December/28/08 03:53 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | DVD | Documentary
Director
Nanette Burstein dares to label the teens she
documents in "American Teen." Princess. Jock.
Geek. Rebel. Heartthrob. Burstein, who previously
directed "The Kid Stays in the Picture," must
know her latest documentary expands on those such
high school archetypes in fascinating
ways.
Read More...
Pablo
Picasso (1881-1973) said “It takes a long time to
be young” a theory beautifully tested in David
Fincher’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
1921 short story “The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button.” Fitzgerald’s Benjamin Button was born on
just any day in 1860, while screenwriter Eric
Roth time warps forward to the final day of World
War I, a historically auspicious day to be
born.
Read More...
December/19/08 10:52 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | DVD | Family
Young
Jasmine Plummer throws like a girl - a girl who
became the first female quarterback in Pop Warner
football history. "The Longshots" stars Ice Cube
as Curtis, an out of work slacker forced to spend
some time with his bookworm niece, Jasmine
(Palmer, "Akeelah and the Bee").
Read
More...
November/18/08 09:43 AM Filed in:
Jacquie
Kubin reviews | DVD | Television
The
sisters are charming. At the core of this Aaron
Spelling series Charmed is a story about sisters.
Sisters who don’t always agree. Sister who do not
always like each other very much. But sisters who
do find a way together. And that makes for a good
storyline. Read
More...
Move
over mere mortal and mermaid Princesses. This
time it's all Tink, as in Ms. Tinker Bell and her
fairy friends from Pixie Hollow. Long
before Peter Pan and the Lost Boys there were the
fairies of Pixie Hollow. Read More...
October/26/08 06:10 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Romance
The
new period drama "Death Defying Acts: Houdini's
Secret" features an Oscar-winning stunner
(Catherine Zeta-Jones), a hunky lead (Guy Pearce)
and a director (Gillian Armstrong) with a proven
track record ("Charlotte Gray," "Mrs.
Soffel."). Read
More...
October/03/08 10:07 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Romance
| Drama
| Comedy
"The
Women" comes on the heels of "Mamma Mia!" and
"Sex and the City," two films which brazenly
courted female viewers. The film, a remake of the
1939 classic, goes one big step further by
keeping the original's key conceit. It's all
women, all the time. No men show up as co-stars,
supporting players - even extras.
Read More...
September/05/08 08:35 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Comedy
| Television
Few
comedies draw as many laughs out of pregnant
pauses than "The Office," NBC's hit sitcom about
to enter its fifth season. "Office" drones can
catch up on the show's fourth season with a new
box set hitting DVD stores this week (Sept.
2). Read
More...
August/25/08 10:10 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Romance
Writer/director
Edward Burns' fall from Hollywood's good graces
can be traced by the release arc of his films.
His breakthrough movie, "The Brothers McMullen,"
earned him instant indie credibility, and he
followed it up with the moderately successful
"She's the One." Bigger budget, bigger name cast
(Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston).
Read More...
August/16/08 10:18 PM Filed in:
Joe Zad
reviews
Martin
Scorsese applies his directorial magic to a
performance featuring yet another legendary rock
band, The Rolling Stones. Unfortunately, instead
of an insider’s view of life as a one of rock’s
perennial bad boys, Scorsese ends up delivering a
routine concert documentary. Read More...
July/26/08 04:58 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews
Michael
Sheen's brilliant performance as Tony Blair in
"The Queen," which got overshadowed by Helen
Mirren's Oscar-winning turn in the title role,
wasn't the first time he assumed the Prime
Minister's persona. Sheen played a younger,
hungrier Blair in "The Deal," a 2003 British
telefilm now being released on DVD.
Read More...
July/18/08 12:08 AM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Romance
"Sex
and the City" was supposed to be the grrrl power
movie of the summer. But "Mamma Mia" clearly
swipes that distinction. The movie musical, based
on the Broadway show spawned from ABBA's hit
machine, might as well be sponsored by NOW. The
film's mostly female characters dance, sing,
flirt and assert their femininity nearly
nonstop. Read More...
July/06/08 08:25 PM Filed in:
Jacquie
Kubin reviews | Comedy
I
like Owen Wilson. And wanted to really like
Drillbit Taylor. The premise promised 109
minutes, plus bonus features, of diversion
wrapped in a cloak of the oh-so-cool Drillbit
Taylor (Owen Wilson) helping a trio of nerds,
Wade (Nate Hartley), Ryan (Troy Gentile) and
Emmit (David Dorfman) traverse the mean highways
of high school. Read More...
July/06/08 08:14 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews
There's
nothing a slice of sweet blueberry pie can't
cure, right? Except heartache and some poor
casting decisions. Singer Norah Jones tries to
drown her sorrows in pie but ends up on a
belabored road trip in "My Blueberry Nights," a
spacey ode to romantic longing and
uncertainty. Read
More...
June/19/08 10:08 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Drama
Who
wouldn't want to go on a road trip with Jessica
Lange, Joan Allen and Kathy Bates? The new to DVD
"Bonneville" puts these great actresses on the
open road in a girl-power quest like we haven't
seen since Thelma met Louise.
Read More...
May/29/08 10:27 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Comedy
Now,
it's the reunion women everywhere are waiting for
- "Sex and the City" on the big screen. While the
groundbreaking HBO series was smart, sassy and
bold, the movie version of "Sex" plays it mostly
safe, sanitized and oh, so predictable.
Read
More...
