I wouldn’t make a good father and I’m not afraid to admit it. I’m rude, have no respect for anyone, and I’m just a bad influence in general. But if I were to “spread my seed,” there would be a couple of positive impacts on the human race, namely my streaming blonde hair which just [...]

I don’t consider myself the conventional nerd. I’m not interested in technology; in fact I have trouble finding out how to change the screen resolution on my computer monitor. I don’t read comic books — except for those couple of times where I sat adjacent to the graphic novel section in Borders. To top of [...]

Burt and Verona are thirty-somethings, good friends as well as lovers, and will be parents for the first time three months hence. Verona’s parents are both dead, and Burt’s have announced that they’re leaving the country to live abroad for two years. With no real reason to stay near them in their cold house, Burt [...]

Youth in Revolt is a film I regrettably missed while it was in theaters, but for a film that I had some interest in, it came and went quickly. Despite this, I have heard many positive things from people who I trust, so I am definitely glad it has hit DVD and Blu-Ray.
Overall, the movie [...]

The life of a musician, no matter how good it may seem in a music video (Lord knows how long and I hard I prayed to be a member of Mötley Crüe), it is no picnic — there is a shitload of behind the scenes work to do and more pitfalls than Pitfall Harry could [...]

When the 2009 Academy Awards happened, there were a lot of shockers. Hurt Locker beating out Avatar, Precious winning best adapted screenplay over Up in the Air. But the biggest shocker for me was the fact that The White Ribbon didn’t win Best Foreign Language Film. I thought the movie was flawless — a masterpiece. [...]

I’m a middle aged guy (balding, beer belly, etc.), so I’ll admit it: I don’t get this whole Twilight phenomenon. Sparkly vampires and bare-chested werewolves fawning over a human, high school girl who isn’t that hot just don’t mix well with my testosterone (I can’t figure out how it mixes well with estrogen either, [...]

Woody Allen’s 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a film with a moral: People do not change. No, let me rephrase that: People cannot change. Films of great depth have been made with premises as simple as that. Vicky Cristina Barcelona is not a film of great depth. Great style? Yes. But not depth. Not [...]

It is 1910, the last year of Count Lev Nikolayevitch (Leo) Tolstoy’s life. He is 82 years old and his writing days are behind him. His work was so popular that he gained followers — nowadays they’d be called fanboys — who were known as Tolstoyans. One of the main tenets of the Tolstoyans was [...]

One thing that a lot of people don’t know about me is that I enjoy the occasional “chick flick.” Yes, I said it (fully knowing the consequences that this may have on my manhood), at times I do like to indulge myself in one of the countless sugar-coated and seemingly implausible romantic-comedies that flood movie [...]

The road to box office success for movies based off of video games is potholed and strewn with broken down, bombed out carcasses (remember BloodRayne and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale?).That doesn’t, however, stop the mostly concept-bankrupt power brokers of Hollywood from churning them, and films based off of [...]

How many years has it been since we, the movie going public, have been graced with the stylings of Jennifer Lopez on the big screen? Two years? Seven? The correct answer is four. The other correct answer is: “Not nearly long enough. Not by a long shot.” The Back-up [...]

His name is Rizwan Khan and he is not a terrorist. However, he’s a Muslim in a post 9/11 America, and not everyone believes him. He must tell the President in the hope that this simple message will filter down through society. The situation is not helped by the fact that Rizwan suffers from Asperger’s [...]

It’s an interesting concept: Soldiers returning home after the Iraqi war serving what’s left of their enlistment period as messengers for the Army, instructed to tell unsuspecting husbands, wives or other next of kin that their loved ones won’t be returning. I’m pretty sure it’s not official policy, but that’s what happens to Staff Sergeant [...]

Most published critics are idiots. Yet again this verity was reinforced to me whilst popping in and watching one of the latest films by Woody Allen to hit DVD. Cassandra’s Dream was almost wholly ignored in this country, lasting only a couple of weeks in the theaters. Yet, it is one of the two best [...]

