Vampires with more interesting storylines: We finally get to see why Rosalie (Nikki Reed) is such a scathing bitch towards Bella. Her backstory is probably the most emotional and speaks volumes for her character – and it actually gives her character. We also get to see what makes Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) tick as well. It’s so nice to not make it all about Edward and Bella.
Follow the link to read more...
http://blog.dinoray.com/2010/06/29/the-10-best-things-about-eclipse/It’s 9 p.m. June 29th. It’s a Tuesday night. I just came out of a... more
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Written by Alejandro Riera | 24 June 2010
When will Adam Sandler finally grow up? He’s capable of so much more as a comedian and actor as he proved last year in Judd Apatow’s “Funny People.” As stand-up comedian and Hollywood star George Simmons, Sandler tapped into a dark, autobiographical vein, striking, as I wrote in my review, “a delicate balance between the sweet and the sour, the laughter and the pain.” I saw in the role a clear step forward for Sandler. And yet, here he is, in “Grown Ups,” going back to the man-child roles he is best known for, playing it safe.
“Grown Ups” feels written, directed and acted by a gang of sonambulists. One event, one gag, follows one after another without any reason nor rhyme. It’s an amiable movie, without any edge or tension. It has no reason for being, other than as an excuse to gather a group of close friends to have a good time at Columbia Pictures’ expense.
We first meet the titular “Grown Ups” as twelve-year-olds during a 1978 boys’ basketball championship game. As is expected, these kids are dead ringers of their adult counterparts. They were members of the only team to have secured their school coach his one and only championship title. Thirty years later, they are reunited after their coach dies of natural causes.
Lenny (Sandler) is now an aggressive Hollywood agent married to a fashion designer (Salma Hayek Pinault, although I very much doubt that in real life she would have paid much attention to him) and father to two spoiled brats who text their nanny. Kurt (Chris Rock) is a stay-at-home dad who has to put up with his pregnant wife’s, mother-in-law’s and children’s constant nagging. Eric (Kevin James) is a successful business owner whose wife (Maria Bello) still breastfeeds their four-year-old son, Marcus (David Spade) is the Lothario of the group and (Rob) Rob Schneider) is married to a woman three times his age.
For full review of Grown Ups goto...
http://cafemagazine.com/index.php/reviews/139-1006/1057-would-you-spend-the-4th-of-july-with-these-grown-ups
http://bit.ly/asfEzA
Grown Ups gets 2 Shots
CAFE'S RATING SYSTEM:
FOUR SHOTS: The perfect brew
THREE SHOTS: A decent brew
TWO SHOTS: A weak brew
ONE SHOT: Tastes like tarWritten by Alejandro Riera | 24 June 2010
When will Adam Sandler finally grow... more
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Written by Alejandro Riera | 22 June 2010
Whatever became of the romantic candlelight dinner, the equally romantic kiss with fireworks exploding in the background or, for the more adventurous, a car chase down the twisting Cote d’Azur roads in Monaco? Answer: they have been replaced by high caliber gun power, flipping vehicles, explosions and cheesy digital effects.
I couldn’t stop thinking of Alfred Hitchcock’s romantic thriller “To Catch a Thief” as I was watching “Knight and Day.” They both feature a handsome scoundrel (Cary Grant in the Hitchcock film, Tom Cruise in “Knight and Day”), a MacGuffin (the device or gimmick everyone is after) and exotic locales (multiplied six-fold in “Knight and Day”). Unfortunately, the action set-pieces are so loud, so overbearing, so over-the-top, that they pretty much vanquish any of the film’s romantic elements.
Director James Mangold and scriptwriter Patrick O’Neill waste no time in setting the plot machinery in motion. June Havens (Cameron Diaz) and Ron Miller (Cruise) meet in the Wichita airport. Unbeknownst to June, this complete stranger has slipped an object into her suitcase: a battery designed by a young genius (Paul Dano) too much in love with the music of Hall & Oates. After being bumped off her flight to Boston to be later given a last minute seat, June finds herself in an almost empty plane, sitting across the aisle from Ron. You think this would have set off some alarm bells in June’s delicate brain, right? Nope. She instead plays cute with Roy. Cue action scene number one: While June is in the lavatory, Roy dispatches the six or so passengers as well as the stewardess and the plane’s pilot who all happen to be government agents. Roy crash lands the plane on a cornfield, and drugs June while giving her some advise on how to handle what’s coming next.
For full Cafe Media Review goto...
http://bit.ly/98RngV
http://cafemagazine.com/index.php/reviews/139-1006/1049-love-and-bullets
Love and Bullets gets 2 Shots
CAFE'S RATING SYSTEM:
FOUR SHOTS: The perfect brew
THREE SHOTS: A decent brew
TWO SHOTS: A weak brew
ONE SHOT: Tastes like tarWritten by Alejandro Riera | 22 June 2010
Whatever became of the romantic... more
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Harald Zwart, the director of The Karate Kid (out in theaters June 11) said the following to ComingSoon.net:
"To me, it was never a remake; it’s a retelling of a story."
