cinemojo.net

★★★ The Future

2012-02-07T10:47:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Miranda July's "Me and You and Everyone We Know" caused a now-legendary fissure of critical opinion on cinemojo.net. Friendships were never the same afterward. So I would suggest seeing that movie first: if you hate it, don't watch this one. If you liked it, go ahead. I enjoyed "The Future," a similarly quirky movie with moments of hinted-at Truth. But it was either not as good or not as fresh an experience, for me.'

★★★½ Sita Sings the Blues

2012-02-07T10:39:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'This was an inventive telling of the epic Ramayana through cartoons, a modern doomed relationship parallel, and jazzy 1920s music numbers. The music numbers are plentiful, which might try your patience, but the songs are at least consistently good, and there is good-natured humor throughout.'

★★★ King Kong (1933)

2012-02-07T10:35:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Must have been an exciting special effects extravaganza in 1933. Today, to the non-student of film like me, it is just a nostalgically watchable monster movie. I think it had more screaming per minute of film than any movie I've seen. (Not by me -- onscreen screaming. I didn't scream at all.)'

★★★ Metropolis (1927; restored)

2012-01-22T12:40:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0, Twoshoes: 3.0] Gino says: 'Three stars may seem paltry for such a seminal work, which I had never seen. The staging of this [Oppressed Labor science fiction opus] is no less than amazingly ambitious, and the restoration really admirable. Three stars may be my limit of enjoyment I can get out of a movie of this era and of this simple plot.'

★★★½ Up

2012-01-22T12:33:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 4.0, Twoshoes: 3.0] Gino says: 'At this point, I guess Pixar movies can just cut-and-paste their own good reviews: I think something about the amount of planning that has to go into making them produces such quality in the end product. Another good one.'

★★★½ Midnight In Paris

2012-01-22T12:31:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.5, Twoshoes: 3.5] Gino says: 'Despite my recommendation here, I won't say this is some great movie. Definitely not 4 stars. I did however, find it relaxing somehow, with the same sort of warm contemplative glow of Allen's recent films. '

★★★½ The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

2012-01-22T12:23:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'Got around to this classic. The best thing about this movie was also the worst: the plot (about down-and-out gringos in Mexico trying their hand at gold prospecting and how it potentially changes their moral compasses) left loads of room for twists. So it constantly kept you guessing and held my interest. Unfortunately, the twists that ultimately materialized were often not as good as the ones I imagined. Still, this was good, and requires no stinkin' badges.'

★★★ Rebel Without a Cause

2012-01-10T13:28:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Never seen it before. I enjoyed it. But maybe because I was not a post-war angst-ridden California teen, or maybe because the movie is 50 years removed in time now, I found the behavior of almost everyone in the movie odd and not entirely understandable. This detracted from my enjoyment. Acting-wise, I admired Natalie Wood, because I felt that James Dean (like Brando) could kinda act in whatever weirdo way he wanted at the moment, and I felt like that actors around him had to react to it. She did this well.'

★★★ Kundun

2012-01-10T13:21:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Mr. Scorsese's filming of the story of the 14th Dalai Lama from his discovery through his exile. For Dalai Lama "fans" it is a clear recommendation. For others, the movie is still good, but I won't promise you'll enjoy it. '

★★★★ My Neighbor Totoro

2012-01-02T12:05:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0, Twoshoes: 4.5] Gino says: 'It is a pleasure to watch a movie like this with ones kids -- a movie that is not loud and filled with pop-culture slickness. My kids were engaged and enjoyed it, and it was a calming experience. It's a fairly simple story of a family moving to a rural area and the kids exploring the back yard and befriending a Forest Spirit. Despite the cat-bus hybrid spirit(!), this was a far, far more grounded movie than Miyazaki's "Sprited Away". All that said, I can't quite give it a wholehearted recommendation; it was missing something for me that I can't articulate.'

★★½ Super 8

2011-12-30T14:16:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 2.5]Gino says: 'This movie is entirely watchable and fairly enjoyable. But J.J. "lens flare" Abram's loving imitation of Spielberg alien visitation to small town films doesn't quite reach its aspiration.'

★★★★ Tree of Life

2011-12-20T11:44:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'If you can prepare yourself for the idea that you'll be staring at a screen just watching people ponder life's mysteries for more than 2 hours, and for this to get even worse towards the artsy ending, then you'll be treated to absolutely gorgeous and moving imagery from start to finish.'

★★★★ Blue Valentine

2011-12-13T11:36:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'This tale of a young couple's relationship's beginning and end simultaneously was impressively nuanced and believably complex. It was made that much more impressive by Gosling and Williams' acting. Tough to watch, though. '

★★★★ Paper Moon

2011-12-13T11:30:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'Charismatic and humorous/cute characters on a road trip made this fun. But the beautiful cinematography made it a treat.'

★★★★ Floating Weeds (1959)

2011-11-28T12:33:00.000-05:00

[Twinkletoes: 4.5, Gino: 3.5]

Twinkletoes says: "This is the second film I have seen of the revered Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu (the first being Good Morning which I think I gave a 4 star rating to a few months ago). It's the story of a traveling acting troupe making a stop in a town that one of its members has a bit of a past in. It's funny: for the longest time I was reluctant to give his films a chance as the brief descriptions of the films just seemed boring to me. But the thing is, Ozu has a really magical way of taking simple human stories of normal people's lives and really drawing you into their world. I strongly urge everyone to give his films a look."

[No text review for Gino]

★★★½ The Muppets

2011-11-28T09:42:00.001-05:00

[Tiny: 3.5]
Tiny says: ' Thoroughly entertaining from start to finish, and possibly more entertaining for the grownups than the kids. My seven year old really liked it. The three year old got lost or bored or both. I enjoyed the new songs and liked this as much or more than any other Muppet feature. One thing was a bit anticlimactic.'