Within the first ten minutes of my viewing of When in Rome, I knew the next 81 minutes of my life were going to be painful and feel like an eternity. Repeatedly, I had to remind myself that there had to be a comedic or romantic moment hidden away somewhere in the bowels of [...]

Providing the text-book example for any agitated parent in need of an aid for their rehearsed “don’t talk to strangers” speech, the complex and life changing results for 16 year-old Jenny (acted by Carey Mulligan), after jumping into an older man’s car on her way home on a rainy day, will surely be of use.
More [...]

Herein the primary definition of tragedy: A dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction. In many colloquial settings, the word is overused to describe [...]

To think after the undeserved success of Alvin and the Chipmunks that a sequel wouldn’t be made, you would be considered a madman. The only surprise to be found is it took two years to concoct one. You’d think, however, with all that extra time, an interesting premise could have been formulated. [...]

Did You Hear About the Morgans?, the latest romantic comedy from director Marc Lawrence purports to be one of those cutesy, funny things happen when two people are put into foreign or uncomfortable positions kind of films. It succeeds in putting its stars Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker in stupid situations. It [...]

Don’t be fooled by the trailers for Up in the Air. It may seem like a formulaic romantic comedy. It’s not. Not by a long shot. Jason Reitman, following up his Juno breakthrough, has put together a finely developed and many times amusing story about choices — both personal and professional [...]

Catherine Zeta-Jones has undoubtedly crossed that threshold that separates the young from the old — no matter how many pilates classes she takes or face pulls she has performed. So it’s no wonder the spin on her latest romantic comedy The Rebound is that of an older woman hooking up with a much, [...]

Thomas Alfredson’s 2008 vampire film Let the Right One In isn’t so much a horror film as it is a coming of age drama which happens to have a vampire as one of the two leads. Strikingly beautiful, nicely written and perfectly executed, it probably won’t be well received by all horror fans, but as [...]

Meeting your soul-mate and future husband at the age of six is an enough of an unusual scenario on its own. But to topple that — the guy in question is going on forty when you first see each other and wearing nothing but a blanket in a hedge. As an innocent member of the [...]

The already darkening skies encompassing the world of Harry Potter have darkened further in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth installment of the wildly popular movie franchise. Long gone is the baby-faced innocence our would-be wizards once had when they first entered Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There is now [...]

Oil meet water. Water, this is oil. The two of you don’t mix well, I know, but amazingly enough, you have more chemistry between the two of you than do the leads of The Proposal. Sure, the premise of the film is initially setup that way, but even after their heart felt [...]

Can the romantic comedy genre be out of steam? To me, it sure seems that way when:

Matthew McConaughey is once again chalked up to be the leading man.
The bottom of the barrel is scraped by stealing the plot devices of A Christmas Carol to tell the story.

In a sentence, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is [...]

As much as I like to eat my Count Chocula cereal in the morning, I don’t want to eat it every morning — I need some variety. Same goes for my comedies. As much as I like Paul Rudd, I don’t want to see him in every joke-filled movie I see either. [...]

With the rousing power Sex in the City is said to have brought to women (I wouldn’t know, I never saw the

Based on Bernhard Schlink’s 1995 Holocaust novel of the same name, The Reader balances brilliantly the dark, menacing undertones of war (and the ugly things one must do to survive) with the innocent purity of first love. This combination of opposites works incredibly well to produce a controversial film that challenges the very beliefs which [...]

I almost choked on my popcorn while watching Bride Wars. It wasn’t because every other minute I was laughing and kernels kept getting lodged in my throat. Nope, it was because I couldn’t believe I was witnessing Anne Hathaway follow up her acclaimed work in Rachel Getting Married with such a terrible performance [...]

To think a harrowing story about feral Indian brothers and their trials to reach manhood would be sneaking up to possibly steal a best picture Oscar. Such is the case with Slumdog Millionaire — a craftily told story (based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup) that, through some major grit and [...]

