The original “Open Season” (2006) is one of the funniest animated films of the past 10-years. And, apparently, I’m not the only one who enjoys the adventures of Boog, the Grizzly Bear and his best friend Elliot, the deer, because two sequels have been made: “Open Season 2” in 2008 and now, “OS3”, which is […]
2009’s “Crazy Heart”, was the story of an old country music singer (played by Jeff Bridges) whose personal problems prevent him from making a successful comeback. “Country Strong” features a similar story, but this time the singer is female. Gwyneth Paltrow as Kelly Canter. She’s a former country superstar whose career ended badly. She has […]
“True Grit” is the first real western I’ve seen/reviewed and my first Coen Brothers film. It’s based on the classic novel and is a remake of the 1969 film that starred the great John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn. It didn’t get a lot of love from Oscar voters but it’s definitely worth watching, even if […]
You don’t have to be a fan of the old Yogi Bear cartoons to enjoy “Yogi Bear” the movie. In fact, I’m sure most kids have never heard of Yogi or Boo Boo or Ranger Smith or Jellystone Park. Fortunately, most parents do know these characters and the good news is that both adults and […]
Six years ago Disney brought the first “The Chronicles of Narnia” movie to theaters and “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was an enormous hit. In 2008, the second film in the series – “Prince Caspian” – was a bit of a disappointment. For this third trip to “Narnia”, Disney was replaced by 20th […]
The thing about a movie like “Unstoppable” is that you know the problem (a runaway train) can’t be solved early in the movie, because then there wouldn’t be an end of the movie. And you know the problem won’t be fixed by one of the characters being played by a no-name actors. No, only the […]
In 2006 director Davis Guggenheim’s documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”, examined the problem of global warming. In 2010 Guggenheim followed that Oscar-winning film with “Waiting for Superman”, which looks at another major issue: the problems with the public school system in America. While “Superman” won’t win an Oscar since it, shockingly, didn’t even get a nomination, […]
In a few short years Facebook went from an idea to a worldwide phenomenon. Millions and millions of people, even yours truly, has a Facebook page. If you are one, or you’re curious how it all began, this is the movie for you. “The Social Network” stars Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of […]
Rob Reiner has made some classic movies, including “Stand By Me”, “When Harry Met Sally…” and “The Princess Bride”. “Flipped” isn’t a classic, but it’s a worthy addition to his list of accomplishments as a director. “Flipped” is adapted from a popular young-adult novel about young love written by Wendelin Van Draanen. The book is […]
It’s been 46 years since “Mary Poppins” was released. Four and a half years ago a new British nanny arrived in movie theaters. I didn’t see the original “Nanny McPhee” when it came out in 2006, or on DVD, because it looked like a bad rip-off of the Disney classic. And I had low expectations […]