won’t you watch the merely very-good movies of 2008?

In this season of Oscar nominations and critics’ awards, gala ceremonies and acceptance speeches, won’t you give a thought to the merely very-good films of 2008, those that could not make it to the rarefied ranks of the best of the the best of the best simply because they lacked, perhaps, the benefit of the … more…

the oh-no! DVD of the week: ‘Surfer, Dude’

Longboarding soul surfer “Soul surfer”? Steve Addington (Matthew McConaughey) returns to Malibu to spend his summer surfing his home break. But the waves go flat, and his sponsorship deal turns south. Huh. I didn’t know marijuana had gone corporate. “I’m Matthew McConaughey, and when I wanna get baked, I always choose… what’s the name of … more…

awards contenders on DVD: the studio films

December can feel overwhelming, for movie watchers, with all the awards contenders flooding the arthouses — if you’re in New York and Los Angeles — and multiplexes this holiday season. But it’s always true, too, that films from earlier in the year manage to get notice from critics groups in the pre-Oscar-nominations territory… and some … more…

awards contenders on DVD: the indies

December can feel overwhelming, for movie watchers, with all the awards contenders flooding the arthouses — if you’re in New York and Los Angeles — and multiplexes this holiday season. But it’s always true, too, that films from earlier in the year manage to get notice from critics groups in the pre-Oscar-nominations territory. Here, I … more…