film criticism by maryann johanson | handcrafted since 1997
Just when you think the shamelessness and the senselessness of Hollywood can’t possibly get any shamelesser or senselesser, Variety is there to correct this misapprehension: Paramount has snagged an untitled action/comedy pitch from the scripting team of Will Block and Jake Emanuel for Lorenzo Di Bonaventura to produce. Story is based on the framework from … more…
So, we have Benicio Del Toro about to land as the Wolfman, and now we get word that Sam Worthington may be playing Dracula in a Summer 2011 flick. What’s going on is this: Universal is trying to reboot its Universal Monsters brand. Besides Dracula and the Wolfman, the Universal Monsters stable includes Frankenstein, the … more…
Damn! Mulan is thisclose to being not just a brilliant animated film, but a brilliant film, period. It has a dramatic story, a heroine who kicks butt, a villain who kicks butt, a square-jawed hero with a not-so-nice side, and some of the most sweepingly gorgeous visuals since Beauty and the Beast. But Mulan is dragged down by insipid songs that feel tacked on and silly, inappropriate sidekicks and secondary characters.
