Search for 2008

There are generally two kinds of Christmas movies: those designed for family audiences and those that should probably have aired on the Hallmark Channel instead of opening in a movie theater. Nothing Like the Holidays belongs in the latter categor...

One Missed Call is yet another PG-13 horror movie adapted from a Japanese source. Taken in concert with The Ring, one has to wonder if these productions illustrate some subconscious fear of technology felt by the Japanese. First, they're being me...

Historical dramas aren't as popular as they were during the years when they were routinely clogging Oscar nomination lists and taking home awards, so it's a source of curiosity every time one comes out to see what concessions have been made to incr...

To fashion an endearing romantic comedy, there are only a few simple rules to be followed: find two likeable leads whose chemistry sizzles, provide them with a simple framework that allows them to gradually fall for each other in such a way that th...

The characters forming the framework of Paris could live and breathe in any city across the world, but the location in which Cédric Klapisch's tale unwinds is integral to the fabric of the movie. Like Woody Allen and New York, Klapisch allows his...

It has been said that the only way to truly enjoy a stoner comedy is to smoke a joint before watching it. Considering the quality of some of the movies wedded to this genre, I'm tempted to believe that. Thankfully, Pineapple Express is an excepti...

In some ways, watching Ponyo, the latest effort from Japanese master animator Hayao Miyazaki, is like taking a trip back into time. These days, everything to come out of American animated houses is computer-generated and/or 3-D. Gone are the tim...

The generic cop movie has become such a tedious bore that when something like The Departed comes along, it injects energy into a genre that, over time, has lost momentum to a dried-up wellspring of creativity. Even as recently as the '80s, when Di...

Spoilers, I suppose… Sony is releasing Prom Night under their "Screen Gems" imprint. Gems? More like turds. By its nature, the slasher film is not a terribly deep or complicated effort. To be successful, all such a movie needs is a sympath...

The Promotion is a nice little comedy about what it takes to climb the corporate ladder and the toll such actions take on the psyche of a decent individual. Despite the presence of Seann William Scott, who will forever be known as Stifler from the...