Good old February! Sweet Shorty as I call her, aka, my birthday month;) What better way to amass a bunch of screenings in the smallest month of the year than to wait a full week to watch anything!! LOL. Boy, talk about a slow start! However, the Academy screeners finally arrived from my in-laws and I got to see some wonderful films heading into Oscar weekend, aka my birthday weekend;) Continue reading

But let me stoke the fire even more by saying I absolutely hated Beasts of the Southern Wild. It is a self important stage play poorly translated to film in a series of three very stilted acts. It leans heavily on it's photography, a silly animal McGuffin, and a lingering well of pro New Orleans sentiment post Katrina to trick people into thinking the movie is something special. Continue reading

This year I am separating the documentary yolk from the scripted whites of the cinematic egg. Over the last decade I always have a doc high on my list while squeezing one or two out in favor of a more concise overall list, so this time I am giving all of them my respect. Continue reading

I began my theater year with Young Adult in January and finished it off with Hyde Park on the Hudson on Dec. 29th. People are calling it Bill Murray's best performance. I don't know about that, but it is a remarkable one in that I didn't find myself watching him and thinking "hey, that's Bill Murray!!" As one is prone to do. Continue reading

It's crunch time at Drive In '77!!! With only two months left and a yearly count under 300 come November 1st, I had to kick it into overdrive!! Anything less than 365 by New Year's would be failure, but I want 400. Continue reading

All in all, probably my weakest month for films this year. Pitch Perfect was a fun time out at the cinema, but past that is was a lackluster time. A couple interesting sports docs, one or two old favs, but mostly some time filler while I did other things. Continue reading

MV5BMjI3MTMzNTU0OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTU4Njc4Nw@@._V1._SY317_September was awesome!! Until I had to drive, that's drive, all the way to Spokane for a cousin's wedding! Why can't they install mini DVD players in the dash of my rental car? Come on Hertz!! That trip ate up the final week of September, but knowing that, I really managed to load up on films before I loaded up the car;) Continue reading

So, I sit at a crossroads with Lost. Halfway through on seasons, a little over on episode numbers and the will to go on is weak. Trusted colleagues have told me it is worth it, but they said the same thing about the first season and well, we know my feelings on that. Time to consider that Lost is not my thing. Continue reading

As has become the trend in the middle part of 2012, I failed to crack 30 movies. *sadface* I did manage a five movie day and a four movie one, but with huge gaps in the middle as I did some field work and a lot of writing away from the TV. And no trips to the theater! Continue reading

Oh July, how you sucker me outside! Although I did take in some classics this month, I continue to fall behind as life interferes with cinema. Unfortunately, it was also a month where tragedy interfered with cinema. After taking in a tremendously fun midnight screening of the latest Batman, I came home to share my enthusiasm only to discover the shootings in Colorado. If I can soapbox for a brief moment, this story left me with such an ugly knot in my stomach. The movie going experience ebbs and flows between magic and obnoxious these days, but the shared experience... Continue reading

6-1: X-Men First Class, Hatfields & McCoys (ms) 6-8: The Chronicles of Riddick, Aladdin 6-12: The Sitter 6-16: In Time, Shaun of the Dead, Vegas Vacation, Office Space, Cars 6-17: The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom 6-19: Amazons of Rome, Jeff Who Lives at Home, This Means War 6-20: The Girl Next Door 6-21: The Adventures of Tintin 6-23: Bridesmaids, Black Death, Ironclad 6-24: Brave, Easy A 6-25: Kung Fu Panda 2 6-26: Immortals, 21 Jump Street 6-28: Bad Teacher 6-30" Bigfoot: "A SyFy Original Movie" Total Films: 26 Year to Date: 170 Film of the Month: Shaun of the Dead... Continue reading

It is called "Robo Pram" and is an all ages comic about a young boy and an alien who fight the cuddliest versions of Earth's invading hordes! It's like Transformers meets Lone Wolf & Cub! Click this link to go to the campaign page and please donate anything if you can or pass along the word to your friends. Thank internet, I <3 you;) Continue reading

Unnerving, uncomfortable and for this guy, the ticking clock is like something out of a horror film. The casting was solid even if the direction left some characters flat. Amanda Seyfried is an absolute knockout, I could stare at her all day in that wig, and Sylvia is a lot of fun when she lets her mischievious side loose. Continue reading

