When I found out about the new film 'Parker,' I became very interested. Someone was finally allowed to use Parker’s name? What sort of sorcery was this? And then I found out the movie had been due to be released in October before being pushed back to January, which always a bad sign. So, what is this movie? A gem to be embraced, or a crappy flick that’s being flushed out with the rest of the trash at a time of year when fewer people…
My recommendation for New Year's Eve viewing, if you're inclined to watch a movie: 'The Apartment,' directed by Billy Wilder. Turner Classic Movies is showing it tonight beginning at 10 p.m. EST. It's one of Billy Wilder's best films, and it won several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine star as a mismatched couple in New York City in 1960, a time when the nation's values were changing rapidly. Wilder catches the enormity of the shift in moral…
Your humble writer's parents used to employ the phrase, "the height of laziness," whenever they perceived sloppy execution of household tasks, farm chores, or homework. If either of them had taken up criticism as a vocation, they would've applied that phrase to 'Killing Them Softly,' a Brad Pitt vehicle abounding with artistic laziness. A film noir of sorts, 'Killing Them Softly' attempts an analogy between the bad actors responsible for the 2008 financial meltdown and criminals of every rank and social standing in a film…
The U.S. cinema box office continues its long decline. New release Tower Heist finished below expectations, coming in second behind returning champ Puss in Boots.The Brett Ratner-directed Tower Heist got relatively good reviews—69 percent positive, according to Rotten Tomatoes—but the good reviews and star power of Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy failed to propel it to the top spot, earning just $25 million while Puss brought in $33 mil.
U.S. moviegoers avoided theaters over the weekend, except those showing new release Paranormal Activity 3. But fans of Rowan Atkinson and his Johnny English master-spy character needn't worry about the film's poor performance at the box office--odds are he will live to see tomorrow.
The Help, a comedy-drama film set in the South during the turbulent mid-1960s, finished at the top of the U.S. movie box office for the second weekend in a row. Although the film received largely positive reviews, a critic from the Boston Globe predictably lambasted the film for insufficient hatred of the American South: It’s possible both to like this movie – to let it crack you up, then make you cry – and to wonder why we need a broad, if sincere dramatic comedy…
NPR, of all places, makes the case for good, old-fashioned entertainment in the movies. Without agreeing with all of the writer’s evaluations, it’s nice to see a populist look at the cinema. Story here.
Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader Tops Weekend Box Office.
As soon as I learned Disney was putting out a movie about the greatest horse of all time I knew I had to see it. But it wasn’t so much about the horse as much as it was about the time. It’s hard to imagine in 2010 a race horse having rock star status in America, but it was a different time. Horse racing was still a major sport, and in the era of Watergate, hippies, and Vietnam the American people were looking for something…
A forthcoming British film will portray post-World War II Israeli Zionists as terrorists, according to people formerly involved in the production. Story here.
You Are What You See is a good introduction for Christians at their wits' end trying to figure out what to do about popular entertainment. You won't be given a hard-and-fast formula, but you'll come away with some maps and compasses to help you find your own way.
The box office appeal of 3D films is waning.
It was a solid weekend for traditional-themed movies at the U.S box office. The entertaining and Christian-themed 3D animated film Toy Story 3 was the top draw at the U.S. box office last weekend, bringing in an estimated $109 million during the three-day period. It was the most successful opening weekend ever for a Disney/Pixar animated film. Crowd-pleasers The Karate Kid and The A-Team both did very well in their second week of release, in second and third places with tallies of $29 million and…
Bill Whittle is a clever, erudite and indefatigable proponent ofliberty and limited government. His latest PJTV video, entitled “Support Your Local Tea Party: Vigilance & The Siren Song of the State,” is a must-see, especially if you’re on the fence about attending a Tax Day Tea Party near you. Whittle’s video and the political movement it endorses are incredibly important. At the 2 minute 30 second mark, however, note his list of fields “the enemies of freedom have … taken over.” “Things have gotten this…
… at least on Fox come May after the conclusion of it’s eighth “day,” otherwise known as a season. From The Hollywood Reporter: Tick, tick, tick … and done. After eight seasons, Fox’s “24” is coming to an end. The groundbreaking action drama will air its final real-time episode in May, the victim of a confluence of circumstances: a swelling budget, declining ratings and creative fatigue. BOOOOO!!!!! Apparently, due to the fact that salaries spiral upward dramatically the longer a show is on television (especially…
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