★★★★ Submarine

2011-11-08T21:33:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'This film involves two Welsh teens both trying to deal with their adult parents' problems and becoming adults themselves. I found it kinda charming, quirky and funny, with admirable technical polish.'

★★★ TrollHunter

2011-11-08T21:30:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'This movie is about a student documentary team in Norway who stumble upon a secret government troll-hunting agency. Real trolls, in other words. This was harmless fun. And if the "found footage" genre was a fresh new thing, then this would have been great.'

★★★½ The Trip

2011-10-17T22:15:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'Actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon take a trip across Northern England staying in fancy hotels, eating fancier food, and largely improvising witty dialoge, while doing impressions of actors. Makes for a peculiar movie that is quite funny at times, and at other times I was lost in a few English literary references. '

★★★ Meek's Cutoff

2011-10-17T22:08:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Three covered wagons following a dubious guide across Oregon. Well-made. Nice scenery. Meek is an interesting character. It keeps your interest. But in the end, it is mostly just a lot of walking, makes you thirsty, and {spoiler coming!} ... the ending is pretty unsatisfying. '

★★★★ Win Win

2011-10-09T11:53:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.5, Twoshoes: 4.0] Gino says: 'Win.'

★★★ The Beaver

2011-10-04T10:30:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]Gino says: 'Man, the marketing of this movie brought to you by Summit Entertainment is really top-notch. {Thus ends my first and last "inside" facebook-based wisecrack.} Sure, part way though you may be like "am I really watching a whole movie about a severely-depressed man who can only go on by exclusively talking through a beaver puppet?" But it remains enjoyable because of Mel Gibson's pull-no-punches acting (because if the smallest hint of insincerity had slipped through, the whole thing might have fallen apart), Jodie Foster's solid and unobtrusive direction, and the welcome secondary storyline about the teenagers. I am not going to wait in line for a sequel or anything, but it was good.'

★★ Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

2011-09-30T10:55:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.0]
Gino says: 'I like Conan O'Brien. I think he is particularly funny as an interviewer. I would call myself a fan. This documentary (about a big comedy/music tour he did while he was not allowed to be on TV) makes me like him a bit less. The take-away from the film is that he is obsessed with the adoration of people while at the same time has the intense need to put everybody down constantly. He is both a big whiner, and knows it. It "works" here as a documentary that gets inside the head of its subject, but is not really interesting enough to make a good movie for the general viewer.'

★★★ Everything Must Go

2011-09-23T09:56:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]Gino says: 'Will Ferrell plays a guy who loses his job and his wife and relapses in his alcoholism. All his stuff is thrown out on his front lawn, where he lives for a few days, eventually selling off his possessions. Not spectacular, but good.'

★★ Beowulf

2011-09-16T12:07:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.0]
Gino says: 'Hmmm. Spend a year trying to read a centuries-old epic poem or 2 hours on the train watching a computer-generated action version? Watchable, but I may have made the wrong choice. Zemeckis has no qualms about the Uncanny Valley. (This was the director's cut.)'

★★½ The Living Wake

2011-09-13T22:17:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: 'This movie has a simple-if-strange plot: A man with a very punctual but unnamed disease arranges his own wake to be held on his last day alive. OK, that sounds weird, but it is far weirder than that -- it's a comedy, and the guy (a failed artist with father issues) throughout has the over-the-top elocution and mannerisms of a gentleman from the year 1920. Ok, I clearly can't describe this without much more effort than I put into my reviews. Suffice it to say that I would have found this insufferable extended over the length of a feature film except that this actor is really giving it all he's got, which made it totally watchable and quite funny at times. But weird. Did I mention weird? '

★★★★ Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

2011-09-13T22:06:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'A good film to make my 600th official movie review! Sure, the songs are a bit uneven and the changes from the book seem unnecessary and even counterproductive. But I love the character of Willy Wonka -- a strange and bold mixture of caring wonderment and clearly-insinuated menace and danger. So for me, this movie is all about Gene Wilder's embodiment of Wonka, which still astounds me today. '

★★ TRON: Legacy

2011-09-07T15:58:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 1.5, Twoshoes: 2.0]
Gino says: 'This was not bad eye-candy, but suffered from two huge problems: (1) In 1982 (the year of the original movie) home computing was still mysterious enough that it was enough to simply sit back and imagine being inside a computer world, with it's exotic "programs" and "disks". It didn't have to make sense. The 2010 version was not really updated in this sense -- it needed to be updated to make some sense. (2) You can't just say "these are the bad guys and they can cause harm in the real world" you have to show us something of that to make us believe it. The result of these problems was a nice-looking rather boring and not very sensible movie.'

★★½ Cedar Rapids

2011-08-22T12:20:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: 'The insipidity and good-naturedness of Midwesterners is not a comedy well that is going to go dry any time soon. But this comedy about morality decisions a small town man must make as he travels to an insurance conference in the titular "big city" to save his small company is not a classic of the small genre. I laughed in a modest way numerous times, but couldn't help wondering whether Ed Helms was not enough of an acting force to really make this movie work.'

★½ Robin Hood (1973)

2011-08-22T11:16:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 1.5]
Gino says: 'The Disney animated movie. Proving once again that I was born during a very cheesy half-decade, I found this movie pretty pathetic, making me regret again not giving more stars recently to "Tangled." I was annoyed to no end that 1/3 of the characters had English accents and the other 2/3 had some sort of Appalachain accent. Shouldn't have been a problem so much, but I take it as a sign that the rest of the movie wasn't good enough to distract me. Songs were a mix of cheesy (period-appropriate) songs, and semi-cool folksy-rockabillyish songs sung by a scary rooster with a pompadour. Perhaps more importantly, though, the kids liked the movie.'

