Month: February 2012

The 84th Academy Awards will air on Sunday night. Which means it’s now time for me to gaze into my crystal ball and post my official Oscar predictions on time for the ceremony. I admit: it’s a tough one this year, which means I could be 100 % right or 100 % wrong. Last year,…

Here’s a solid spook house movie, mostly because “The Woman In Black” decides it can haunt an audience without spraying it with blood.Good idea. Daniel Radcliffe (his Potter days behind) is well cast as a young lawyer in early 20th century England who is still haunted by the death of his wife, in childbirth, four years ago. With a…

The only difference between this version of “Footloose” and the 1984 original is that Kenny Wormald, who stepped into Kevin Bacon’s shoes as Ren McCormack, actually did his own angry dance (unlike Bacon who needed a double). Other than that, it’s hard to tell the difference. I don’t think we needed a remake of a…

I approach every Clint Eastwood picture with the hope that it will be worthy of his reputation and extraordinary gifts as a filmmaker. “J. Edgar” marks the first time he has worked with Leonardo DiCaprio, who has matured year by year and benefited from his association with legendary director Martin Scorsese. And, of course, Eastwood has assembled…

Say this for Meryl Streep: she doesn’t scare off easy from acting challenges. At 62, she is still the most Oscar-nominated actress with 17 nominations and 2 wins (try and beat that). Truth be told, “The Iron Lady” is strictly a one woman show. Meryl Streep’s show that is. She’s a marvel. It’s a joy and…

Let’s face it: Academy voters love movies that stir up your emotions. Case in point: “Ordinary People”, “Million Dollar Baby” and “Crash”. Want more proof? “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”, a post 9/11 movie about a boy mourning the death of his father. There is nothing more painful or poignant than that, and I have…

“The Vow” is the best romantic movie I’ve seen in a long time. Lol not really. It’s actually pretty formulaic, and the dialogue is filled with tired clichés. Yet we are told right from the beginning that the story was inspired by true events, and because of that, I have to cut the movie some slack.…

As far as popcorn movies go, this one isn’t bad, but the filmmakers take an awfully long time getting to the actual plot, content to spend the first half of the movie teasing us. And once it got to the real storyline, it became clear to me where the film was heading, perhaps a bit too…

If you’ve seen “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” or the first sequel, “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay” then you’ll know exactly what to expect from this second sequel, except that it’s set around the holidays. I’ve never been a fan of the series, even though the first one became something of a cult…

Was William Shakespeare a fraud? According to “Anonymous”, not only he was a fraud, but stupid and vulgar as well. It’s an insult to our intelligence for sure. But as a piece of fiction (or is it one?), it’s not that bad. There are some really good moments here, from its captivating opening scene, to…

Liam Neeson is a pleasure to watch in almost anything. In “The Grey”, a terrifying survival movie, he leads the cast as Ottway, a sharpshooter hired by an Alaska oil refinery to keep wolves, bears and other creatures away from the industry. On a trip home after a  five-week shift, the men are victims of a…