Online Film Critics Society 2008 awards

The Online Film Critics Society, of which I am a member, has named its awards for 2008. The winners: PICTURE: Wall-E DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight ACTOR: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Wall-E, Andrew … more…

The Unborn (review)

There’s something to be said for a movie that’s still making you laugh days after you saw it. It’s probably better if that movie was a comedy, but you can’t dismiss the entertainment value you get out of a good bad horror movie that prompts snorts of derision and head shakes of mystified wonderment at random moments a week later.

North American box office: top 10 moneymakers of 2008

Just for fun, here’s a quick look of the top movies of 2008, from a box-office perspective: 1. The Dark Knight: $531,001,578 2. Iron Man: $318,313,199 3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: $317,023,851 4. Hancock: $227,946,274 5. Wall-E: $223,806,889 6. Kung Fu Panda: $215,434,591 7. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: $177,016,810 8. … more…

The Spirit (review)

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…

North American box office: audiences say no to ‘Yes Man’

Just a quick look at last weekend’s number as we head into the long holiday stretch, which will, in effect, be one long “weekend” starting tomorrow, Christmas Day, and running through Sunday, January 4: 1. Yes Man: $18.2 million (NEW) 2. Seven Pounds: $14.9 million (NEW) 3. The Tale of Despereaux: $10 million (NEW) 4. … 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…

Comic Books Unbound (review)

It’s an entry in the ongoing series ‘Starz Inside’ that the cable network Starz likes to label ‘documentary,’ but this one, at least, feels exactly like the kind of promotional filler you find filling up odd scheduling holes on premium movie channels (it’s suspiciously 59 minutes in length).