film criticism by maryann johanson | celebrating 25 years: 1997–2022
Nostalgic without being mindlessly retro; a sweet, heartfelt girl-and-her-alien-robot-car action-adventure buddy dramedy that hits all the right notes. Hailee Steinfeld is terrific, and there’s not a whiff of Michael Bay to be found.
I am not suggesting that we should ban or censor movies full of despair! I’m suggesting that these despairing movies are doing too good a job of reflecting our society, and it’s our society we should be concerned with, not the messengers who deliver this news.
Here’s an at-a-glance look at my picks for tomorrow night’s Academy Awards…
What my followers on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ saw today…
Did you download a movie illegally in 2011? You’re not alone…
Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Thor, Green Lantern, X-Men, Captain America, etc. This is what 2011 looks like at the movies. In what way can it be construed that young men are “endangered” at the box office?
I thought I was safe avoiding The Inbetweeners Movie. It’s based on a TV show I’ve never seen, it wasn’t screened for critics, and it looks awful. But now it’s a veritable phenomenon at the U.K. box office…
Duck and cover! Transformers: Dark of the Moon is coming back to theaters! Don’t say Paramount didn’t warn us!
“A little formality called paperwork is what separates us from the animals.” –Mearing (Frances McDormand)
In what universe — except for the bonzo one we live in — are “intense prolonged sequences of sci-fi action violence, mayhem and destruction” the equivalent of “some violent content” and “brief strong language”?
