A couple of minor notes for today...First, to clear something up, the October 1 "ReelThought" was not intended to be a jab at Roger Ebert. It was a jab at Flightplan, which I believe to possess a plot that is too absurd for even the most blasé ...
Critics disagree with surprising frequency, highlighting the subjectivity of viewing films. I agree with Roger Ebert as often as I disagree with him. When you're dealing with opinions, that's the nature of the business. Roger has a greater ...
Festival decompression is over. The major problem with going to a festival is that, after non-stop movie-going and writing for eight days, laziness asserts itself. I need a period of limited movie-going and minimal writing. That period has come to...
Starting today, ReelThoughts will go on a two week hiatus. This is to allow me to provide daily reports/updates from the Toronto International Film Festival. Those of you who like reading my daily output have nothing to worry about - I often write ...
When I was a kid, I couldn't imagine how people once lived without television. After all, I probably spent three hours a day sitting in front of our single color set, watching Julia Child and The Galloping Gourmet in the early afternoon, The Lone ...
Like many of those reading this column, I have been glued to the television this week watching coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The images are stunning, like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster. This is reality but, in a way, ...
Based on limited reader response, it seems that a majority enjoyed reading The Price of Magic more than The Price of the Crown. That's okay, although I'll admit to having had more fun writing the first book than the second. The style of Magic may ...
One of the biggest marketing scams out there is the existence of "Unrated DVDs." Oh, it's not always a ploy. There are times when a director may have to cut content to allow an NC-17 film to obtain an R rating. In these cases, the director's version ...
HBO calls it Rome, but it's really a prequel to I, Claudius. The classic 1970s BBC series (based on the Robert Graves novels, I, Claudius and Claudius the God) examined the reigns of the first four Roman Emperors: Augustus (born Octavian), Tiberius...
Contrary to how it may appear, I do not have a prejudice against movies with the word "brothers" in the title. I never intended to review Four Brothers - the press screening was held at a theater I avoid and I didn't feel like spending $8 of my own ...
Time to really ramble today…"Blog" is an ugly word. It sounds like something that comes out of the nose when a person is sick with the flu. As I'm sure nearly everyone reading this knows, "blog" is short for "web log." (I prefer the term "online ...
Three of the movies I saw on planes during my marathon 44-hours in the air during the last week of May have now reached U.S. theaters. One of the benefits of flying Singapore Air is that each passenger has his/her own personal entertainment center, ...
Tonight and tomorrow night, at 9 pm, The National Geographic Channel is presenting the two-part, four-hour documentary, Inside 9/11. Sticking to the facts and using available private & public footage, this is said to be the most comprehensive look ...
When one considers the names of "progressive" U.S. cities, New York probably isn't at the top of the list (despite its status as the largest and best known locale in the country). San Francisco, in all likelihood. Seattle and New Orleans too. ...
Every once in a while, I am asked why I don't conduct interviews. This has not always been my policy - it has developed over the course of my 14 years as a film reviewer/critic. There was a time when I participated in interviews - those who browse ...
This past week, Robert Iger became the latest voice to join a growing chorus advocating a major overhaul of the current movie distribution system. With DVD sales outstripping ticket sales, the time has come to stop thinking of home video as a "...
Time for another MPAA-related rant. Maybe I should dedicate one day a week to an anti-MPAA ReelThought.Last week, I saw Broken Flowers, the lastest Jim Jarmusch film. The MPAA has given it a justifiable R-rating. That's not what this column is ...