★★★ Man Push Cart

2011-08-19T10:51:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'I had high hopes for this one, because I thought the idea of fleshing out the life story of a guy working in a NYC food cart, the kinda guy others interact with for only moments in a week, sounded great. This was a good solid movie, but nothing great in my opinion (Ebert disagrees.) '

★★½ The Young Victoria

2011-08-15T21:40:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: 'There was really nothing wrong with this movie about the early reign of Queen Victoria. I am probably being a little stingy. But let's face it: not quite as gripping times as say Elizabeth's transition (according to my purely movie-based understanding of English history at least). '

★★★ Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

2011-08-12T11:11:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'This documentary is not a work of art, but it's subject is. It's a bit long, and a bit uneven, but still remains compelling. '

★★★★ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II

2011-08-08T15:12:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'A satisfying end to a series that will be missed.'

★½ Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

2011-08-01T22:21:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 1.5]
Gino says: 'This movie won the 2010 Palme d'Or at Cannes. The entirety of my review is "WHAT the FLIPPIN' FRIG?" '

★★★ Sunshine

2011-07-28T09:38:00.001-04:00

[Twinkletoes: 2.5, Gino: 3.0] Twinkletoes says: ''I think one of the hardest things to do is create a Science Fiction film that is both smart and serious, and also fully accessible. The successful films of the genre (of which there are few) tend to try for one or the other. Unfortunately the films that try to be smart can sometimes fall into the trap of being ponderous bores, and the ones that aim to be fun and accessible can often turn out to be mindless and forgettable. The first half or so of this film feels like they are going for smart and serious but I found it annoying. So much of the dialogue was filled with half baked lines trying to get the audience to understand what was going on. One character says something like, "That's just the sound of the metal shields reacting to the temperature changes." To which the other responds "No duh flyboy!" Really now, what purpose does this piece of dialogue serve other than to pull us out of the story? Oh, so the plants are there to provide not only food but oxygen as well. Thanks for telling us! These people have been on this ship for 2 years and this is what they talk about? It felt like 2001 for the MTV generation. To make matters far worse the latter part of the film turns into some sort Friday the 13th in Space with David Bowman as Jason. And even when we ignore the fact that these people are traveling to the sun there is so much that makes no sense in this film. Why are they rendezvousing with the other ship? How did that guy get onto their ship? And yet despite all of this I didn't hate the film. I like the idea of the film. I also appreciated the subdued tone and for those reasons I was compelled to finish it. And I will admit to appreciating the nice simple ending. In the end this is a film that feels like it's better than it really is and if you go into it not expecting much and don't think about it, you may enjoy it.'

Gino says: "I will not disagree with much that Twinkletoes says here (except for the rendezvous with the other ship, which is very clearly explained). I guess my feelings are summed up in the later part of his post, that if you are not expecting too much you'll likely find this a solid enjoyable movie, if one that you won't need to ever see again."

★★ HappyThankYouMorePlease

2011-07-11T17:29:00.002-04:00

[Gino: 2.0, Twoshoes: 1.5] Gino says: 'Not a horrible romantic comedy/drama, but pretty bad. It's heart was in the right place, but it felt very much like a "first time" feature writer's script to me. Too lazy to check if it was. ' [No text review for Twoshoes, but she was clearly unimpressed.]

★★★½ The Cave of the Yellow Dog

2011-07-05T19:26:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'This is a charming half-documentary half simple drama about the normal life of family of nomadic Mongolian herders, with a "Can I keep him, Dad?" storyline tying it all together. My kids (especially the nearly 8 year old) were pretty enthralled, despite the mostly quite storyline, despite staying up quite late to watch it and despite it not being in English! Kids can get the gist of it without the dialogue, but we filled them in occasionally on plot points that required reading. It was also quite refreshing to be able to show them how the kids in some other cultures actually help out around the yurt.'

★★★½ Another Year

2011-06-20T12:03:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'I liked this movie about a very nice and mentally-healthy not-yet-retired London couple, and their visitations and interactions with their far less happy friends and family. Twoshoes liked it too. It was kinda humorous: I rented this from a "Redbox". Comments indicated that Redbox users totally hate it and just can not manage to stay awake, while the Tomatometer at the time had it at 92% fresh. It's possible you can get some kind of information out of this as to whether you will like it.'

★★★ Never Let Me Go

2011-06-14T14:54:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'A solid, quiet movie about alternate universe English countryside bioethical violations! Bit of a downer, but well-made. It gave me an idea for a movie someone should make: Either a cloning or robotics movie in which the practice causes no problems whatsoever and everyone is fine with it. Sure, all the point would be lost, but it would be so jarringly counter-genre!'

★★★½ Kill Bill Vol.2

2011-06-14T14:47:00.000-04:00

[Twinkletoes: 4.0, Gino: 3.0]

Twinkletoes says: 'Little less coolness [than volume 1], but more fulfilling story.

Gino says: 'It must be said that my relatively low rating here is pretty subjective: I really admired the technical achievement and the storytelling. I only wish Q.Tarantino wasn't so focused on depravity.'

★★½ Mulan

2011-05-31T21:47:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: '(Family movie night). Well, now I am sorry I gave "Tangled" only 2.5 stars, because this was definitely worse than that. But maybe 2.5 is sort of the minimum a movie from Disney animation gets? Basically, the whole thing gets an "OK" from me, but not very funny, not very touching, and some of the worst Disney music I have encountered. '

★★½ W.

