Hall Pass (2011) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-26 | That setup supplies a wealth of opportunities for the film to explore any number of possibilities that could be both very funny and insightful. Are Rick and Fred so driven by their hormones that they would cheat on their wives, even if it's not technically cheating? Are Maggie and Grace unhappier in their marriages than they realized? Do they want their husbands to have affairs so they would have an excuse to end their marriages? Could having this valve to blow off steam actually improve their marriages? These are all interesting questions, rife with potential for conflict. Unfortunately, the Farrelly's blow their intriguing setup on an assorted bag of their greatest hits (not one, but two feces jokes, an embarrassing masturbation scene, multiple men obsessed with a beautiful blonde, and grown men acting like twelve-year-old morons).http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/hall_pass.html
Executive Decision (1996) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-26 | Specifics don't matter because the surprises and suspense are what make the film so enthralling. Sure, you can see the end coming from a mile away and there is nothing here that you haven't seen before, but it's handled with such deft care that it left me breathless. I knew the good guys were going to win in the end, but I nonetheless couldn't wait to see it happen. http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/executive_decision.html
Unknown (2011) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-19 | Sometimes I feel as though we don't appreciate Liam Neeson enough. Moving easily between leading man roles and character work, he's able to chew the scenery when a script calls for it and just as easily dial his performance down to a subtle level approaching minimalism. Ever since his breakthrough turn in Darkman, it seems that every time I look up at the screen, there's Neeson, doing good work in films that often aren't worthy of his talents. Such is the case with Unknown, an otherwise soggy conspiracy thriller that Neeson practically horsewhips into watchability.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/unknown.html
I am Number Four (2011) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-19 | Needless to say, this is a ton of plot to shove into a movie that runs less than two hours. I would take the film to task for not cutting some of the more extraneous plot details, but director D.J. Caruso has his hands tied by the fact that the film is supposed to be the first in a series. When taking that into account, it's actually surprising how well I Am Number Four turned out. This could have been a dispiriting failure along the lines of The Vampire's Assistant--a film that felt like one long first act setting up all the fun for films down the road. But Caruso is able to make John just an interesting enough protagonist and capitalize on a great performance by Olyphant, that I was willing to sit through the explanations and plot setups until the overblown, but rousing third act finally rewarded my patience.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/i_am_number_four.html
Vanishing On 7th Street (2011) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-18 | Vanishing on 7th Street has so much going for it, I vacillate between feeling bad that I can't quite recommend it and feeling enraged that it's not as good as it should be. For most of its runtime, it's a film of great style, great performances, and thoughtful explorations of well-worn character types. It punctuates intense dialogue scenes with thrilling moments of action and horror. It has one of the best opening sequences I've ever seen (even if it borrows a bit from the first Left Behind book--though, thankfully, it doesn't slide into hokey fundamentalist propaganda). It's the type of movie I'd enthusiastically recommend if not for two things: its shadow people, and its ending.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/vanishing_on_7th_street.html
Article 99 (1992) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-18 | Article 99 is a really bad movie, but it can be enjoyed under the pretense that inherent within is a truly ludicrous story with outlandish situations, zero note characters, shoddy sets, and bleeding-heart moralism sappy enough to send you into a shudder.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/article_99.html
Jack (1996) 30-Second Promo theparallaxreview 2011-02-18 | Director Francis Ford Coppola realizes Jack leads a life of deep sadness and loneliness, despite having loving parents. Because of his freakish qualities, they keep him indoors most of the time. He stares longingly out the window at the normal ten-year-olds, wishing he could live that life without having the intellectual or emotional capacity to understand why he can't. Coppola's not afraid to express that darkness, but he's also not afraid to throw it all away for the sake of kids farting in a coffee can.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/jack.html
