movie buzz

Martian Child A troubled little boy — who thinks he’s from another planet — gets adopted by John Cusack. Hey, girls are from Venus, right? Will John Cusack adopt me? Pretty please? (my review is here) Bee Movie A bee with the voice of Jerry Seinfeld sues humanity for stealing the fruit of beekind’s hard … more…

Time magazine has named its Top 25 Horror Movies, and for a publication not exactly known as a bastion of all that is hip and cool, the list is surprisingly adventurous. (Fair warning: Time.com has organized the list in such a way that you cannot see the entire list or navigate it easily: you have … more…

I love DVDs, I love my widescreen TV, I love that the movie experience in my living room just keeps getting better and better. But every once in a while — too rarely, these days — I get a reminder of what we lost when movies came home. Revivals. I’m just old enough to have … more…

It’s John Cusack, and that would be enough for me, because I’m one of that generation of women who has been ruined for romance forever by Say Anything…. But Martian Child [opens wide November 2] also has a geeky science-fictional bent, too: Cusack plays an SF writer, a widower, who adopts a troubled kid who … more…

Saw IV The torture-porn franchise is back for its fourth outing, featuring yet more terrible young actors you’ve never heard of enduring bodily mutilation. Is beating a dead horse considered “cruel and unusual” punishment? (not screened for critics) Dan in Real Life Steve Carell is unlucky in love… again, plus he’s stuck with Dane Cook … more…

If you saw The Darjeeling Limited at a film festival, you also had the opportunity to see Wes Anderson’s prequel short, “Hotel Chevalier,” which introduces Jason Schwartzman’s Darjeeling character and the neuroses he’s dealing with in the longer film, and which has all the fanboys in a tizzy because it features Natalie Portman’s naked butt. … more…

I have this friend who looks a lot like Philip Seymour Hoffman. My friend used to live in NYC but he moved to L.A. a few years back, and since he’s been known to pop back into town unannounced. And more than once I’ve been walking down a Manhattan street and caught a glimpse of … more…

30 Days of Night When the sun goes down in the Arctic for a month-long night, the vampires come out to play. I’ve heard of creatures being coldblooded, but this is ridiculous. (my review is here) The Comebacks This spoof on feel-good sports movies posits a ragtag football team on track to win the big … more…

The Net’s been abuzz about the possibilities for a couple of months, but now Ain’t It Cool News is sorta-kinda confirming the rumor — they’re calling it a “well-founded rumor” — that a new film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune is in the works. We’ll now pause for a brief moment of shuddering from those … more…

Ben Affleck has made a movie. And not just any old sort of movie, but a kind of take-that reaction to, oh, Clint Eastwood and his Mystic River. “What does a cowboy know about Boston?” could be the question Ben is asking with Gone, Baby, Gone [opens wide October 19]. Or maybe it’s just, “How … more…