However, it started with a bang as I attended the AMC theaters Marvel marathon leading up to the premiere of The Avengers. Six movies, roughly 15 hours plus travel time to and from the theater, three large popcorns, two theater hotdogs, Fuddruckers chicken fingers, botomless soda, and a broken air conditioner. It was magic. Stinky, sweaty, slightly uncomfortable magic. Continue reading

A few flights of stairs later, we were in. No lines, no craziness and no questions about our overstuffed bags of spare clothes and hidden food;) The staff was super nice from the get go. We got a nice lanyard for the event which let us go in and out of the theater, a limited edition pair of 3D glasses for the last three movies, a horrible Avengers comic book that was an ad for some hotel and a schedule. Continue reading

Morgan Spurlock's Comic Con doc stands out and as you'll see, with a 48 hour On Demand rental, I watched it twice. As a 15 plus year veteran of the Con, it was fun to see his take on the 2010 edition. The Iron Lady was the let down, but I'm still glad I watched it, just not blown away by the narrative choices or editing. Finally, rounded April out with a real live trip to the movies to see Emily Blunt and Jason Segal in Five Year Engagement. I agree with the masses, needed some editing, but totally liked it and the Elmo/Cookie Monster argument between Blunt and Alison Brie is amazeballs. Continue reading

Okay, now I was getting excited. I bought one SW figure a few weeks back and got Han Solo. Han rules, but I really wanted R2-D2. When you enter the store, people have moved boxes around, so this info is only really helpful if you're buying an unopened case. Guess what? I was about to! Continue reading

Well, March was a slow down in my movie watching. I shifted gears and spent a lot of my viewing time on ABC's Lost, a show I didn't partake in upon initial broadcast. I got through about 64 episodes, which if you wanted to think about, is roughly 32 films!! Continue reading

I guess the important note for Hunger Games fans is how does it hold up to the book? Well, I've heard discussion both ways, but I will stop short of the cliche "the book is better." I actually think they are quite complimentary. I wouldn't advise you to be mutually exclusive towards one or the other, but rather to accept them both as important tools in the telling of the story. Continue reading

Last month I watched 39 films. This month I watched 39 films. I'm sensing a pattern. That puts me on pace for about 450 movies in 2012. Pathetic! I've got to step up my game;) Probably would've cracked 40 this month if it wasn't silly old short month February... wah wah. Continue reading

With all that said, I really like the movie. Flawed, yes, but highly enjoyable. Scott is very funny and likable, as are his teammates. You wanna cheer for these guys and when the final fight arrives, they've established there will be no real loser. Both men honor their trade and both men achieve success in what they set out to accomplish. It's a win win! Goon won't dethrone Slap Shot as the funniest hockey movie ever, but it is a worthy assistant captain. Continue reading

Over the years that I've done this, I've never really set myself to a specific number for my "Top" list. Sometimes it's 10, others 12, it's even been up to 25. Sometimes I list a favorite documentary or animated movie, it basically comes down to me trying to arrange the movies that I feel strongly enough about to make them "list worthy." For example, this year I'd say Bridesmaids came in at #16, but I didn't think the movie was strong enough to be on my year end list, so I stopped the list at 15. Honorable Mention: Rare Exports.... Continue reading

It's a tough call this month. Moneyball was great, so was the Tribe doc and I enjoyed the hell out of The Guard and Young Adult, but Paris was just a special brand of filmmaking. I'm not one to bow to Woody Allen, not so much because I don't think he's any good, but mainly because I have a hard time connecting to his characters. This film was different, both entertaining and stimulating. It surprised me more than any other film this month, so it wins. Continue reading

Directed by the aforementioned Michael Rappaport, an actor and notorious hip hop aficionado known for his roles in flicks like Higher Learning and his time on Boston Public, this film tells the story of A Tribe Called Quest. Continue reading

Some of you are no doubt curious why a thirtysomething year old male is writing a piece on the series finale of a Disney Channel show. Well, simply put, Wizards of Waverly Place is one of the most enjoyable TV shows I've watched in the last decade. I'm not saying its the smartest or the most original, rather I enjoyed it immensely. It has all the elements that have drawn me to Disney shows since the Even Stevens days, mainly a lack of pretense. These are family shows, harkening back to a bygone era of sitcom and their simplicity and... Continue reading