Month: June 2009
-
Breaking Bad’s Cuddly Cousin
Hung Review Watching HBO’s new series Hung it’s difficult to shake the feeling that AMC’s Breaking Bad is currently mining similar territory to much deeper and stronger effect. Both shows feature washed-up, middle-aged protagonists who are currently dying inside as they teach high school. Like Bryan Cranston’s Walt White, Thomas Jane’s Ray Drecker has a…
-
Transformers Needs To Chill Out
Transformers Box Office Commentary Transformers 2 has grossed $387 million worldwide to this point, according to boxofficemojo.com In 5 days. That’s crazy talk. The film got mostly negative reviews and recently this article came out http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090621/film_nm/us_transformers saying Bay had complained about the marketing of the film, though as the article notes it seems he later…
-
Better Than You Might Expect
Year One Review Coming off the heels of The Hangover isn’t doing Year One any favors, as it looks positively amateurish by comparison. That being said it’s a perfectly pleasant time at the movies, with a threadbare story that does cause it to drag but enough laughs to get you through. As he did in…
-
Reheated Denzel
The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 Review Denzel Washington plays an MTA worker chatting with John Travolta’s subway hijacker in The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 otherwise known as the JV team version of Inside Man. How it’s Similar to Inside Man 1. Denzel vs. Hostage Taking Criminal Mastermind Except instead of a coolly cold and eloquent…
-
PT Anderson’s Career: Commentary/Analysis
PT Anderson Commentary For anyone not familiar with this incredible filmmaker, this can serve as a starting guide. In my opinion he’s that rare distinctive filmmaker who not only has gotten better with each film, but has demonstrated a tremendous range in terms of tone and genre. Let’s jump right in. *For anyone not familiar…
-
What Should I See Tonight, Dan? (6/12/09)
You’ve got a couple options. 1. The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 Which has gotten middling reviews, and is probably going to be predictable and mediocre. That being said, Denzel Washington seems incapable of delivering an actually BAD movie, so there’s that to consider. 2. Imagine That You could help salvage Eddie Murphy’s career by attending…
-
Probably Going To Be The Funniest Movie of 2009
The Hangover Review This movie is laugh-out loud funny literally from the beginning through the closing credits. It’s about three friends who awake from a bachelor party without the groom, and can’t remember what happened to him because they blacked out during the party. There are some narrative issues, particularly a blatant deus ex machina…
-
Why Terminator Kinda Half Flopped
Terminator Salvation Analysis In lieu of doing the typical review, I’ve decided to approach Terminator Salvation from a more analytical angle, in terms of its relative success as a summer tentpole film (also doing this because I only just saw it, so a typical review would be pretty late at this point). Boxofficemojo currently has…
-
The Episode That Walt Lost Me
Breaking Bad Commentary IV This commentary focuses on Breaking Bad season 2 Episode “Phoenix”. If you haven’t already seen the episode, I’d suggest you don’t read this, as I will completely spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it. SPOILER WARNING Okay, now that that’s taken care of let’s chat. MORALITY and LIKEABILITY Walt…