2011-05-28T00:46:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: 'I am not the biggest Oliver Stone fan, and like my political bio-pics a bit more distanced in time. But this was not incompetently-made, by any means, and Josh Brolin was quite good. '

★★★½ Topsy-Turvy

2011-05-20T19:21:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'Twelve years or so ago Mike Leigh directed this movie from his script about a rocky patch in the career collaboration of Gilbert and Sullivan. The movie really just drops you right in the middle of things, so much so that I had a hard time figuring out what was going on with some minor characters -- because it takes a while to get used to the extremely round-about (but delightful!) way in which 19th century Brits communicated. While a group of actors are rehearsing a song with Sullivan, he stops the music. Instead of just saying "That was supposed to be a triplet.", the script goes: Sullivan: That's very good, but I've gone to considerable pains to provide you with triplets... (Barrington: Triplets. And on his salary!) ... Consequently, if you would be so kind as to trip. Thank you. One, two, three, four...

Now, I happen to really like Gilbert and Sullivan, so am recommending this movie. If you don't (you're wrong and), you may be bored, so skip it. '

★★ Clash of the Titans (2010)

2011-05-17T22:41:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.0]
Gino says: 'If you already know that this movie is not supposed to be very good but still want to see it, I won't dissuade you. For me, it was for a little escapism to fill a train commute, and served that purpose.

It is basically an updating of the 'classic' of my childhood, with appropriate special effects upgrades. Won't say I hated it, but I have a couple spoilerish beefs:

If I recall in the 1981 version, Andromeda and Perseus have some relationship, no? So you have some vested interest in her surviving the human sacrifice, right? This is a traditional way to tell a story, no? In the 2010 version they have no relationship. For all I know, that might be mythically-correct, but it makes for a weakened movie. Instead we have hot babe #1 who will be sacrificed to the Kraken if Perseus doesn't save the day, but the only thing going for her is that she is apparently kind-hearted compared to the rest of the ruling class. And we instead insert hot babe #2 to follow the guys through the whole movie because she is the only one who knows how to get anywhere! It's the kind of film where everything has to be explained by a character saying it when he/she wouldn't in real life, because that's easier than writing a better script.

Secondly, the whole point is to stop the Kraken from destroying Argos. While they do defeat the Kraken, seems to me it destroys half the city anyway.

Finally, the gods depicted here are kinda ridiculous-looking. And please, for my Greek friends, don't criticize me for absorbing this abomination of your ancient culture -- I have already erased it from my memory. '

★★½ How Do You Know

2011-05-17T22:25:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: 'James L. Brooks movies are sort of a weird subgenre unto itself, and it's hard to put your finger on what makes them unique. You have a few very fleshed-out characters that are not really the normal folks we come in contact with in daily life but neither are they weird for weirdness sake or irony's sake. If you write out the synopsis of the films, you'd think "There is no way that should work." Yet, I loved 'As Good As It Gets' for reasons still mysterious to me, and 'Spanglish' was not too shabby. Anyway, this quality to his movies, along with a good trailer got me to watch a movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson! It's not a bad movie, but I won't quite recommend it. Entirely kept my interest while viewing but I am struggling to remember it from 3 days ago.'

★★½ Tangled

2011-05-03T22:03:00.002-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]Gino says: 'The 2010 Disney "Rapunzel" movie. It was a rare family movie night, and I did not choose the movie. I will say, they are really getting good at this animation business. And this had the usual Disney charming quality and humor to it. But the story did not hold my interest, and as with many princess movies, the film had a feeling to it as if there was a message or moral involved, yet there was none. My daughter also found some minor logical inconsistencies and I some minor anachronisms. There-- have I taken all the fun out of this yet?'

★★★½ The King's Speech

2011-05-03T21:57:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'Great cast. If I were king, Geoffrey Rush would be in 1 in every 5 movies by royal decree. Didn't love this movie, but I did enjoy it. '

★★★½ Jane Eyre (2011)

2011-04-25T14:31:00.002-04:00

[Gino: 3.5]Gino says: 'The good thing about "Jane Eyre", particularly if it's been so long since you've read it that you forgot most of it, is that there is a little mystery and even creepiness to it. It isn't all a "will she marry to secure herself financially?" kinda thing. This movie follows suite on those aspects, while also making nice use of the magnificent but cold English/Scottish manor house settings. I am not really familiar with previous incarnations of this movie, but I would have given this one 4 stars had the last act not dragged a bit for me. [Enjoyed it at the Landmark Sunshine on Houston St., eschewing the Tribeca Film Fest last Friday.]'

★★½ I Love You Phillip Morris

2011-04-18T16:47:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: 'There is nothing particularly wrong with this movie about a relentless con man's struggles with identity. And if half of this based-on-a-true-story plot is true it is certainly an interesting enough story. But in the end this felt to me like an unpleasant entertainment about an unpleasant guy.'

★★★ Agora

2011-04-18T15:43:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Bit of an odd sword-and-sandals telling of 4th century tumult in Alexandria, centering around the female philosopher and atheist Hypatia and conflict between the rising Christians and the old order there. Not bad, but not great. '

★★ Ghost Town

2011-04-05T19:49:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.0]
Gino says: 'At his worst, I still find Ricky Gervais entertaining. So, this rather contrived movie where due to a mishap he is able to see ghosts while inhabiting the normal world of the living, reluctantly helping some ghosts out while perhaps learning a lesson or two about life along the way, was entirely watchable. Just not great. '

★★ The Extra Man

2011-03-28T20:05:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.0]
Gino says: 'This movie [about a confused young man taking on an aging gigolo mentor] was weird. And it was hard to figure out how I was supposed to feel about all the characters. Neither of those things qualities in a movie, in and of themselves is a problem, but this flick never pulled it together for me.'

★½ Morning Glory

2011-03-20T15:42:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 1.5]
Gino says: 'I thought: 'What could be better than Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford playing viciously bickerings co-anchors on a morning news program? With a plucky workaholic Rachel McAdams trying to rein them in, guided by the writer of "Devil Wears Prada"?' Apparently plenty could be better! This was not *horrible* just barely bad enough to get an "avoid" from me. '

★★★½ Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

2011-03-20T15:25:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'Being very much not versed in the realm of video games, and being 38, I am very much not the target audience for this movie about a guy (Michael Cera) who must defeat in martial arts combat 7 deadly ex-es, in order to date the literal girl of his dreams. But I am recommending it, because it gave me multiple honest belly-laughs. No small feat, given current belly.'