Writing a book or screenplay with vampires in it has got to be one of the easiest gigs around. These mysterious and charming undead basically lend themselves to just about any scenario possible — generally making said scenario that much more intriguing (its got a vampire in it, duh!). Proof in point: Twilight. [...]

Isn’t it great when you get a surprise? It gives you that warm happy feeling inside. Well, that’s exactly what happened to me when I watched Ghost Town. I saw it without expecting it to be hilarious and was thoroughly rewarded.
The story follows Dr. Pincus (Ricky Gervais), a dentist who is totally disengaged from society [...]

Kevin Smith and I are one and the same. Well, in reality he’s a tad fatter and shorter, and not nearly as handsome as I am, but we do share the same thought processes. Because of that, I’ve been a fan of his quick-witted, vulgar-laden writing for years so I couldn’t wait to [...]

A subtle, burning menace is hidden so beautifully in this new movie adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel, Brideshead Revisited, that you almost don’t see it. Beneath the lavish chandeliers, the Oxford degrees and the vast amount of wine glasses, lies an inevitable disaster that surrounds the main character, Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode), as he [...]

What happens when the ego of a stuck-up little princess from Malibu gets a little too big for her Dolce & Gabbana tote? Why, her daddy sends her clear across the world to a British boarding school, of course! And that’s exactly what does happen to poor old Poppy when she finally pushes [...]

Do you believe that every period drama is just another long and dull Jane Austen re-making with an updated cast as a twist? Most people do. You’d be a fool to think that way after watching Kiera Knightley’s new movie, The Duchess though. It captures beautifully the untold story of Britain’s most elegant [...]

Miss Potter instantly came across to me as being a dull recollection of the life of just another dead author. But this movie is far from that. It turned out to be a moving and beautifully told story of the beloved children’s writer and illustrator, Beatrix Potter, a woman who created the timeless story of [...]

You’re among friends so I promise I won’t laugh at you. You know you’ve secretly wanted to see a musical set to the songs of Swedish super group ABBA. Okay maybe not, but at least admit you’ve always yearned to hear the singing voice of Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep. No to [...]

It’s been a while since a decent romantic comedy hit our screens since the likes of Richard Curtis’ Notting Hill in the late 1990’s. Recently though, I had the opportunity to see an engaging Christmas film, The Holiday. It stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet in roles that us ‘non-celebrities’ can actually relate to.
The [...]

WALL-E is the latest in the line of stellar features from the powerhouse Pixar. It is a romantic story of a small, lonely garbage cleaning robot that finds his purpose is greater than simply gathering trash into piles. Beautiful, charming and with an important message interwoven, WALL-E is flawless.
When the people of earth [...]

Never heard of Miss Conception? No worries. I never heard of it either before today. It’s a little low-key romantic comedy – so quiet, in fact, it was filmed and released first in the U.K. before making a limited appearance here in the states. The only reason I found it was [...]

James McAvoy has been a gardener, a heart-broken soldier, a doctor, a lawyer, a student and now in his latest movie Penelope, he’s become a gambling, conflicted boyfriend of a pig. Simply put, I know, but being a fan I feel this role of Max has to be one of McAvoy’s most understated and bravest [...]

This travesty of character and plot development obliterates any chance I would or could call Sex and the City a film instead of a TV movie with really good distribution. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) spends the entire TV movie trying to get married to Big (Chris Noth). Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) spends the entire [...]

We all know what goes in Las Vegas – it’s Sin City after all. You get drunk. You get laid. 80% of the time you gamble away a small fortune. And depending on how long you’re visiting, you do it all over again the following night. Why? Because what [...]

Holy shitwings Batman, a movie has been made specifically for Paris Hilton (bet you never thought you’d read a movie review start like that before). Somewhere a baby is dying because of this unforgivable offense to mankind. But then again, maybe not. Sure, The Hottie and the Nottie is an affront to [...]