The Illusionist (2010) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-09 | The Illusionist is the type of movie that sneaks up on you. I spent most of my time watching the film in a sort of pleasant trance. I marveled at the beautiful, hand-drawn animation. I smiled and chuckled quietly at a running gag about the titular character and his surly rabbit that hates being stuffed into a hat. I drank in the attention to character design that made it possible to tell the story with incredibly sparse dialogue. And then the film hammered me with such a bittersweet--and ultimately sad--third act that I was stunned when I realized how emotionally invested I had become in the slight story and eccentric characters.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/images/assets/the_illusionist.jpg
Single White Female 2: The Psycho (2005) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-06 | I admit recommending Single White Female 2: The Psycho is a tough sell. A direct-to-video sequel whose biggest name (Brooke Burns) went from Baywatch to reality game-show host doesn't seem like the sort of movie any rational person would want to watch. It has the aesthetic, soundtrack, and acting caliber of softcore porn, although without the rampant nudity. It's less a sequel than a knockoff that may have become a sequel either to avoid litigation or to capitalize on its very derivativeness. In short, it's not really a good movie. However, the film's story suffers from the same sort of schizophrenia as its chief villain, which makes it one of the most purely entertaining direct-to-video sequels I've ever seen. (Again, don't misconstrue narrative craziness as high quality--you should know what you're getting into and whether or not you'll want to endure it.) http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/sequelitis/single_white_female_2_the_psycho.html
Navy Seals (1990) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | The premise is simple. We see both "sides" of the lives of the men on a rough-and-tumble Navy SEALs team: one side when they're on mission, the other when they're off, with a few highlighted dramatic subplots interspersed between. The various attempts at endearing us to the characters are painfully obvious, first-date awkward. It really is Top Gun all over again, without the planes, and with Charlie Sheen standing in for Tom Cruise.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/navy_seals.html
The Woman in Red (1984) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | I would say it runs out of steam at that point--but for a movie to run out of steam, it has to at least have some in the first place. The way the narrative is set up only distanced me from the comedy. Characters are hard to read and events that are critical to the central plotline are sometimes totally ambiguous.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/the_woman_in_red.html
The Quick and the Dead (1995) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | There really isn't a plot, as the movie mostly just moves from one shootout to the next, but all of the confrontations are rendered intriguing because of the breathless pacing and the idiosyncratic characters.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/the_quick_and_the_dead.html
Mystic River (2003) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | That's why I was so shocked when I first saw Mystic River. It struck me as a stunning misfire from a usually reliable director with a good cast overacting like they were in a high school production of Long Day's Journey Into Night. Even worse, Eastwood showcased bizarre flourishes and an over-the-top score, which he helped compose, that only further pushed the film into overbearing territory.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/the_academy_of_the_overrated/mystic_river.html
WarGames: The Dead Code (2008) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | From that point, it's pretty much a dumbed-down remake of the first film. Director Stuart Gillard tosses in numerous references to the original film (including the presence of WOPR, who must "fight" RIPLEY at a certain point) that come across more like cheap nostalgia than worthwhile homage. Maybe that's because it literally steals the best moments of the first film, unabashedly and without commentary.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/sequelitis/wargames_the_dead_code.html
Public Enemies (2009) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | The thing that makes Public Enemies' creative failure such a travesty is that the Midwest gangsters of the 1930s have been on Mann's mind for at least twenty years. On January 16, 1990, he submitted a revised draft of a screenplay called Public Enemy. This script draws from history, combining real historical figures with a fictitious composite for a protagonist. Among other things, this allows Mann to play even looser with historical reality, since he doesn't have to commit to any by-the-numbers recreations of famous moments anyone with a passing interest in crime history already knows. http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/public_enemies.html
Kickboxer (1989) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | And then there's Kickboxer, a film that defies Van Damme's budding persona and pretty much everything anyone thought they knew about action heroes. It's not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but it proved two things that made me respect Van Damme more than I ever thought I would: He takes risks, and he's a better actor than his often confused franglais lets on. As Kurt Sloane, he allows himself to start the film as a petrified coward who slowly transforms into a master martial artist. He exhibits a much wider emotional rainbow than Bloodsport and Cyborg suggested he could, up to and including an incredibly silly dance sequence in which his goofy grin and disco splits win him the hearts of local women.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/cannon_corner/kickboxer.html
