Mirai movie review: and baby ruins everything
This tenderly animated Japanese film about sibling rivalry is lovely with its fantasy, but too convoluted for children and too slight for adults.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Collateral Beauty movie review: there is no beauty in this
Appalling and sadistic. How can anyone who is not a sociopath look at this horrible attempt at feel-good fantasy and say, “This is fine, this is healthy”?
It’s a Wonderful Downton Abbey Life (with George Clooney and other special hilarious guests)
What if the Earl of Grantham had never been born? Chaos at Downton Abbey, is what.
new this week in U.S., Canadian, and U.K. theaters: ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,’ ‘The Last Airbender,’ ‘Shrek Forever After,’ more
U.S. AND CANADA/OPENING WIDE The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: A girl with no personality is unable to choose between the vampire she loves and the werewolf she loves. The invisible man was heartbroken. If you can’t make it to the multiplex, try: • Hard Candy (2005): For a much better exploraton from director David Slade of … more…
new this week in U.S., Canadian, and U.K. theaters: ‘Shrek Forever After,’ ‘MacGruber,’ ‘Cop Out,’ ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ more (with DVD alternatives)
U.S. AND CANADA/OPENING WIDE Shrek Forever After: Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and Puss square off against the evil tyrant Rumpelstiltskin. Scary. [trailer] review to come If you can’t make it to the multiplex, try: • Shrek 2 (2004): Still the best in the series, with one of the greatest character intros ever (for Puss in Boots). … more…
question of the day: What movies do you find offensive that no one else does?
Today’s QOTD comes from reader/commenter doa766, who wonders: What movies do you find offensive that no one else does? Or, What movies do you see as offering a terrible message but no one else seems to notice it? doa766 continues: For example, I always thought the first Narnia movie was one the most offensive movies … more…
question of the day: What’s your favorite Christmas movie?
The Online Film Critics Society, in our weekly survey, this week picked our favorite Christmas movies. It’s a Wonderful Life came out on top — as some of you may know, I am not a fan of It’s a Wonderful Life. My top five Christmas favorites, as I voted the OFCS survey: A Christmas Story … more…
question of the day: What movie do you find offensive (but no one else seems to)?
Today’s question comes from reader Dardo, who writes: I always thought the first Narnia movie was one the most offensive movies ever made, with Santa Claus giving a knife to a six year old girl so she can go to war, and a group of children marching to war with no training or any military … more…
watch it: “Saturday Night Live: It’s a Wonderful Life Lost Ending”
May I suggest, for our holiday dining, that we eat the rich:
Bad Santa (review)
So, when I attended a screening on November 14, I was already primed for *Bad Santa,* the meanest, curmudgeonliest, blackest holiday movie I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen most of ’em. It’s like, How much more black could it be? And the answer is None, none more black. I haven’t laughed at film this hard all year, and maybe not last year, either. And much of that laughter sprung from shock: I spent half the film saying to myself, ‘Holy crap, I can’t believe they did that!’ and ‘They did *not* just do that!’ It’s hard to be shocking in the era of the Farrelly Brothers, but *Bad Santa* is shocking partly because it’s so unrepentant and unapologetic. There’s no attempt to infuse the film with heart or soul or sweetness or light. *Bad Santa* unrelentingly twisted. And that’s just wonderful.
