“You must pay for everything in this world, one way or another. There is nothing free except for the grace of God.” So Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) tells us in Joel and Ethan Coen’s reimagining of Henry Hathaway’s True Grit, which is based on Charles Portis’ novel. Unsurprisingly, the Coens do a fine job with this remake […]

 

 

Two of my guilty pleasures are Under Siege and The Rock, which might be the only Nicolas Cage movie that doesn’t make bile creep up my throat. However both of these movies have one thing in common: they advertise themselves as action movies, guaranteeing an adequate amount of dialogue to fashion semi-plausible plot lines and provide some […]

 

 

Jan03

Cotto’s Best of 2010

The first word out of my mouth after seeing a “great” movie is more often than not, an expletive. Followed by an exhale. I would’ve have thought with “The Social Network”, closing with The Beatles classic “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” would have evoked that emotion. It didn’t. It did however after Leo DiCaprio’s final line of […]

 

 

This Matrix/Big Lebowski mash-up should win an Oscar. (h/t Steve Barker) Also, on a semi-related note, here’s the very-well-done Arrested Development action movie trailer from a while back that I forgot to post. The best part is obviously the Tobias chair kick at 0:54.

 

 

Mar08

The 2010 Oscar Winners

I was making my way back home from Boston earlier tonight and — per usual — got stuck in some traffic in the not-so-great state of Connecticut. So I ended up missing most of the Oscar show. But apparently they just went ahead and gave out the awards without me. Cool friends, guys. You likely already know […]

 

 

Mar07

Oscar Predictions 2010

The 82nd Academy Awards are tonight, and the best, brightest and beautiful of Hollywood will gather yet again to honor the year that was in cinema. Below are my predictions for who will win the hardware tonight. Fill out your Oscar pools carefully. (And as a reminder, here is a full list of the nominees in all […]

 

 

Characteristically, Jeff Bridges captivates the audience with his portrayal of Bad Blake, a hard-drinking, serial marrying, downward-spiraling country singer who has gone from headliner to saloon-crooner.  The film’s redemption theme is not unique—it’s really kind of a rehashing of 2008’s The Wrestler — so Crazy Heart offers nothing new to the category of “man must save his […]