Bloodsport (1988) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | Bloodsport ostensibly exists to dramatize the real-life exploits of martial artist Frank Dux (played in the film by Jean-Claude Van Damme), but it actually exists to show us 70 minutes of martial-arts fighting with 15 minutes of filler like plot and characters. As a stunt sequence delivery system, it succeeds admirably. As a film, it doesn't quite hang together the way it should.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/cannon_corner/bloodsport.html
Flirting with Disaster (1996) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | David O. Russell's Flirting with Disaster finds the farcical in the emotionally fragile events surrounding a man's search for his biological parents. At a crossroads in his life--new son (for whom he can't decide upon a name), a fading sex life with his wife, and the culmination of a lifelong identity crisis arising from his adoption as a baby--Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) or his need to feel a part of something he's felt he has been missing is never the butt of any of the film's jokes.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/flirting_with_disaster.html
Funny Farm (1988) 30-Second Promo theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | Funny Farm boasts a surprisingly impressive pedigree for a light Chevy Chase comedy. It was directed by George Roy Hill, a man who delivered two certifiable masterpieces in The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid among other very good films (Slap Shot, Slaughterhouse-Five). It boasts a screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, ace screenwriter of such films as The Dead Zone, Innerspace, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Lethal Weapon 2. With this collection of unusually talented people behind the scenes, it's not terribly surprising that the film turned out as well as it did. That praise isn't to confuse it as a great film, but it's an enjoyable comedy with a few big laughs.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/funny_farm.html
Before and After (1996) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | How well do you know your child? If they did something awful, how far would you go to protect them, not only from outside forces, but from themselves? These are the intriguing questions that the gripping first act of Before and After sets up. Unfortunately, with a muddled second act, the film loses sight of these questions and quickly sinks into overwrought territory that's marred by maudlin speeches and silly handwringing.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/before_and_after.html
Blind Fury (1989) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-02-02 | It's only through the benefit of distance that we're allowed to see what a nutty time the late '80s were when it comes to movies. How else to explain the collision of incompatible elements that make up the curiosity piece known as Blind Fury? http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/blind_fury.html
The Rage (2007) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-28 | In this tale of a mad scientist who seeks to unleash a devastating virus that turns people into insane, flesh-eating monsters, special effects artist turned director Robert Kurtzman completely frees himself and the film from the constraints of logic or good taste. The result is a silly, graphically gory, tongue-in-cheek horror flick that offers up the truly original idea of zombie vultures. In my book, that earns a film more leeway than one that only offers up another tired variation on the infected zombie genre. It still doesn't make it a good film, but it does make it a fun one. http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/dvd_insanity/the_rage.html
Silent Hill (2006) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-28 | Silent Hill actually did decent business when factoring in the worldwide numbers, so it technically doesn't meet all of the requirements of a traditional Movie Defender write up, but it did take a whipping from the critics, currently sitting at a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. At the same time, its IMDb user rating is a respectable 6.5. Obviously, this wouldn't be the first time that a film is embraced by the public while being trashed by the critical community. And, as I've often pointed out, in most of those cases, the critics are right (yes, I realize this makes me sound like a snob, but I can live with it). But Silent Hill is one of those rare cases where the general moviegoing public is right and critics missed the boat.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/movie_defender/silent_hill.html
The Money Pit (1986) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-28 | There is a reason the sketch comedy format exists. Certain concepts are strictly a one-joke premise and don't need to be stretched past the five-minute mark. Hence, the need for sketch comedy--get in, set up the joke, hit the punch line, get the laugh, get out. The very talented people in front of and behind the camera of The Money Pit are apparently unfamiliar with this idea, because the movie is a labored attempt to stretch its one-joke premise to an impossible ninety minutes.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/the_money_pit.html
