film criticism by maryann johanson | handcrafted since 1997
In *Eat Pray Love,* Julia Roberts’s newly divorced writer travels to Rome, India, and Bali in order to figure out who she is and what she wants from life, and creating her own family of friends along the way. This flick sprang from (among other films)…
U.S. AND CANADA/OPENING WIDE Knight and Day: Tom Cruise does some spy stuff and runs around a lot, while Cameron Diaz does a lot of screaming and runs around like a girl. If you can’t make it to the multiplex, try: • The 39 Steps (1935): Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll are mismatched maybe-spies in … more…
U.S. AND CANADA/OPENING WIDE The A-Team: A stirring drama of wrongly convicted patriots who get mad and kick some ass. If you can’t make it to the multiplex, try: • The A-Team (1983-1987): The entire series is newly available in a cool new box set. • The Great Escape (1963): This Steve McQueen military classic … more…
(It will look here like I’m trying to condense a lot of stuff — my “week at the movies” posts, my “DVD alts” posts — into one package, and that isn’t quite the case. Or maybe it is. Bear with me as I try to figure out what the hell I’m doing and what the … more…
We know how it is: You’d like to go to the movies this weekend, except you’re busy investigating the latest government/corporate coverup and that leaves little time for amusing yourself. But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the right DVDs. And when someone asks you on Monday, “Hey, did … more…
