Of all the ways to seek revenge, immurement’s a good way to go, and this notion isn’t a new one. In Ancient Rome, a vestal virgin charged with breaking her vow of celibacy would be sealed in a cave with a small amount of food and water until the goddess Vesta to rescue her. Predictably, Vesta was hardly punctual, […]
I heard there was an Oscar broadcast last night, but when looking back on the evening, it seemed that there was less of an awards show and more of an attempt to draw in a younger, hipper audience to the annual event, which was mocked at least three times in the first half –hour by hosts Anne […]
What’s ostensibly a Western driven by the remedying of an injustice, Unforgiven is really an exploration into how perceived identity defines value, whether it centers on William Munny (Clint Eastwood), a “known thief and murderer, a man of notoriously vicious and intemperate disposition,” who was cured of “drinking and wickedness” by his deceased wife, or whether the […]
Recent movie titles have often pared out any mystery and cut straight to the point. Perhaps this is an additional sign of our shortening attention spans brought on by using too much Google or dismissal of lengthy articles and passages in favor of sound bites and tidbits. Regardless of the reasons why films like Fighting, Taken, Unknown, […]
With releases like There Will be Blood, No Country for Old Men, Michael Clayton, Charlie Wilson’s War, Atonement, Eastern Promises and Juno, 2007 is one of the most memorable years for movies in the last few decades, and the previous list is just the main Academy Award nominees. It also doesn’t hurt that 2007 gave us 28 […]
It seems a bit futile to discuss a Martin Lawrence film in the Gladiators forum because logically, it will just be relegated to a worm working its way from a feline bowel to a desert of clumping crystals, but there’s something to be said for the third incarnation of a character who was hardly funny the first […]
Last night, Watson completed his route of Jeopardy competitors Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, ushering in our new “computer overlords.” 1 Appropriately enough, this comes roughly a week after a Massachusetts man tweeted a message to Detroit Mayor David Bing: “Philadelphia has a statue of Rocky & Robocop would kick Rocky’s butt. He’s a GREAT ambassador for […]
A writer for a movie site should probably relish watching the Academy Award nominations and prepare for the witty banter that comes from surprise winners and lovable losers who just can’t seem to take the ten-pound, gilded man home; however, for the last few years, disillusion has outweighed the entertainment value of the awards, and awards seem […]
While my first instinct is to avoid analyzing a trailer to uncover the potential validity of the new Amanda Seyfried reincarnation of Red Riding Hood, something holds me back from my charge toward complete obloquy, though it’s tricky given that the film is being marketed to audiences by noting it is “From the director of Twilight,” and […]
Amy Chua, Yale law professor and author of the derided yet oft-purchased best-seller Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother in which she criticizes the Western style of parenting, writes in an excerpt of her novel for The Wall Street Journal, “I’ve noticed that Western parents are extremely anxious about their children’s self-esteem. They worry about how their […]