★★★½ The Kids Are All Right

2011-03-06T17:33:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'A family of two teenagers with lesbian moms contact their sperm donor "dad". This threatens to throw the whole family balance out of whack, in more ways than one (both the dramatic, and the more subtle: e.g. upsetting a balance that was already tipping). Very nice movie, but I wouldn't say great. What I liked about it, was the actors had to sort of portray multiple levels of stuff going on in their heads, and do this well. Most notably Annette Bening.'

★★★½ Superbad

2011-03-06T17:22:00.001-05:00

[Twinkletoes: 3.5, Gino: 3.0]
Twinkletoes says: 'I have mixed feelings about this film. Its humor was quite often far more scatological than I generally like and certain scenes felt like they existed solely so the writers could show us something that happened to them that they thought was really funny. On the other hand, through it all was a very nice, very funny and ultimately very sweet coming of age story. If they had toned down some of the crude humor I think I might call this a classic of the genre. As it stands I'll do little more than recommend it.'

Gino says: 'I agree with what Twinkletoes said. I saw the unrated version, so maybe that removed an extra half-star.'

★★★½ The Hawk Is Dying

2011-03-06T17:19:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'This is a grainy low-budget movie about a mechanic living with his sister in rural Florida, dealing with a frustrating life and a grieving episode, all the while trying to train a hawk on his arm. Seriously, the hawk is on camera the entire last two thirds of the movie. Paul Giamatti is the guy, and he is pleasantly intense to watch. I should say, that while I liked this, and recommend it, there is a fairly high chance YOU will dislike it. So if you take my advise and if I ruined an evening for you, by all means, do let me know.'

★★★ Coney Island Baby

2011-03-02T12:10:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'This movie must have been really low-budget, because the DVD was blurry! This was a very typical story of an irresponsible but charismatic "true love" returning home (to Ireland) and disrupting a planned "safe" marriage engagement. If you are OK with that, it was entirely competently made and watchable.'

★★★½ The Shining

2011-03-02T12:02:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'Horror is definitely not my thing, but I had to get around to seeing this at some point. Perhaps the initial build up in the movie was more enjoyable than the actual delivery at the end, but I enjoyed it. Favorite shots: the camera-follows-the-Big-Wheel, complete with alternating sound of wheels on carpet and wheels on hard flooring. Favorite spoiler: How they devoted all these scenes to the chef making his way back to save the day and he gets axed in the chest 30 seconds after arrival. '

★★★ A Single Man

2011-02-08T10:27:00.000-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Colin Firth plays a mid-1960's college professor, suicidal after the death of his long-time significant other. Nicely done and acted. Nice early-20th Century L.A. architecture featured in the movie. But nothing memorable, for me. '

★★★★½ The Pope's Toilet

2011-01-25T19:05:00.000-05:00

[Twinkletoes: 4.5, Gino: 4.0] Twinkletoes says: 'This film got a middling score from the Philadelphia Film Festival crowds, which when you take into account that everyone rates everything favorably, is a pretty sad statement about the film. Well I must be out of touch with the rest of the world because I thought this thing was fantastic. It is the story of a poor family man living in a poor town on the border bewteen Uruguay and Brazil. When word comes that the Pope will be paying a visit, the town is excited about the financial possibilities that all of the expected tourists will bring. While most are planning on selling food, the man at the center of this film devises a plan to build a fully functioning modern toilet (sorely lacking in this town) and charge visitors to use it. It's the story of a flawed but essentially good man who is a dreamer. It is gently funny, sweet, heartbreaking and most of all very genuine. Maybe these people were all actors who a big stars in Brazil but I wouldn't be surprised if they were all actual residents of this little town. They were all that convincing. Highly recommended.'

Gino: [No text review.]

★★½ Land of the Lost

2011-01-21T20:23:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: 'I was looking for a fluffy movie to watch on the train. One that would be light and funny but not very good of a film (so I didn't feel guilty not viewing it with the wife.) Success! Funny at times -- Will Ferrell is in usual form, playing a guy cluelessly being way more authoritative than he should be. Nothing great, but fun.'

★★★ An Unreasonable Man

2011-01-19T18:14:00.003-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'This is a fairly standard, straightforward, non-flashy documentary about Ralph Nader. If that sounds like something you'd want to see, then I can recommend it. I came away thinking how sad it is that someone so dedicated to trying to make things better might end up remembered as a kook who spoiled an election or two. Title comes from the thought-provoking quotation of George Bernard Shaw: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." '

★★★ Micmacs

2011-01-19T18:07:00.000-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: '... but an affectionate 3 stars for this Jean-Pierre Jeunet movie about a group of talented misfits embarking on a revenge quest against two weapons manufacturers. It has the lovely color palette and whimsy of his "Amelie" but is less charming and more confusing.'

★★★ Days of Heaven

2011-01-04T10:04:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'This is a 1978 Terrence Malick film about a love triangle among drifting laborers and a wealthy farmer in pre-WWI U.S.. Knowing what to expect from the writer/director (the human emotions played out in/ drowned by/ expressed through the landscape and natural surroundings), I enjoyed it well enough. But the general consensus from the people I saw it with (perhaps not expecting this) was that it was a bit slow and boring, even at a short 93 minutes. I would recommend seeing "The New World" or "A Thin Red Line" before this, and if you are hooked by those, see this.'

