film criticism by maryann johanson, not an AI | since 1997
We all know how it is. You’d like to get out to see a new movie this weekend, but you’ve been stuck on a hijacked subway train too many times to find any cinematic amusement in that scenario. But you can have something close to that blockbuster experience at home with the proper application of … more…
I’m not expecting much from Land of the Lost (opens in the U.S. on June 5, and in the U.K. on July 31) — certainly nothing along the lines of the weird-ass freaky science fiction shit that blew my mind as an eight-year-old watching the original Saturday morning TV show. If it’s as mildly amusing … more…
Need new stuff to watch? Ya got a few good options this week. Out April 6 in Region 2: green light (definitely check it out): • Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter & Under the Hood: review soon/buy at Amazon U.K./already available in Region 1 at Amazon U.S. yellow light (worth a look on DVD) … more…
Take a break from work: watch a trailer… Someone pitched this as The Rock Versus Area 51, I’m thinking. Or maybe Last Taxi to the End of the World? I wanted to be able to like this, because I have fond memories of the 1975 flick Escape to Witch Mountain, but after seeing this trailer, … more…
The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend isn’t traditionally a big weekend for moviegoing, but wow, this four-dayer was a record breaker: 1. Paul Blart: Mall Cop: $39.2 million (NEW) 2. Gran Torino: $25.6 million (2nd week in wide release; drops 13%) 3. My Bloody Valentine 3-D: $24.1 million (NEW) 4. Notorious: $23.4 million (NEW) … more…
It had to be done: all in one place, the very best bad dialogue of the year 2008. I didn’t mean to hold these till the movie year was over — it just sort of happened that way. I’ll return to posting quotes as I hear them for 2009. There’s surprisingly few of these. That’s … more…
Just a note for newcomers to the site: there’s a reason why you’re not seeing last weekend’s box office numbers for the U.K. here until the day the new weekend is starting. The actual numbers for the overall British box office (which, as an aside, also includes the Republic of Ireland) are far less readily … more…
We had another five-day weekend this past week, what with New Year’s Eve falling on a Wednesday, but the ranking remains the same whether we look at the five-day or the three-day weekend, so for sanity’s sake, I’m gonna stick with the three-day figures… that is, Friday, January 2, through Sunday, January 4: 1. Marley … more…
Trying to figure out how to talk about the box office at the moment is a bit of a challenge, what with Christmas Day — always a big moviegoing day in North America — falling on a Thursday, and all the new wide releases opening that day. And then there’s this odd week, with no … more…
Bête Noir It’s been a week since I saw The Spirit and I’m still thinking about it, and usually that’s a good thing, when a movie sticks with you like that, but not always. Like, not this time. Cuz what I’ve been turning over in my head is this conundrum: Just how awful is this … more…
