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| Rossiter Drake's Articles: 1 to 10 of 274 | Previous Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... Next Page |
 | Off the Wall, Literally Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars.
Whether [b]The Men Who Stare at Goats[/b], a film inspired by Jon Ronson’s book, which documents a time when the U.S. military encouraged a select few to hone their psychic abilities, is based in reality is ultimately irrelevant — it’s highly entertaining and very funny.More |  | Failure to Launch Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.
[b]Amelia[/b] has been dismissed by some as proof of the American film biography’s creative bankruptcy. It is nothing of the sort. Cinematic biography is not a defunct art form, nor is this drama about pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart, starring and produced by a typically self-assured Hilary Swank, evidence of its impending demise.More |  | Soaring to the Screen at Long Last Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Perhaps the biggest surprise about [b]Astro Boy[/b] is that it took Japan’s beloved cartoon robot more than half a century to make his big-screen debut. Originally conceived in 1951 by famed animator Osamu Tezuka as Tetsuwan Atomu, or Mighty Atom, and later reinvented as Astro Boy for American TV in the 60s, the boy with the mechanical body and the soul of a sprightly, overconfident child gets his origin story retold in the latest piece of eye candy from [b]Flushed Away[/b] director David Bowers.More |  | A Journey Into Darkness Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.
How does one begin to describe a film like [b]Antichrist[/b], aptly described in the press notes as director Lars von Trier’s latest provocation? It is a repulsive, perplexing piece of art. It is also brutally effective.More |  | The Wild Rumpus Starts Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
How much you appreciate Spike Jonze’s beautiful adaptation of author Maurice Sendak’s [b]Where the Wild Things Are[/b] might depend, more than anything else, on your willingness to be challenged. Unlike many movies aimed at young audiences, this one is neither facile nor sugarcoated. It is uncompromising in its intelligence and unflinching in its depiction of the downside of childhood.More |  | The Bumpy Road to Becoming an Icon Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Gabrielle Chanel was, by the evidence presented in director Anne Fontaine’s [b]Coco Before Chanel[/b], a difficult, even unpleasant woman. Rarely does she smile, and even more infrequently might her sentiments be mistaken for tender. She views the men in her early life as means to an end, but why shouldn’t she? They often regard her, in turn, with cold indifference and undisguised condescension.More |  | A Triumph of Style and Silliness Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
There is no social satire to be gleaned from the stylishly staged skull crunching in Ruben Fleischer’s post-apocalyptic comedy [b]Zombieland[/b] -- and not much in the way of serious horror. The first-time feature director (formerly of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”) aims more for laughs than for the unrelenting dread of George A. Romero’s [b]Living Dead[/b] movies, and he succeeds almost effortlessly: At 81 minutes, his debut is cheerfully macabre, briskly paced, brimming with demented energy, and otherwise totally disposable.More |  | Snow Job Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars.
Kate Beckinsale’s latest chiller, set around an Antarctica research station and inspired by a series of graphic novels by Greg Rucka, shows little regard for logic.More |  | Leading the Charge Against Technology Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
There is no denying the technical wizardry of [b]9[/b], Shane Acker’s feature-length reimagining of his own Oscar-nominated short from 2005. Backed by producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov ([b]Wanted[/b]), the young director has assembled a superior voice cast, led by the wonderfully expressive Christopher Plummer, to breathe life into a familiar post-apocalyptic fable distinguished by its exquisite artistry.More |  | An Amiable Misfire Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.
The strange, improbable story of Woodstock has been documented exhaustively in print and on the screen, making it somewhat curious that Ang Lee has chosen to make it the subject of his first bona fide comedy since 1994’s [b]Eat Drink Man Woman[/b]. Yet that’s just what we get in [b]Taking Woodstock[/b], a lighthearted look back at three days of peace and music whose more magical qualities fail to materialize here.More |
| Rossiter Drake's Articles: 1 to 10 of 274 | Previous Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... Next Page |
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