★★½ Yogi Bear (3D)

2011-01-04T09:52:00.001-05:00

[Tiny: 2.5]
Tiny says: 'You can sort of ignore the star rating. In some sense this is a four star movie, because my six year old daughter LOVED it and seemed to totally understand it. In another sense it is a one star movie because if I wasn't there with a child, I would have been totally bored. I think the movie is getting ripped in the press because unlike movies like Toy Story and Monsters Inc., this movie does not cater to adults. It is working on one level -- that of a second grader. But it isn't like the acting, animation, or pacing is bad. At a little under an hour and a half, it was fine entertainment for a youngster who likes a little (or more) gross out humor.'

★★★½ Hubble 3D (IMAX)

2011-01-04T09:51:00.001-05:00

[Tiny: 3.5]
Tiny says: 'The only thing keeping this documentary (which I saw at the Air and Space Museum in D.C.) from being even better was the sense of a missing final act, in that I would have liked to have seen the astronauts return to earth and react to their success. Anyway, this movie is doing two things at once: its "secondary" task is to bring you views, in jawdropping 3D, of some images from the Hubble telescope, including fascinating views of a nebula; its "primary" task is to track the mission of the astronauts who made the final repairs to the Hubble telescope. (I could imagine some people seeing the primary/secondary pieces reversed, which relates to my criticism about the missing final act.) As amazing as the imagery from the "secondary" task is, it is the "primary" stuff that is most gripping. Easily the closest I'll ever come to feeling like an astronaut in space -- the Imax/3D imagery here was really incredible, as you seemingly are floating over the shoulder of astronauts making extra-vehicular repairs, with the earth looming down below. There is also good footage of the training and the launch. I couldn't help but think, "This mission is hard enough -- wasn't it just making it worse having to have an Imax camera involved?" Note: The 3D/Imax is about 85% of the value here; I wouldn't say this is a "must see documentary" if you can't see it in that fashion.'

★★ Alice in Wonderland (2010)

2010-12-30T13:43:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 2.0]
Gino says: 'I dunno. This had some fun performances and spectacle. But in the end it felt like they were forcing some dreamy loose fantasy into an "adventure" film. Having never read these books, I don't know whose fault that is. '

★★★½ The Beach

2010-12-30T13:40:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'Danny Boyle movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a young man exploring the world coming upon a secret paradise community. About the increasingly difficult steps that must be taken to keep it secret. Most of the way though, I was quite enjoying this film -- I liked the semi-original idea of slowly building up a paradise and then slowly dismantling it as reality sets in. But after a while the film loses it's patient, deliberate pace I think unravels too quickly. May be my fault though, for having to watch it over like 6 viewings.'

★★★ Charlie Bartlett

2010-12-30T13:32:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Entirely watchable modern day John Hughesesque movie about a kid who moves from outsider to school leader by acting as school therapist and prescription-writer.'

★★★½ Please Give

2010-12-02T10:33:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'Writer/Director Nicole Holofcener, to me, is kinda like an middle-era Woody Allen minus most of the schtick. Upper class types dealing with emotional issues and touchy relationships. Which is to say still pretty good stuff. If that sounds good to you, check it out, but also try her "Lovely & Amazing" from 2001.'

★★★★ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

2010-11-21T13:10:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'Non-fanatics will be a bit overwhelmed with the number of characters you'll have to remember/learn in the first 15 minutes or so. But overall, a delightful time a the movies. Will be sorry to see the franchise go next year. '

★★★★ Mongol

2010-11-07T14:48:00.000-05:00

[Twinkletoes: 4.0, Gino: 4.0] Twinkletoes says: 'This film about the life of Genghis Kahn was not quite what I was expecting as it mainly focuses on his earlier life. I kept looking at my watch wondering how the heck he was going to go from slave to uniting the Mongol hordes in the 15 minutes left in the running time. Luckily it didn't take that route. I liked it a lot although I think part of that had to do with the fact that I knew nothing about Genghis Kahn. I'm certain there were some liberties taken with history to make this movie, and with no prior knowledge of the subject to cause annoyance, I'm fine with that. For me the end result was an exciting and absorbing film. It perhaps could have been maybe 20 minutes shorter, but overall a fine film.'

Gino says: 'I agree with Twinkletoes. This is pretty engaging and character-drive, with non-stop gorgeous landscapes of the Steppe.'

★★★ White on Rice

2010-11-07T14:41:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'This is a pretty funny and mostly harmless movie about a dim-witted Japanese guy trying to get his love life and life in general together, while not ruining the lives of others around him. I enjoyed it, but nothing spectacular.'

★★ The Man Who Laughs

2010-11-07T14:36:00.001-05:00

[Gino: 2.0]
Gino says: 'This 1928 film, from the Victor Hugo book, is about an aristocrat disfigured to always wear a smile, who hides away as a 'circus' performer while searching for love and avoiding problems with the baroness. Or something like that. This was our Halloween movie this year, because it plays a little like classic horror though it is not. Anyway, not to write-off a classic, but I had a hard time staying awake. I did however admire the protagonist's acting challenge -- unable to move his mouth.'

★★★ The Cocoanuts

2010-11-02T14:13:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'The usual: I am transfixed to the screen when Groucho speaks, amused when Harpo is around, admire Chico when he plays the piano, and can't find Zeppo. This one suffers a little from an Irving Berlin soundtrack -- by which I mean they felt like they had to stick in a lot of musical numbers that are ho-hum to me. Not why I tuned in.'

