Month: October 2005

Good Night, and Good Luck

There is a debate, which continues to this day, over whether journalists should center on reporting or editorializing the news. Edward R. Murrow’s answer was to editorialize, but defend one’s opinion armed with facts, “If what I say is responsible, I am the one who will be responsible for saying it.”

Elizabethtown

“As someone once said, there’s a difference between a failure and a fiasco,” says Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom). These words are spoken as truckloads of product are prepared for distribution. The product designer? Our Drew Baylor. He attends the product launch party, to be greeted by his would-be, soon to be had-been, girlfriend, Ellen Kishmore (Jessica Biel). She’s not there with good news. Instead….

Domino

I have a theory about British actors. They can walk into a mediocre American production and, by sheer will, and charismatic eloquence, seduce you into enjoying it. This film proves it. Note: I’m not saying this is a great film. Let it be said that I feel as though Tony Scott is a Michael Bay protége. He loves his slo-mo shots of helicopters and what Quentin Tarantino refers to as…

Unleashed: Unrated

“You pay it back, the collar stays on. You don’t pay it back, the collar comes off,” says Uncle Bart (Bob Hoskins) to his indentured servant, Danny (Jet Li). Bart is your typical gangster in white—dangerous beyond reason or practicality. He keeps Danny on a leash, or a collar, rather, as a Pavlovian means of controlling Danny’s…

In Her Shoes

At one point in the film, my wife turns to me and notes why many women have a fascination with shoes. Women aren’t physically judged by their shoe size. It’s the one clothing item they can buy without being conscious of their figure. That wouldn’t have occurred to me, but then the film is based on a novel by Jennifer Weiner with a screenplay written by…

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

What is important is not the story but how the story is told. The animation style allows for endless visual gags, almost all of which are impeccably timed. Like many of the best animated films (“Finding Nemo” and “Spirited Away” spring immediately to mind), this film gives the impression of a complex world that extends…

Two for the Money

“To pop, sports were a religion where all wrongs could be made right,” says Brandon Lang (Matthew McConaughey). Brandon’s interest and talent for football had the potential to take him a long way, but a mishap in a crucial play leaves his knee injured and his hopes of a pro career destroyed. Six years pass, and Brandon picks up work as a…

Waiting…

Is there a lesson to be learned from “Deuce Bigalow,” from which first time director Rob McKittrick could benefit? If there is, perhaps it’s the fact that witless, gross-out comedy doesn’t work. Monty (Ryan Reynolds) shows up at a party, to meet up with his co-workers Serena (Anna Faris) and Raddimus (Luis Guzman). Their other…