Search for 2009

Mira Nair's Amelia is a by-the-book bio-pic. By following the template, it's as safe and straightforward as one could possibly get, without narrative flourishes and with minimal exaggeration to satisfy Hollywood's appetite for fictionalization. Th...

The term "godawful" should be used sparingly in connection with motion pictures. With Angels & Demons, however, it seems oddly appropriate. Not only does this prequel-turned-sequel to The Da Vinci Code make its predecessor seem like a masterw...

The Answer Man is one of those modestly diverting motion pictures that's as sweet as cotton candy - and as insubstantial. "Forgettable" is the best term for something like this. It's not painful to sit through but it's unlikely anyone is going to...

Antichrist is a classic case of the Emperor's New Clothes. On the surface, it seems like there's something there - as if Lars von Trier is making bold statements about important issues. But when you think about it, he's not saying much, and what ...

Screened in standard (non-IMAX) digital 3D. Avatar has been described as a "game-changer," and perhaps it is. I'll leave that for future historians to determine. What I can say with some assuredness is this is the most technically amazing motio...

The majority of this review is taken from what I wrote in 2009. I have tweaked and edited it to update it for 2022. Following the main review are a few new comments written following my re-watching of the film on September 23, 2022.Avatar has been d...

It may be fair to consider Away We Go as Sam Mendes' penance for Revolutionary Road. The director's late-2008 Winslet/DiCaprio reunion was an immersion in bile - an acidic trip underneath the placid exterior of mid-20th century suburbia to a rot t...

When artistic and marketing impulses collide, you end up with an unwieldy title like Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Director Werner Herzog's preferred name, Port of Call New Orleans, was deemed unsuitable by producer Edward R. Pressman,...

There are different kinds of sports fans. The casual aficionado will check the papers for game results and occasionally watch the broadcast (or part of one) of an event and, while he (or she) will not be indifferent to the victory or loss of a fav...

The marketing campaign for The Blind Side plays up the inspirational aspects of the story - that it's based on the real-life rags-to-riches tale of football player Michael Oher and the woman whose fierce love and determination to help him allowed h...