Combat Shock (1986) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-28 | Combat Shock is the type of film that makes the viewer feel the need to take a shower. The fact that that reaction is probably what writer/editor/producer/director Buddy Giovinazzo intended makes it a successful film. But just because the film succeeds at what the filmmaker is attempting doesn't mean that I can necessarily recommend it.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/combat_shock.html
Barneys Version (2011) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-28 | The movie is so intent on wallowing along in Barney's misery that it bypasses the only chapter of his life in which he might have been content, if not happy, with a photographic montage--watching as his kids grow up and ending with a smiling family portrait. Ultimately, even those kids can't muster any positive feeling for the old man--one hates him, the other can only pity his lonely state. It is a story full of drunken encounters and long drags on countless cigars, told by a bitter man, signifying despair.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/barneys_version.html
Blue Valentine (2010) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-28 | It's among the cruelest tricks that Cianfrance pulls that the worse things get for Dean and Cindy in the present, the happier they get in the flashbacks. As frustration and contempt spill forth from the couple over behaviors the other exhibits, we are shown how those same traits attracted them to each other in the first place.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/blue_valentine.html
No Strings Attached (2011) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-28 | Maybe that's why the script by Elizabeth Meriwether feels so underdeveloped--she's trying to keep too many balls in the air. It also doesn't help that Reitman's direction is so flat. He does a commendable job of trying to keep a silly premise grounded in a semblance of reality by not letting the film become a series of one-liners. But the trade off is that when there is a laugh line, it feels forced and awkward, as though the characters are constantly half a beat behind the audience.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/no_strings_attached.html
The Green Hornet (2011) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-14 | The Green Hornet doesn't do much to improve the hero's stature, turning him into a spoiled, buffoonish publishing tycoon who knows as little about journalism as he does about crime-fighting and feigning to be criminal, and demotes the sidekick's far more effective tactics, making them secondary to slow-motion, effects-laden brawls with a video game aesthetic.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/the_green_hornet.html
The Dilemma (2011) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-14 | To tell or not to tell is the question for about five minutes of The Dilemma, and the rest of the time is spent with a character waiting for the opportune time to tell his best friend that the guy's wife has been cheating (that he finds the least opportune and appropriate time to do is not mandatory for comedy or drama but certainly a cheap way to try to force both). That situation in a feature-length comedy, of course, means that there must be transparently contrived obstacles on top of transparently contrived obstacles.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/the_dilemma.html
30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-14 | To its credit, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days starts with another brilliant premise to exploit--the polar (pun intended) opposite of the first film. Instead of setting the film in a land of eternal darkness, the filmmakers move the location to sunny Los Angeles. What a great idea--putting the vampires on the defensive instead of the offensive, forcing them into hiding in much the same way humans were forced into hiding in the first film. Considering it follows a ragtag group of vampire hunters, this could have been a great opportunity to explore a moral gray area--have the hunters leveled the playing field by forcing all the vampires to clump together in easily destroyed nests, or have they turned into the same sort of monsters? Do the filmmakers make clever use of this incongruous setting? Nope! The vast majority of this film takes place entirely at night, and with the exception of an unintentionally comical scene in which vampires (looking like pale extras from The Matrix) are flushed out using high-intensity UV lamps, there's not a single reference to the sun.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/sequelitis/30_days_of_night_dark_days.html
Mobsters (1991) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-14 | It's also many different movies, all rolled into one--a collage of mob clichés, as if the filmmakers slid a tray down a cafeteria lunch line and picked scenes out, a la carte, from other films.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/mobsters.html
