At this time of the year, I am frequently asked about "locks" on my end-of-December Top 10 list. This year, because there have been no four-star movies (at least to date), the question is being asked more frequently. One title I often mention in ...
Let me begin by expressing the following (lest what follows be taken the wrong way): With respect to what's currently happening in Hollywood, my sympathies lie with the writers. With the exception of brain-dead movies like Transformers, it's ...
Yikes! Next weekend is an awful release weekend - only two movies: The Savages in limited release and Awake in 1500 theaters. And Awake isn't being screened for critics. Fortunately, things pick up considerably the following week.No ReelThoughts ...
Why has ReelThoughts been limited to once a week when it used to be almost every other day?Where have the video reviews gone?Are you ever going to do another list like your Top 100?Looking in my mailbox over the past few months, these are among the ...
Okay, so October wasn't a great month for movies. It's not just that there weren't many worthy options out there (Gone Baby Gone and Things We Lost in the Fire were the best), but there wasn't a lot to get excited about. That's why revenue and ...
In the beginning, the MPAA's decision to introduce a PG-13 rating seemed like a good idea - a compromise between the PG and R to accommodate movies that were a little too "course" for the family friendly PG rating without condemning them to exclusive...
When it comes to today's TV sets, bigger is better. Gone are the days when a 28" set was admired far and wide. Now, such a television is relegated to basements and back rooms where the neighbors can't see it. So it's ironic that the bigger the ...
In the near future, I will be moving into a new house. This is the perfect time to upgrade my home theater. My speakers are high end, so they don't need replacement, but I'll trade in my current TV for something sharper and spiffier, swap out my ...
For those curious about the title, the Harvest Moon is the first full moon after the Autumnal Equinox. It is usually the October full moon, but this year it happened to occur in late September. The first full moon after the Harvest Moon is the ...
It has been said that Hollywood remakes films and TV shows because of creative bankruptcy. While there may be some truth to that statement, I view the situation in another way. Hollywood turns to remakes because filmmakers lack cojones. It takes ...
In the realm of entertainment, advertising makes the world go 'round. I have learned this through experience. The TV networks are about to be reminded of it the hard way thanks to a device commonly referred to as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). In...
September is a transition month all around. In the Southern hemisphere, it announces the arrival of spring and all that the season promises. In the North, it's back to school and time to get ready for the cooler weather ahead. In Hollywood, it's ...
To use a common expression, the Hollywood machine is in the process of shooting itself in the foot. Or, to put it another way, they're killing the goose that laid the golden egg.Not all that long ago, things looked so promising. DVD players were ...
NOTE: There are no Harry Potter spoilers in this column.For fans of the Harry Potter book series, today is THE DAY. For months, it has been red-lettered on calendars. Countdowns have been done. Anticipation has risen to a level that, at least for ...
Lately, I have been doing a lot of research into online film piracy. I have learned a fair amount, some of which will be covered in future ReelThoughts, but there are two key points I want to touch upon here: (1) The movie studios and the MPAA have ...
Over at rogerebert.com, the argument rages on: Can video games be art? This discussion is into its second year, and has its genesis further back. A few e-mails have asked my opinion about this issue. They presume - rightly or wrongly - that since I ...
There are three definitions of "summer" in the northern hemisphere. Going purely by the calendar and the stars, summer starts two-thirds of the way through June and ends two-thirds of the way through September. Based on holidays, school, and ...