film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
Mine is definitely 9/11, followed closely by the Challenger explosion. Both of those events had me riveted to the television for days and made me feel personally impacted…
I feel that unless the U.S. realigns its priorities away from endless war and back toward science and exploration, it’s over as a spacefaring nation. The 21st century in space will be Chinese, I suspect: I bet they’ll put a man (and probably a woman) on Mars by 2025.
opening wide Up: It is balloons! (You probably don’t get that reference unless you were a kid in the 1970s in the New York metropolitan area and watched WPIX and saw its promos for F-Troop reruns. Sorry.) Drag Me to Hell: Sam Raimi tortures poor Alison Lohman. But might she maybe kinda sorta deserve it? … more…
Take a break from work: watch a trailer… I heard “Hilary Duff” and “Steve Coogan” and I’m not sure what I thought — maybe something along the lines of Hamlet 2 — but I’m pretty certain I did not think, “Serious drama about adolescence and tragedy and grief and sadness and other not-comedy stuff.” Or … more…
