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Where's the Damn Spider-Man 3 Review? (2007 Apr 29)

The "where" is actually a "when," and the answer to that question is sometime on Friday. The question that naturally follows is "why?" Why Friday, when half the movie-review websites already have the review posted and the rest will have it up ...

What's in a Title? (2007 Oct 14)

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 ...

Weather Permitting (2007 Feb 13)

With stormy winter weather threatening the northeast, now seems as good a time as any to re-iterate why the word "expected" accompanies projected post dates for new reviews. That date assumes all goes well and that snow, sleet, or ice skating rinks ...

Video View (2007 Dec 04)

In keeping with a schedule I recently revealed, I plan to write a short column every Tuesday remarking on some of the newest offerings on video. Each report will be divided into three sections: New Movies on DVD, TV on DVD, and Other Things of ...

Video View (2007 Dec 11)

New Movies on DVD: This week, it's pretty much all Potter and Bourne. Harry's fifth adventure, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, has arrived on DVD along with Jason Bourne's third, The Bourne Ultimatum. Since the Harry Potter films are ...

Video View (2007 Dec 18)

New Movies on DVD: This is the last chance for distributors to get their movies onto store shelves before the holidays, so there are a fair number of late-summer, high-profile titles debuting this week. After today, things get quiet for a while. ...

Twinkle, Twinkle (2007 Mar 08)

Addressing this subject is nothing new. I have done it many times in e-mails and written a prior ReelThought or two devoted to the subject, but it keeps coming up. What exactly do the star ratings mean?Every film critic who uses a rating system has ...

Third Time's a Charm (2007 May 27)

There's a saying that states "Third time's a charm." In life, this may often be the case, but when it comes to movies and their sequels, third time's anything but a charm.May 2007 has seen the release of three part threes. Spider-Man 3 has already ...

The Years of Others (2007 Nov 29)

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 ...

The Tarnished Compass (2007 Dec 10)

It has been widely reported that New Line Cinema staked a lot - perhaps even its solvency - on the success of The Golden Compass. Without applying any spin, the truth is that the movie underperformed. New Line may cheerlead about the film being #1 ...

The Slide (2007 Jan 08)

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 ...

The Shortest Month (2007 Jan 27)

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 (...

The Screen Gets Smaller (2007 Oct 21)

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 ...

The PG-13 Curse (2007 Oct 28)

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...

The Obligatory Post-Mortem (2007 Feb 26)

In a word: lame.In two words: lame and long. (What, you expected me to be complimentary?)It took me 70 minutes (with ample exercising of my right index finger on the FF button) to slog through Sunday night's Oscarcast. I pity those who had to endure...

The Nuclear Option (2007 Dec 06)

If the WGA strike was just about money, it would be over by now. In fact, money is only part of the equation. The other, more significant variable is power. The sides don't just want to settle; they want to win. They'll deny this, of course, but ...

The Noble Death (2007 Feb 10)

There's nothing wrong with killing off characters in TV series and movie franchises, but there's a rule that should always be observed: Be respectful. Longevity plays into this. If the character has only been around for a few TV episodes or a movie ...