MCN Weekend Reviews Archive for May, 2011
Wilmington on Movies: Meek’s Cutoff
Meek’s Cutoff (Three and a Half Stars) U. S.: Kelly Reichardt, 2011 Meek’s Cutoff, like the Coen Brothers’ True Grit, is an art film Western for a contemporary audience, and an unusually good one — made by a director and writer (Kelly Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond), who show a real feeling for what it…
Read the full article »Wilmington on Movies: Kung Fu Panda 2
Kung Fu Panda 2 (Two and a Half Stars) U.S.: Jennifer Yuh Nelson, 2011 Kung Fu Panda 2 is a cute, likable movie, done with a lot of skill and A-level talent, and with all the visual virtuosity we expect by now from big-budget cartoon features — especially from sequels to gigantic hits, like…
Read the full article » 1 Comment »Wilmington on Movies: The Hangover Part II
The Hangover, Part II (Two Stars) U.S.: Todd Phillips, 2011 I laughed a lot at 2009’s big comedy hit, The Hangover — that tense and raunchy tale of three longtime buddies at a wedding who wake up after a night of incredible but totally forgotten debauchery and have to try to figure out…
Read the full article »Review – X-Men: First Class (non-spoiler)
Matthew Vaughn has crafted a superhero movie, complete with all the computer effects, that is as revo/evo-lutionary as Bryan Singer’s X-Men and Nolan’s Batman films. Basically, he made a Bond film with good guys and bad guys alike who just happen to have super powers. Is it as good or impactful as The Dark Knight?…
Read the full article » 23 Comments »SIFF Review: Kung Fu Panda 2
Important lessons are learned along the way, blah blah blah, and there are plenty of fights that are exciting without being too scary or violent for most small fry. Yes, it’s predictable, but so are the books you probably read to the kids at bedtime, right? Kids like predictable. They have their whole lives to care about character arcs and dramatic tension and movies being interesting.
Read the full article » 1 Comment »Wilmington on Movies: Midnight in Paris
Midnight in Paris (Four Stars) U. S./France: Woody Allen, 2011 Midnight in Paris is a funny valentine to the City of Light, a sweet, jazzy fairy tale about the wonders of Parisian art and artist cliques in the ‘20s — a time when you could actually (if you were connected enough) go to a…
Read the full article »Wilmington on Movies: Louder Than a Bomb
Louder than a Bomb (Three and a Half Stars) U. S.: Greg Jacobs & Jon Siskel, 2011 Louder than a Bomb made me feel good about some of the kids of today, made me feel that they’re probably being maligned, at least in part, by most other America movies…
Read the full article »Wilmington on Movies: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
The “Pirate“ series may be at its height of its production expertise here, it may look better than ever, and it may have recaptured some of the initial light, breezy touch. But, script wise, it’s clearly running out of planks to walk. Not enough to hurt the movie financially — but enough to justify at least some of the fussilade of amusing critical blasts the picture has generated. (Audiences will like the show better.)
Read the full article » 2 Comments »Wilmington on Movies: Thor
THOR By Mike Wilmington Thor (Three Stars) U.S.: Kenneth Branagh, 2011 High on the endless spires and bridges of Asgard, plunged in a vast gloom in monumental, sinister “Viking Noir” decor, besieged by Frost Giants, and always in danger of tumbling into New Mexico, dwells the Odin family. Ah, the Odins! There…
Read the full article »The DVD Geek: The Black Swan
There is a natural grain in the cinematography that is preserved, for better or worse, in the image transfer. In that the entire world of the heroine may be crumbling about her, the grain seems appropriate, and after the first few minutes, it is no longer a bother. The DTS sound mix is excellent, and the directional effects are often chilling.
Read the full article »Wilmington on Movies: Bridesmaids
Bridesmaids (Three and a Half Stars) U.S.: Paul Feig, 2011 Kristen Wiig is one funny lady, and Bridesmaids — in which she is both star and co-writer — is one funny movie. That’s hardly news. “Bridesmaids” is one of the best reviewed, best liked Hollywood comedies of the year. By current consensus, it’s also…
Read the full article »Review: Bridesmaids
Let’s get this out of the way right up front: I liked Bridesmaids, quite a lot. It’s true, generally speaking, that comedies about weddings tend to give me hives right from the trailer. But … this one was produced by Judd Apatow, and I actually like most of the films he’s been involved with. The…
Read the full article » 1 Comment »Review – Midnight in Paris Is Okay
In the 11 years of the new millennium, Woody Allen has made 11 films. Up until his latest, Midnight in Paris, one (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) is very, very good, but still couldn’t break into his personal Top 10 all-time. One is good (Match Point). And the other eight range from passable to horrible. The standard…
Read the full article » 45 Comments »The DVD Geek: The King’s Speech
Near the beginning, there is a clever audio metaphor employed, as Firth’s character makes an embarrassingly halting speech over a cavernous public address system, and while it is perfectly effective on the DVD’s 5.1-channel Dolby Digital track, the moment is chillingly enhanced by the detail afforded through the DTS track on Anchor Bay’s Blu-ray.
Read the full article »The Weekend Report: May 8
The god of thunder – Thor – hammered an estimated $65.8 million to handily reign at the top of the weekend box office charts. The session also saw a pair of counter-programmers bow nationally with the sweetly romantic Something Borrowed slotting third with $13.2 million and Jumping the Broom a breath behind at $13 million.
Read the full article »Thor: The big, the blonde and the arrogant
“Thor himself, who has by now yanked off his shirt, and in so doing, rendered Jane, her assistant and even her gray-haired mentor speechless at the sight of his deliriously well-formed body. Even a rowdy IMAX audience in Los Angeles fell silent as Thor’s gigantic man-boobs and superhero six-pack molested our eye sockets in all of their 3D glory.”
Read the full article » 2 Comments »Review: Thor-y… But It Kinda Thucks
Thor is not painful. You just can’t think about it too much. You can’t think about the Marvel movie cliche’ of “asshole finds inner goodness by having his power stripped or trumped temporarily.” You can’t think about all of the really good actors slumming through leaden dialogue and characters that have virtually nothing to do….
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