Trash, art, and the movies.
“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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
In the sequence preceding the opening titles, an ambush takes place. It’s apparent this is going to be central to the plot of the film, but not yet clear in what way. Only a cryptic message from one young boy, “The teacher says…
The Amazing Race, which recently dropped its first season on DVD, is one of these types of shows. Ostensibly, it’s about a race around the world, but when one watches the show (and it IS incredibly addictive), one finds an examination of just how “ugly†Americans can be when they travel…
On the one hand, I realize I may not appreciate it the way fans of the series do. On the other hand, I do love science-fiction considerably, and have since childhood. Thus, I may be far more critical than the average viewer because I have seen enough sci-fi that doesn’t stand up to normal dramatic standards and I’d like to see more that does. Though it takes some time…