Frenzy on the Wall: The Unstoppable Mr. Washington

I’m going to check out Unstoppable this weekend because it looks like dumb fun and I actually find Tony Scott to be a much more entertaining filmmaker than his brother, but sadly, seeing the latest Denzel Washington film isn’t exactly a draw for me any longer. I used to believe Washington was like a modern…

Weekend Box Office Report – November 7

The latest from DreamWorks Animation, Megamind, was generally pegged to debut in a mid-$40 million arena though some felt it could have performed better on a less competitive weekend. Though that contention is dubious, the rest of the year really doesn’t offer that option with both pre-sold and award titles beginning to open up the multiplex floodgates.

Friday Estimates – November 6

It’s a newbies’ weekend, with Megamind and Due Date kicking off the weekend neck-and-neck, while For Colored Girls has a clear hold on third, leaving the rest of the pack to battle it out for box office leavings.

Review: Megamind

Let’s get this out of the way right up front: You don’t really need to pay the premium to see Megamind in 3-D. It’s a sharp, nice looking film as it is, but I didn’t find the 3-D elements, though relatively seamless and painless, to be anything I couldn’t live without.

MW on Movies: Due Date, Megamind and Fair Game

Due Date (Two and a Half Stars) U. S.; Todd Phillips, 2010 An odd-couple road trip comedy about a wired-tight middle class architect (Robert Downey, Jr.) and an effete but slobby Hollywood-bound wanna be actor (Zach Galifianakis), thrown together on an impromptu cross-country drive from Atlanta to L.A., Due Date isn’t up to the best…

Gurus o’ Gold, November 4, 2010

The Gurus are back!

They’ll be with you every week through the next months of the award season, letting you in on who is up… and who is down. This week, a little movement at the bottom of the Best Picture chart, but the Actors & Actresses seem to be locked in… for now.

Box Office Hell — November 4

This week, our pundits predict kiddie flick Megamind will be smart enough to lure plenty of kids (and their parents) to the multiplex. Meanwhile, Due Date and For Colored Girls, aiming for different demographics, jostle for second position.

17 Weeks To Oscar: It’s Raining Men

There are 7 Undeniable Best Actor performances this year… and only 5 slots. And that doesn’t even touch on another group of performances that will still draw serious attention and could pass up the Undeniables. What’s an Oscar voter to do?

The DVD Wrap: Toy Story 3, The Pacific, Please Give, Don’t Let Me Drown, V: The Complete First Season … and more

Toy Story 3: Blu-ray The third edition of the Toy Story saga will resonate more with parents, I think, than their children. Youngsters will enjoy it, of course, but most of them won’t be able to appreciate the melancholy that informs the underlying themes: separation and loss. Now 18, Andy is about to leave for…

Wilmington on DVDs: Toy Story 3, The Toy Story Trilogy, The Magician, Centurion, Winnebago Man … and more

PICK OF THE WEEK: NEW Toy Story 3 (Four Stars) U. S.: Lee Unkrich, 2010 Toy Story 3 is just what we’ve come to expect from Pixar: a brilliantly conceived and immaculately animated knockout of a family show: witty and scrumptious, moving and marvelous, and something that parents can enjoy every bit as much as…

Frenzy on the Wall: Where’s the Geek Love for Monsters?

The way the film geek crowd ate up District 9 last year, you might expect Monsters, another indie entry in the “aliens among us” genre, to be garnering similar geek buzzing this year, but it’s not. Monsters is not a perfect film, but I was kind of blown away by it, and I think it’s…

DP/30: Winter’s Bone, actor Jennifer Lawrence

DP/30 – Jennifer Lawrence has become about as hot a commodity as a young actress can, based primarily on her powerful performance in Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone. The young actress spend 30 minutes chatting with David Poland and she may not be what you would expect.