new on DVD: ‘Becoming Jane,’ ‘Martian Child,’ ‘Gone Baby Gone,’ ‘We Own the Night,’ ‘Introducing the Dwights,’ ‘No Reservations’

See it: • Becoming Jane [buy it]. From my review: I love Becoming Jane even if it is almost entirely invented, because it captures both the aching romanticism and the cold, hard practicalities of Austen’s fiction. And it even, in a way, does Austen one better: it’s laden with all of the angst and heartbreak … more…

‘Sarah Connor Chronicles’ blogging: “Queen’s Gambit”

(previous: “Heavy Metal”) Poor Andy! He rebuilt his chess computer, the Turk, was all excited about maybe winning that chess tournament (First prize: a military contract! Robot apocalypse, here we come!), and then he lost. Aww. And then he gets shot and the Turk gets AI-napped. Maybe if Sarah had killed him when she had … more…

Definitely, Maybe (review)

Listen carefully, because this is something I’m pretty sure you’ve never heard me say before, and chances are excellent that I will never say it again: This is one of the greatest romantic dramedies ever made.

movie-ku #135

I’ve been taking a little break from haikus lately. Not deliberately: kinda by accident. I’m gonna try to catch up. Should I? Are you guys enjoying them? The next few days will reveal what movie inspired this: How to be surprised Name an actor you can’t stand And fall in mad love

what I can’t wait for in 2008

The movie year 2007 ain’t over yet — won’t be till the Oscars are handed out — but that don’t mean we can’t look forward to what’s coming in 2008. At the instigation of Nathaniel R. of Film Experience, some of my fellow critics and I have come up with our joint list of the … more…

my week at the movies: ‘Be Kind Rewind,’ ‘Vantage Point,’ ‘Jumper,’ ‘The Bank Job,’ ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles,’ ‘Charlie Bartlett,’ ‘Chop Shop’

Oh please please please let Be Kind Rewind [opens limited February 22] totally rock. How could it not? It’s Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) off on what sounds like another wacky, geeky, self-referential, pop-culture-snarking lark. Jack Black — who’s been growing on me of late — and Mos Def — who never … more…

Academy Award countdown: 13 days till Oscar

Tilda Swinton, nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Michael Clayton, has never been nominated for an Oscar before, but she did win a Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress from the Seattle International Film Festival for her performance in 1992’s Orlando. (Click the DVD for a quote from her character.) (Buy … more…

site tweaking

Speaking of doing 18 different jobs here… I was up literally all night doing some tweaking to the backend of the site, fiddling around with PHP includes and other stuff that I hoped would help solve a hugely frustrating problem I’m having with Movable Type rebuilds hanging midjob. (That won’t mean anything to anyone who … more…