★½ The Bridge of San Luis Rey

2010-10-19T14:13:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 1.5]
Gino says: 'This 2004 movie is quite lavish, being set in colonial Peru during Inquisition times. It has a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Kathy Bates, Harvey Keitel, F. Murry Abraham, Gabriel Byrne, etc. So how bad can it be? Well, at least two of those people (De Niro and Keitel) are totally distracting when they are doing accents (actually, I am not even sure they were, but either way -- distracting). This is set up like a murder mystery kinda film: there is a trial going on, and in flashback the story of a bunch of characters are told, leading up to an incident where many of them die in a bridge collapse. But somehow screen/story time is spent too evenly among the characters, none of whose stories is super interesting, and after a while I just got totally lost about what this film was "about". '

★★★ Broken Embraces

2010-10-19T13:51:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Pedro Almodo'var movie about... hard to summarize the plot. There is a mistress involved, jealousy, and in-movie movie-making. It was fine, but nothing great, in my opinion. '

★★½ Me and Orson Welles

2010-09-27T19:27:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: 'This is a Richard Linklater (directed) movie about a young actor's trials in joining the cast of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre's production of 'Julias Caesar' and clashing with the egotistical will of its director. Honestly, it is kinda worth seeing just for the great impersonation of Welles done by Christian McKay, but the rest of the film is kinda boring. '

★★½ Whatever Works

2010-09-23T15:01:00.003-04:00

[Gino: 2.5, Twoshoes: 2.5]
Gino says: 'The film's philosophy can be summed up (1) human beings are as a whole miserable, and there is no reward at the end of life, so (2) whatever love you encounter in life, take it. Who better to deliver that message (sometimes directly to the audience) than Larry David via Woody Allen? I enjoyed this well enough while watching it, but there is really not much of a "movie" there to give it a higher rating. No "Manhattan", but no "Scoop" either. '

★★★½ Big Night

2010-09-08T22:14:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'I don't normally buy DVDs, but I found this one for $1.25, so it was time for a revisit of this 1996 ultra-critically-acclaimed movie. Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub play Italian brothers trying to save a failing restaurant while keeping their culinary principles intact. About to go under, their last chance is a visit from a big time jazz musician. I enjoyed it the second time too. Don't watch it when you are stuffed.'

★★★★ Il Postino (1994)

2010-09-08T22:06:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'Have to thank David K. for lending me this DVD. This is most definitely NOT a prequel to the 1997 Kevin Coster movie "The Postman". Instead it's about a socialist poet exiled to a small Italian island of mostly illiterate fisherfolk and his influence on one inhabitant in particular, the one who brings him his mail. It had me smiling most of the way through.'

★★½ Extract

2010-08-28T14:20:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: 'I have been known to extravagantly call Mike Judge a profound commentator on our life and times. This movie about a business owner dealing with professional and marital troubles, has all the right pieces there: funny people, funny jokes (I even laughed aloud several times). But in the end, it felt "tired" to me -- like it had not much life in it. '

★★★ Cashback

2010-08-28T14:11:00.001-04:00

[Twinkletoes: 3.5, Gino: 2.5]
Twinkletoes says: 'After being dumped by his girlfriend a young art student can no longer sleep. He decides to make use of the extra hours by getting a job at a 24 hour supermarket where he soon discovers he has the ability to stop time. Hijinks are had at the supermarket, he meets a girl, all pretty standard fare. Its done well and its certainly enjoyable but no new ground is broken here.'

Gino says: 'Much better than a kick in the shins, but probably not worth your time. [Note, I did not see this this at the festival.]'

★★★★ Kill Bill vol.1

2010-08-03T21:18:00.000-04:00

[Twinkletoes: 4.5, Gino: 3.0]

Twinkletoes says:'... it is awesome, possessing one of the coolest extended scenes I have ever seen in the chapter 'Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves.'

Gino says: 'I found it like a 4.5 in style, but no more than like a 2.0 in substance. I kinda understand that movies are divided into the pre-Tarantino era and the post-Tarantino, but I am not sure that is a good thing. But I did not dislike it.'

★★★½ The Illusionist

2010-08-01T20:54:00.000-04:00

[Tiny: 3.5, Gino: 3.0, Twoshoes: 3.5]

Tiny says: 'Much better than your average love story. Superb acting by Ed Norton and Paul Giamatti, and I even enjoyed Rufus Sewall's outing as the bad guy.'

Gino says: 'Enjoyable, though sounds like I liked it less than Mr. Tiny.'

★★★★ Inception

2010-07-26T11:40:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'I didn't want to wait like 9 months to see this one on DVD so we actually got a babysitter for a matinee in a theater! Appropriately awesomely mind-blowing much of the time. The kind of movie you like so much that you wish it had been "perfect". But they did a heck of a lot of thing right in this one. Fun and not dumb.'

★★★★ Raise the Red Lantern

2010-07-20T22:12:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'Another Yimou Zhang film starring Gong Li, this time going back to 1991. In 1920s China, big Kahuna guy has four wives and the film portrays the struggle for the favor of the Master (and thereby for power) among the women. Very good. The brilliant thing here is that the writing is very economical: really we never leave the compound, and we concentrate intensely on just 4 characters (3 wives and one maid). Even the Master, so integral to the plot, somehow is a non-character here. And instead the daily sights and sounds of monumental household fill in the rest of the picture. I am rushing and not describing this well, but it was good.'

★★ Wendy and Lucy

2010-07-20T22:04:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.0]
Gino says: 'I watched this because I like Michelle Williams. Essentially this is a hyper-realistic ultra-low-budget movie with her playing someone strapped for cash trying to make it to Alaska without losing her dog. I am fine with simple movies, but this one was basically like watching a movie of someone's car breaking down and waiting to get it fixed for 80 minutes. I might be being a little hard on this, but that's my reaction. I didn't hate it.'

★★★ An Education

2010-07-12T15:27:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: '1962 England. Charming rich guy [with very cool car] with some shady secrets beguiles much younger English schoolgirl. This necessitates her decision making about what course her like will take and what's important in life... Very memior-y. Nice acting and technical film-making here. But I wasn't enthralled. If this sounds like you'd like it, then you can be confident you won't hate it. '

★★★ New York, I Love You

2010-07-12T15:20:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Multi-director collection of shorts as a companion to Paris, je t'aime. This was entirely watchable but not as good as Paris, je t'aime.'