Broadcast News (1987) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-14 | At its most basic level, it's an in-depth exploration into how a fast-paced network newsroom operates. Writer, director, and producer James L. Brooks perfectly captures the rush of developing and delivering a great news story.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/broadcast_news.html
Naked Lunch (1991) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-14 | The novel seems so convoluted and abstract that I'm equal parts surprised and impressed that Cronenberg even managed to put a film together. What he did put together I appreciate solely on a visceral, enigmatic front. It's so altogether complex that I found it impossible to resist. It's not a film I will be running back to see anytime soon, but if you're looking for a mind-bending trip into the mind of William S. Burroughs, look no further.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/naked_lunch.html
Summer Rental (1985) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-14 | Summer Rental is a John Candy film. Do I really need to write more? It's as if this man was created for the hypothetical "Visual Dictionary" and next to the words "Affable, Gargantuan, Lovable, Clumsy, Innocuous, and Clueless" was a picture of Candy, clad in distasteful clothing, smiling with a pair of thumbs to frame his face.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/summer_rental.html
Mr. Majestyk (1974) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-14 | Charles Bronson, a name that carries considerable weight, is an actor who has starred in countless action classics. I consider myself a movie fanatic, so I presume I've committed some form of blasphemy by admitting that this is my very first Charles Bronson film. I know; it's pretty ludicrous that I haven't seen these timeless classics. If Richard Fleischer's Mr. Majestyk is any indication of Bronson's existing canon, I can safely say that I am altogether hooked. Bronson truly deserves his iconic status as an action hero.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/mr_majestyk.html
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-13 | Silver made a valiant effort, hiring director Renny Harlin (who helmed Silver's incomparably silly Die Hard 2 the same year) and trenchant satirist Daniel Waters (Heathers, Hudson Hawk) to salvage a script about a "rock 'n' roll detective." They attempted to turn it into a sublimely silly action-comedy, and at some points they succeed, but they're consistently held back by Andrew "Dice" Clay.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/the_adventures_of_ford_fairlane.html
The Boston Strangler (1968) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-13 | The film was made in 1968 but it shows no signs of aging. The story is often told in split screen, or better yet, multi-screen. Often, we as an audience get to witness a scene or a sequence of scenes from two to six points of view, so I truly mean it when I say if you look away you might miss something.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/the_boston_strangler.html
Cirque Du Freak: The Vampires Assistant (2009) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-13 | If you've never heard of Darren Shan's series of Cirque du Freak books, you're probably not alone. When I got the script, it simply had a title and Brian Helgeland's name. I didn't know it was an adaptation and a potential franchise-starter until long after I read it. I only knew that the script was the longest first act I'd ever read--all setup, no payoff.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/cirque_du_freak_the_vampires_assistant.html
40 Days and 40 Nights (2002) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-13 | Matt's (Josh Hartnett) idea is to take sex off the table in observation of Lent (but mainly to get over an ex-girlfriend) and--surprise--ends up spending the entire forty days discussing why he isn't having sex, what else he can do besides having sex, and, generally, sex (in the same way he says he's over the girl but keeps bringing up how he's so over her). Screenwriter Rob Perez tries to excuse it as the elephant in the room a person can't stop thinking about because they're purposefully trying to avoid it, but 40 Days and 40 Nights is all the more tedious for its one-track mind.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/40_days_and_40_nights.html
Barfly (1987) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-13 | It's a small story focused on only a handful of characters, but Schroeder was absolutely the right choice to direct. Working with Dutch cinematographer Robby Müller (probably best known for shooting most of Jim Jarmusch's films), Schroeder--like Bukowski's writing--finds the beauty and poetry in the dive bars where much of the film's action takes place. Every moment set in or around a bar looks like an Edward Hopper painting, giving otherwise dingy locales such glamor that would drive even the world's biggest teetotaler to start drinking, just to be a part of it.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/cannon_corner/barfly.html
Cobra (1986) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-13 | Judging from the view of early 2011, it may be hard to believe, but in the late '70s through the early '80s, it was still possible for critics to take Sylvester Stallone seriously. Films like Rocky and First Blood were commercial and critical successes that found him taking on scripting duties, tailoring characters to fit his limited acting range. Yes, he had his share of misfires (F.I.S.T., Nighthawks), but at least they were ambitious misfires. But by the time 1986's Cobra rolled around, Stallone had squandered any good will that the critical community had for him. The increasingly awful Rocky and Rambo sequels had made him box office gold and a critical punching bag. In other words, he was a perfect fit for the Cannon Group.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/cannon_corner/cobra.html