Super smooth George Clooney has taken a break from playing his super smooth role in the successful Oceans series long enough to tackle (no pun intended) Leatherheads, a romantic comedy with a professional football backdrop set in the 1930’s. Aside from being an avid football fan (go Panthers), I was looking forward to seeing [...]

To quote the most famous line in the very well known movie Forrest Gump, “Momma says life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get”. From the beginning I expected Forgetting Sarah Marshall to be a hilarious, semi-sweet romantic comedy full of vulgarity and nudity. For the most part, [...]

Sometimes you just have to shake your head in disbelief because there isn’t much else you can do. While watching Uma Thurman and Colin Firth stumble their way through the ill-conceived The Accidental Husband, it was literally all I could do (spitting up my drink would have been too messy). This is definitely [...]

With a deep breath and high hopes I set out to watch the latest urban “find yourself” movie with a dance/rap backdrop — Step Up 2 the Streets. Why? I’m an optimist and a dreamer, and I firmly believe some day a movie like this will actually be worth the price of an [...]

I get the distinct feeling I’ve seen Fool’s Gold before. Tell me if this premise seems even remotely familiar to you: A reckless loser with a hot girlfriend, convinces her to join him on a perilous adventure searching for buried treasure on the ocean floor. Need some help jogging your memory banks? [...]

Small screen starlet, Eva Longoria Parker has found herself in a starring role in Over Her Dead Body, the second major romantic-comedy release of the year (27 Dresses being the first). I can count two possible reasons why she’s in that position: 1.) The more accomplished romance leads were already tied up in other [...]

The staple of any good romantic comedy is the chemistry between the leading lady and leading man. This is highlighted by most movies starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail) and 90% of the films starring Matthew McConaughey or Hugh Grant (mostly because these guys can have instant [...]

Someone, somewhere still thinks Jessica Simpson is a bankable product. But with declining music sales, a long forgotten reality television show and not ever actually having much in the way of a hit movie, I’m not so sure that individual still has a job. That’s because her latest feature, Blonde Ambition, has had [...]

With time to spare and the need for something lighthearted and cutesy being introduced into my system (I had just reviewed Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door), Enchanted seemed like the perfect choice. And let’s be realistic, has Disney ever led anyone astray when they needed this kind of infusion?
The answer is yes, they [...]

I promised myself I would never watch another movie with Dane Cook in it again. I begged, pleaded and insisted that Hollywood not allow him to star in another movie after I reviewed his last monstrosity Good Luck Chuck. But just like my wife and kids, they don’t listen to me. He’s [...]

The last good twisted movie (in my humble opinion) from the Farrelly brothers was seven years ago with their feature Me, Myself and Irene. True they had a few movies in between then and now, but they’ve been lackluster and relatively safe. Since then a new kid with an equally deranged mind and [...]

Damn, my ass hurts. A lot. No it’s not from sitting in an uncomfortable seat at the theater for 96 minutes to watch Good Luck Chuck. It’s from being raped repeatedly by those who would release a hunk of shit movie like this and disguise it as an off-the-cuff romantic-comedy.
That’s right, Good [...]

Period pieces. These are the hardest movies to review. Depending on the time frame they’re portraying, they need to remain true to the past — there isn’t a lot of room for error or creative liberties. And depending on the type of movie (biography, historical event) they tend to get long winded [...]

Just a week or so ago, I reviewed the movie I Could Never be Your Woman. At the end of the review I mentioned I didn’t think any good romantic comedies were on the horizon. Well, guess what. I was wrong. One has indeed popped up and slapped me in the [...]

Feeling old? Need a feel good about yourself, quirky kind of movie to raise your spirits? Never fear, Hollywood claims they have something for you (don’t they always?). It comes in the form of the upcoming film: I Could Never Be Your Woman. Will it help you to put the bottle [...]

For all intents and purposes, License to Wed should have been just one of many romantic comedies released to little fanfare this summer. Nothing spectacular about it. But someone (the director, Ken Kwapis) got the bright idea to cast Robin Williams in a lead role. “Why?“, I plead, “What have I done [...]

