This has been a weird month, and I'm not just speaking as a film critic when I say that. It has been strange in so many ways that cataloguing them almost feels like an impossible task. But that won't stop me from trying...Perhaps first and foremost...
Why do we watch movies? Seems like a simple question, right? But is it really? And have the reasons for viewing motion pictures changed over the years? Does a 13-year old kid in 2010 go to a theater with the same expectations as his father 25 ...
Sometimes, I just don't understand movie distributors. And none is more difficult to fathom than Miramax, which occasionally buys the rights to a film, then allows it to rot away on a shelf. For example, take Hero. In order for that film to see ...
Since I "converted" ReelThoughts into a more conventional blog (rather than just a convenient place to stick commentaries), I have been pretty good about posting something nearly every day. Next week, my resolve may falter, so I have decided to ...
It had to happen some time. We have reached the point when the number of movies being released to DVD is in a downturn. The reason is obvious: with the majority of the studios' A-list and B-list catalog titles available, there's a scarcity of ...
Every year, I get at least a dozen e-mails asking if I'll be attending Sundance. Some are from people hoping to meet me; others are from readers wondering if I'll be posting updates. It has been seven years since I have been to Park City and I don'...
What has begun? The erosion of DVD profits. According to Pali Research analysts Richard Greenfield and Mark Smaldon (see this link), 2007 will be the first year in the relatively short history of the now-popular format that DVD sales are expected ...
First, a few notes. I will be writing something next week about the Oscars, although I'm formulating how to do it in a way that's different from the other million columns written about the nominations. I dislike being boring and repetitive (...
Initially, this ReelThought was going to be about the insane, must-be-first mindset that is driving film critics' groups to announce their end-of-the-year awards before they have seen the entire roster of 2011 films. It's the same mentality that is ...
I have now logged more than 200 votes in the "picture/no picture" tally, and the current results are within 5 of being an even split. Both sides have presented some compelling arguments. Thankfully, no one has threatened to boycott the site if I ...
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 ...
Those who know me are aware that I'm a sucker for romances - as long as they are well-made and lacking in excessive sentimentality. Tear-jerkers like Ghost don't do anything for me. (I hate that film with an unholy passion.) But give me something ...
When it comes to genre films, a certain amount of formula isn't a bad thing. Such is the case with the romantic comedy, where plot has always taken a back seat to two more important characteristics: chemistry and character likeability. For a ...
In each of the past few years, I have seen about 200 movies theatrically (with another 100+ per annum on DVD). Of these, I typically review about 150. (Last year, it was 171.) However, although the 75% "review rate" might be considered aggressive, ...
The main issue associated with reviving VideoViews (the site's DVD-related review page) hasn't been setting it up (it's only one page, and that one page has been cloned from the main new reviews page), but the weekly commitment necessary to update it...
Speculation about what the future multiplex may look like and how Hollywood could marry streaming with theatrical releases.
"24" and "Lost" tomorrow... I promise. A movie opened this weekend that I didn't recognize as a remake until after I had posted the review. The film in question is Fever Pitch and it shares its title with the 1997 original. I saw that movie 8 ...