So despite what people are writing about this movie, it isn’t a remake. It’s a retelling; I repeat a retelling. It’s just a story about a kid who moves out of his adored hometown to a place he doesn’t like only to be bullied by the locals who are fluently deadly in martial arts. He befriends the maintenance man of his building and he teaches him the art of kung fu (karate, kung fu, what’s the difference – a martial art is a martial art, right?). He also falls for a girl whose affluent parents don’t approve of him. Oh yeah – lest not forget the title of the movie: The Karate Kid.
Do you see the distinction? It is nothing like the iconic movie of the same title from 1984 that made Ralph Macchio a centerfold in Tiger Beat and served as the coronation of William Zabka as the “King of all ‘80s teen movie pricks.” It spawned numerous sequels, embedded quotable quotes in the pop culture lexicon (i.e. “Wax on, wax off” and “Sweep the leg!”) and gave us a soundtrack that is and was “The Best Around.”
Follow the link to read more...
http://blog.dinoray.com/2010/06/10/apparently-the-karate-kid-is-not-a-remake/Harald Zwart, the director of The Karate Kid (out in theaters June 11) said the... more
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Steven Russell is happily married to Debbie, and a member of the local police force when a car accident provokes a dramatic reassessment of his life.Steven Russell is happily married to Debbie, and a member of the local police force... more
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In Volume 1, Episode 17 of the Cinefantastique Podcast, Dan Persons Lawrence French, and Steve Biodrowski delve into the worlds of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, unraveling the mysteries of genetic engineering and bad parenting as they analyze SPLICE, Vincenzo Natali’s thoughtful variation on the old “mad scientists create a monster” scenario. Also this week, the usual round-up of news, home video releases, and upcoming events.
Click on link to hear show:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-persons/cinefantastique-podcast-n_b_602735.htmlIn Volume 1, Episode 17 of the Cinefantastique Podcast, Dan Persons Lawrence French,... more
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Going into this movie, I thought I was going to be way too dumb for it. I thought it would be an intellectual sci-fi thriller about stem cell research and all that other hoo-ha that I should care about but not smart enough to understand; let alone hold a mature conversation about it. That was all proven wrong when, in the beginning of the movie, Clive and Elsa got all giddy over their creations named Fred & Ginger: two fleshy blobs of life that were concocted from splicing the genes of various animals. Quite frankly, the two creatures looked like deformed penises. At that point, I realized that this was a high-profile campy movie in the same vein as Human Centipede. If you take away the celebrity wattage of Brody and Polley (one who won an Oscar, the other nominated), the movie would be something you can watch at 2 in the morning on Spike TV right after an infomercial about the sartorial magic of the Infinity Dress.
Follow the link for more more...
http://blog.dinoray.com/2010/06/03/splice-up-your-life/Going into this movie, I thought I was going to be way too dumb for it. I thought it... more
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The most anticipated sequel of ALL TIME -- "Sex and the City 2" -- is upon us. I'm still curious about these lunatic women, but at the same time I can't stand them.
Will you see the film a) begrudgingly, b) enthusiastically, or c) NO F***ING WAY? I want to know if I'm alone!The most anticipated sequel of ALL TIME -- "Sex and the City 2" -- is upon... more
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In this season finale of We Eat Films, two rivals must face off to decide who will be the director of next season. Oh, and there is also a review for Date Night.In this season finale of We Eat Films, two rivals must face off to decide who will be... more
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In Ken Loach’s “Looking for Eric” former Manchester U footballer Eric Cantona is a guiding spirit of sorts for a forlorn postman also named Eric, who is haunted by his past and stymied in the present. Read entire reviewIn Ken Loach’s “Looking for Eric” former Manchester U footballer... more
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Now that Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) has revealed that he is Iron Man, he is back to his shenanigans as the gazillionaire genius/playboy inventor du jour – except with more arrogant verve. The government wants to take custody of his super-duper armored Iron Man outfit; his love interest/right-hand woman, Pepper Potts (Paltrow) gets promoted to CEO of Stark Industries; he hires a new sexy assistant that might have ulterior motives (Johansson); some Russian dude (Rourke) is craving his blood; and a douchey maestro of military weaponry (Rockwell) is out to annihilate his business empire. To top it all off, that glowing battery in his chest is not only keeping him alive, but killing him too. Yup, there’s a lot going on.
Follow the link for more...
http://blog.dinoray.com/2010/05/06/a-review-of-a-small-movie-called-iron-man-2/Now that Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) has revealed that he is Iron Man, he is back to his... more
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