C’mon guys, you know it’s happened to you. You cried over the break-up with your first girlfriend. I’m guessing it happened to me as well, I just don’t remember it. My wife says I’m devoid of feelings — an emotional black hole, if you will — so there is a very good [...]

Yeah, I know. I’m late to the game — everyone one calling themselves a critic has seen and reported on Knocked Up already. Each and everyone one of them has seemingly given it rave reviews too. They also all gave shiny, glowing reviews to Hostel: Part II and we all know how [...]

Chris Rock — just what the doctor ordered. Great crossover appeal (I’m a white guy and he doesn’t appear threatening) and funny as fuck. This guy has to be one of the funniest guys in America and he seemly vanished into thin air. Until now that is. In his second directing [...]

Oh boy. A black man holding a chain that is wrapped tightly around a petite, white girl. That’s all I knew about Black Snake Moan going into the theater. Nothing about a plot, nothing about content — just a picture of Samuel L. Jackson with an enslaved Christina Ricci. Exploitation at [...]

I’m a sissy, I’ll admit it. I have a girlie spot located in my abdomen somewhere for cheesy, lovey-dovey chick flicks. Especially the feel good ones starring Mr. Blowjob himself - Hugh Grant. It started with Four Weddings and a Funeral so many years ago and although it seems no one cares [...]

Well, I guess it’s time to see what the Hollywood hype machine has been pushing down my throat for months now. Norbit is a movie that lays out the life of a puny, pussy-whipped guy and his fat-as-fuck, overbearing wife. It is the latest Eddie Murphy comedy, in which, you guessed it - [...]

It’s time for a feel-good, self-discovery movie. This time, however, our Hollywood friends have decided that the female lead usually given to Sandra Bullock, Renée Zellweger or Meg Ryan will go to Jennifer Garner. I guess they figured they needed a fresh face to attach to this comedy/romance; just like adding an air [...]

From the demented mind of Sacha Baron Cohen comes some remarkable characters like Ali G. (a wannabe gangsta), Brüno (a flamboyant faggot) and, of course Borat - a sexist, anti-semite from Kazakhstan. The genius of these characters is the ability to allow Cohen to poke fun at, while “seriously” interviewing, people of all responsibilities [...]

Let’s see - Sunday night, family is asleep and there isn’t anything on the boob tube worth my time. What to do? You guessed it; waste 95 minutes of my time on a spoofy, silly comedy. I figured after a dump truck load of shit has fallen on my head this past [...]

I want to know what these guys were smoking when they were writing the script for Superman Returns. So what was great about Superman Returns was the possibilities it could have taken with the script. After the beginning credits (which  were a great homage to the 70s/80s version of Superman), the whole film went downhill [...]

It’s been awhile since we’ve reviewed a movie starring Adam Sandler. Been even longer since we’ve actually looked forward to a movie starring Adam Sandler. But believe it or not, I was actually interested in watching Click. Perhaps I was hoping for comedy genius to strike again for him (see Waterboy or [...]

Again, I find myself drawn to one of those lovey-dovey movies that Hollywood simply adores. And more often then not, I find myself scratching my ass wondering what in the hell I was thinking. Guess what - this is another one of those times; but not for the reasons you might think.
The Break-Up [...]

Everyone, including myself, likes a good romantic comedy every now and then. After watching a few of the trailers for Failure To Launch, I figured it was that time.
Failure To Launch is basically like all the romantic comedies before it. Good looking man (this time played by Matthew McConaughey) has a phobia or [...]

Hmmm. . .Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in the same movie. Arguably, the two best looking actors in the world. Initial thoughts? Mr. & Mrs. Smith has to suck. When the media focuses on the couple after filming the movie goes downhill. . .remember that shitfest Gigli? So needless to [...]

Every once in a while a movie comes along starring Will Smith that has the look of being good. Every once in a while that movie will actually be good. I am please to say that Hitch falls into the latter category.
As you can tell I’m not a big fan of Will Smith. He thinks [...]