★★★½ Kicking and Screaming (1995)

2010-06-15T18:07:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.5]
Gino says: 'I was toying with giving this movie 3 stars, but then again, I liked it enough to re-watch it (I had seen it many years ago). It's about a bunch of rich kids who have gone to a liberal arts college and are having a hard time transitioning (or even starting to transition) to the real world. Cons: I find it hard to identify with that problem as a premise. And the movie has a feeling to it like it was done by a first-time writer/director. [And indeed, it seems to be the earliest thing on Noah Baumbach's imdb resume.] Pros: On the other hand, there is a high level of sustained, low-key, but very funny dialog. '

★★½ District 9

2010-06-15T17:53:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 2.5]
Gino says: 'This movie about extraterrestrials stranded on Earth and living in refugee camps started out good for me: kinda a clever twist on the sci fi thing. More thoughtful and realistic than say the over-the-top satire of "Starship Troopers". But half way through it devolves into basically a not very exciting chase scene. In other words, it felt like they started out to make something ambitious and ended up pretty conventional and middle-of-the-road. I was pretty tired while watching it though, so maybe if I had been more awake...'

★★★ No Impact Man: The Documentary

2010-06-08T22:40:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: 'Unsurprisingly from the title, this is a documentary about "No Impact Man" the blogger who along with is family experimented on phasing out all of their impacts on "the environment" over a year. I.e. down to no electricity, cars, toilet paper (?). The makers were wise to turn it into a bit of a "reality show" kinda thing: Is the wife on board? Will it ruin their marriage? etc. Enjoyable, not great. I'd like to see them try it in the suburbs instead of New York!'

★★★★ Michael Clayton

2010-06-02T18:15:00.000-04:00

[Gino: 3.5, Twinkletoes: 4.0]
Gino says: 'Honestly, while I was watching this, I was thinking of giving it a 4.0. But I have forgotten so much of it since 2 days ago, that I am bumping it down a notch. This was a well-written film about a law firm representing a large agro-chemical type company whose product is killing people and the main lawyer is off his meds and building a case AGAINST his client. A lot of money stands to be lost. It had the peculiar quality of being a "quiet" thriller. Entirely watchable. I would like to say as an aside that I really like Sydney Pollack as a actor; here he plays the head of the firm. And as for George Clooney: I remain unconvinced of him as an actor, and yet don't mind watching him in things. This was also a directorial debut, which was impressive.'

Twinkletoes says: 'Very well made and tense legal thriller. But I did have a couple of minor issues. 1st, it is hard to buy George Clooney as a sort of a loser amongst anybody. 2nd, I have to question the use of a car bomb in an attempt to kill Michael Clayton. Is that generally the type of thing that just goes unnoticed? Seems like a really stupid choice. Still, I thought this was a very good film.'

★★ Ice Station Zebra

2010-06-02T18:11:00.001-04:00

[Twinkletoes: 2.0]
Twinkletoes says: 'A cold war era movie about American and Russian forces racing to the North Pole in an effort to retrieve some highly sensitive information from a fallen satellite, the kind that could really change the course of the Cold War. I realize that this is certainly a product of its time, but by today's standards, this is awfully cheesy. The Russians are just bad guys with accents, the special effects were cringe worthy, and let's just say that Jim Brown gives one of the better performances.'

★★★★ In the Loop

2010-06-01T20:16:00.001-04:00

[Gino: 4.0]
Gino says: 'This movie [about the frightening arbitrariness of international politics] is a lot of fun, especially if you have a high level of affinity to watching really irate and creatively-vulgar Scottish people. I know I do. Honestly that is pretty much 60% of the film. But overall, it is also light on it's feet, clever, and devilishly-satirical. '

★★★ Big Man Japan

2010-06-01T09:21:00.001-04:00

[Twinkletoes: 3.0]
Twinkletoes says: 'Wow, what a strange little film. It's a mockumentry about Japan's last remaining hero. A man who is called upon by his country to fight giant monsters on a regular basis, but now that the classic era of monsters has past, he is pretty much hated and ridiculed by everybody. There is some funny stuff here. And the special effects, while I won't call them great, were delightfully bizarre and fun. My main problem was that it felt like they really didn't embrace the absurdity of story and as a result the film at times felt a little more sullen than a film about a giant man fighting a giant foot needed to be. Don't get me wrong, by no means is this a dour film. It just wasn't as fun as I was hoping for. And I hated the hated, hated, HATED the ending. Did they run out of money? Were they trying to make some sort of political statement? I have no clue. A better ending probably earns it another half star. It is worth seeing, but I really thought that something a lot more special cold have been made with this idea.'

★★★ The Invention of Lying

2010-05-25T09:54:00.002-04:00

[Gino: 3.0]
Gino says: '[Some minor spoilers in this one.] If your world-view is in total alignment with Ricky Gervais' (as mine tends to be) then you should probably see this movie. Ebert called it a "radical comedy," and that it is. The premise is a guy lives in this world where lying (even the most innocent of lying) is something that doesn't occur to people. By some random impulse the protagonist develops the ability to lie, initially much to his advantage, but very quickly this puts serious burdens on him, when he invents the "man in the sky". The movie makes you think about how lying is pretty much essential to our cultural existence.
Why not a solid recommendation here? The whole thing is shoehorned into a romanic comedy, and while the jokes are consistently funny, this aspect didn't quit work for me. The idea that Jennifer Garner's character has to "think outside the box" a bit to choose her non-genetically-preferable mate. I didn't quite get how that exactly relates to lying. A darker comedy might have worked better here. That's my two cents, but I still liked it.'