Blog

Blog content presented as-is. The majority of these posts are at mininum five years old. I may also start posting here again more frequently. Or I may not. Since 2011, Tumblr has gotten more of my blogging attention. You should try me over there instead.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Every once in a while I like to see a completely forgettable “cute” movie. It’s like food: sure you could have prime rib all the time, but every once in a while it’s great to have some meatloaf. I chose this ground beef over so many other similar options for its young stars: America Ferrera (Real Women Have Curves), Alexis Bleidel (Gilmore Girls) and Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia). Besides, I heard it was actually pretty good, even if you weren’t a twelve-year-old girl. After watching the movie last week, I submit that it’s an enjoyable little movie for everyone, even adult males (and not just for the eye candy).

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December 11, 2005

Pop Culture

March of the Penguins

I love penguins, always have. They’re fuzzy, regal, cute, cuddly, birdy and well-dressed. Being a penguiphile (made that word up just now), I’m obviously a bit late on the bandwagon for this movie, not only one of the surprise hits of the summer, but one of the biggest documentaries of all time. On the surface, this is nothing more than a feature-length National Geographic special, but unlike those distant, observatory “educational” docs, March of the Penguins rises to the level of great movie because of one thing: storytelling.

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December 8, 2005

Pop Culture

Of Penguins and Men

In this accompanying documentary to the surprise megahit of 2005 March of the Penguins, we see the difficulty it took to make the marvelous feature-length doc through the eyes of cinematographer Jerome Maison. While not quite as affecting as March, Maison’s video journal of sorts gives a fascinating, often more personal look into the lives of the penguins and filmmakers during this long winter.

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December 7, 2005

Pop Culture

Fantastic Four

For all the recent successes in comic book adaptation (Batman Begins, Sin City, and the Spider-Man & X-Men franchises), there have certainly been a few clunkers. What made these critical and commercial hits where others (Daredevil, The Hulk, Elektra) have failed? Besides the obvious elements of casting and effects, the true key to making a blockbuster comic-book movie is having a director who is A) highly skilled in his craft and B) uniquely suited to and driven by the source material. Hulk director Ang Lee fits into category A, but not B. Daredevil‘s Mark Steven Johnson is a B, but not an A. Unfortunately for fans of Marvel’s Fantastic Four, FF director Tim Story (Barbershop) is neither A nor B. Despite that failing, and despite a hokey and occasionally lazy screenplay, Fantastic Four is, as some would have you believe, certainly not the worst comic book adaptation I’ve ever seen.

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December 7, 2005

Pop Culture

The Ice Harvest

I had some hopes (not high, but some) for this movie, considering the players: starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton, directed by Harold Ramis. I knew going in that the reviews were generally favorable, and I was expecting a wild black comedy in the vein of Cusack’s Grosse Pointe Blank or even Billy Bob Thornton’s Bandits. The movie, stuck between farce and noir, was mildly amusing and slightly mysterious, but never enough of one or the other.

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December 5, 2005

Pop Culture

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