handcrafted film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
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…
Assumes that the viewer is a complete and utter fucking moron…
We know how it is: You’d like to go to the movies this weekend, but soldiers in gas masks have your town surrounded and will shoot on sight if you try to leave. But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the right DVDs. And when someone asks you on … more…
Shame on Silent Bob. I realize that times is tough and everyone’s gotta make a living, and that that’s probably why Kevin Smith agreed to direct a big-budget studio buddy action comedy. But shame on him anyway.
Looks like Ethan Hawke got a promotion from his Los Angeles Training Day and a crosscountry transfer to serve with Brooklyn’s Finest (opens in the U.S. and Canada on March 5; no U.K. release date has been announced). Looks intense… And then there’s Cop Out (opens in the U.S. and Canada on February 26, and … more…
Take a break from work: watch a trailer… This is the movie that was once titled A Couple of Dicks. Kevin Smith thinks it’s funny that the new title — changed for obvious reasons of prudery — is Cop Out (after an interim alteration to A Couple of Cops). Unfortunately, the trailer makes the movie … more…
If there was a very small child whom I wanted to introduce to the magic of movies, I could do a lot worse than this harmless but rather cute action fantasy…
I’m stealing today’s question wholesale from the Guardian’s Film blog, where Ben Child asked recently: Should we care that Kevin Smith has sold out? It seems that Kevin Smith has accepted a job directing a film for a major studio that he himself did not write. It’s a buddy cop comedy that was originally going … more…