About Last Night... (1986) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-13 | After forty-five minutes, watching the film begins to feel like channel surfing between a challenging indie drama and a bad '80s sitcom. The incongruity is painfully obvious and jarring.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/about_last_night.html
The Kings Speech (2010) Trailer theparallaxreview 2011-01-06 | The downfall of many films about royalty, particularly the British monarchy, is that they portray the individuals involved as either being stuffy and completely out of touch with the common man, or touchingly human and (surprise!) just like the rest of us. Rarely are they allowed to be fully formed characters with shades of gray that find them both out of touch and human. If for no other reason than the fact that it remedies such a stereotypical approach, The King's Speech would warrant polite applause. That it also functions as an engrossing drama about the demands of leadership in the face of crippling self-doubt makes it more than the highbrow Oscar-grab that it initially appears to be.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/the_kings_speech.html
Gullivers Travels (2010) Trailer theparallaxreview 2010-12-26 | It's insane to think an innocuous Jack Black comedy aimed at the same kids who fell for him in the infinitely better School of Rock would retain the satirical edge of Jonathan Swift's novel. The Jack Black of Tenacious D and High Fidelity might have made that movie, updating the satirical targets in the same way this film updates the character of Lemuel Gulliver into a sad-sack loser of a writer. But this is a big-budget studio film designed to appeal to a broader base via fart- and urine-based humor.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/gullivers_travels.html
Helena from the Wedding (2010) Trailer theparallaxreview 2010-12-25 | If Woody Allen had let John Cassavetes take over September, it might have turned out a lot like Helena from the Wedding. (I admit, though, that throwing out those two names might give the impression that this film is better than it is--it's good, but nothing revelatory.) At once raw yet theatrical, insightful yet mundane, and cynical yet romantic, the film's jumbled yet effective stylistic choices sort of match the characters' mixed feelings about life, the universe, and everything.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/helena_from_the_wedding.html
Surviving Christmas (2004) Trailer theparallaxreview 2010-12-24 | Surviving Christmas belongs in the same category of Yuletide traditions as standing in line with screaming kids to see Santa, cooking for three dozen people, donning an ugly sweater, and pretending to laugh at your lousy relatives' same puns over and over again. It's a truly headache-inducing experience that does a thorough job of sucking the Christmas spirit right out of you.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/on_cable/surviving_christmas.html
True Grit (2010) Trailer theparallaxreview 2010-12-22 | Surprisingly, considering their background of subverting genre expectations, the Coen brothers play the rest of the western elements straight. There are gunfights, hangings, stabbings, horseback chases, a character getting dragged behind a horse, people falling into open mines, and other traditional western tropes that are too numerous to list.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/true_grit.html
Somewhere (2010) Trailer theparallaxreview 2010-12-22 | With some judicious editing, Somewhere would make a solid first act to an infinitely better film. It has pair of interesting characters in Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) and his eleven-year-old daughter, Cleo (Elle Fanning). It sets up a fairly interesting conflict in the form of their relative estrangement (he's a sometime Dad, full-time movie star who doesn't know enough about her to know she's been figure skating for the past three years) and an interesting premise in the form of bringing together these two characters--one who coasts through a life run entirely by other people, another who is completely self-sufficient. Unfortunately, the film is pretty much killed by writer/director Sofia Coppola's frustrating unwillingness to allow audiences to derive any pleasure from her work. http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/somewhere.html
Little Fockers (2010) Trailer theparallaxreview 2010-12-22 | I don't think I've seen a movie with so many actors looking embarrassed to be taking part in it. Stiller, De Niro, Hoffman, and Laura Dern (cameoing as the head of a private kindergarten) are all fine actors, but they're not good enough to hide the shame behind their eyes as they spout groan-worthy puns, offer up exaggerated reaction shots to ridiculous moments, and recycle old bits from the previous movies that have long since lost any effectiveness they may have once held.http://www.theparallaxreview.com/in_theatres/little_fockers.html