This
three disc “collector’s edition” brings us little
more than the collection released in 2003,
actually it brings us less at it does not include
the two-hour “making of” documentary the elder
release had. What is disappointing is the movies,
filmed between 1981 and 1989, are not in high
definition. Which is not necessarily a bad thing,
but possibly not worth spending more money on.
Read
More...
May/09/08 11:19 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews
Translating
Cecelia Ahern's novel "P.S. I Love You" to the
big screen demands a delicate touch and pinpoint
casting. Ahern's story involves a widow who
receives inspirational letters from her now-dead
husband that help her deal with her grief.
Read More...
May/09/08 09:32 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews
"The
Visitor" might pull off the impossible - bring
all sides of the immigration debate together for
two hours. The new indie drama from
writer/director Tom McCarthy ("The Station
Agent") takes a soft pro-illegal immigration
stance. But audiences of every ideological stripe
will find something to embrace in this heartfelt
story. Read More...
May/03/08 01:05 AM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews
The
romantic comedy "Made of Honor" is tailor made to
help Patrick Dempsey vault from television to
big-screen stardom. After all, a young Dempsey
starred in a series of teen movies in the 1980s,
and his current "Grey's Anatomy" fame seems a
precursor to re-establishing his movie star bona
fides. Read
More...
May/01/08 09:25 PM Filed in:
Jacquie
Kubin reviews
Iron
Man’s standout screen appearance may very well be
the dynamic Stan Lee who dons the role of another
great Los Angeles resident for his too brief
cameo. But then, without Stan Lee there would be
no Iron Man. With the advent of computer
graphics, the parade of comic book super heroes
began and I admit to enjoying everyone of them.
Even Ang Lee’s Hulk (2003). But this film, I did
not enjoy. I adored. I loved. I reveled
in. Read More...
April/24/08 10:26 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Comedy
Tina
Fey and Amy Poehler clicked behind the faux news
desk on "Saturday Night Live." So it's hardly a
shock to see them reprise that chemistry in the
new comedy "Baby Mama." The title may scream
modern slang, but the story of a professional
woman trying to have it all is hardly new.
Read More...
April/22/08 11:30 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Romance
Jane
Nichols (Katherine Heigl) is always the
bridesmaid … and she has 27 tacky dresses in her
closet to prove it. Suffice to say there's no sex
in Jane's city, and matters get much when her
sister (Malin Akerman) starts dating her
boss (Edward Burns). Jane has been crushing on
him forever but hasn't had the courage to
tell him so. Read More...
April/20/08 08:33 PM Filed in:
Jacquie
Kubin reviews | Comedy
There
are a few reasons to turn off Walk Hard: The Dew
Cox story. The only reason to not turn off Walk
Hard The Dewey Cox story is the music. The film,
and John C. Riley as Dewey Cox offers some great
parodies of folk, rock, psychadelic, hip-hop,
pop, disco and punk music bridging the five
decades, from the 1950’s through the
1990’s. Read More...
March/24/08 10:04 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Comedy
Has
it really been 20 years since we first met Annie,
Nuke LaLoosh, and the swaggering Crash Davis?
Scary, but true, and with the start of a new
baseball season upon us there's no better time to
catch up with "Bull Durham." It's the baseball
movie women can embrace as readily as the
fellas. Read More...
March/22/08 06:58 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Drama
If
you don't get chills watching the opening scene
in "Walk the Line," well, then, you've never
heard Johnny Cash's inimitable baritone before.
The biopic earned plenty of accolades following
its 2005 release, including a Best Actress Oscar
for Reese Witherspoon's turn as June Carter
Cash. Read
More...
March/21/08 07:24 PM Filed in:
Joe Zad
reviews
Re-released
on Blu-Ray, this blockbuster of extraterrestrial
proportions is looking better than ever. For
reasons not of this world, critics have
previously blasted this film almost as though it
is a journalistic “right-of-passage.” I, however,
cannot look away when ever I catch it as a late
night broadcast. Read
More...
March/03/08 10:39 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Drama
Feeling
blue about the U.S. legal system? Then it's the
perfect time to revisit "12 Angry Men," the 1957
classic which serves up an imperfect valentine to
law and order, American style. Henry Fonda leads
a sterling cast in this courtroom-free drama
which earned an Oscar nomination for Best
Picture. Read
More...
February/23/08 07:55 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Romance
The
first 10 minutes of "I Could Never Be Your Woman"
hint at why the film never saw the light of a
movie theater despite its starry cast. This
straight-to-video release opens with an assault
on Baby Boomers, courtesy of a video montage
hosted by Mother Nature (Tracey Ullman).
Read More...
February/16/08 06:22 PM Filed in:
Joe Zad
reviews
Among
my list of slowly accumulating regrets is that I
never saw the Freddie Mercury fueled “Queen”
perform live. Well, I can almost knock that one
off of the list thanks to the Blu-ray release of
a stunningly re-mastered, high-definition outing
of the band in its prime. Read More...
February/15/08 11:18 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Comedy
That
Robin Williams dude really looked like a lady in
the 1993 smash "Mrs. Doubtfire." Cross dressing
may be a dying art, but Williams gave the genre
juice in the film, being re-released this month
(March 4) in a special "Behind the Seams"
edition. Read
More...
January/23/08 11:10 PM Filed in:
Joe Zad
reviews | Television
| Drama
Glenn
Close brings her incredible acting talents to the
smaller screen as lethal lawyer Patty Hewes in
the episodic thriller “Damages.” If you missed it
then, or just want to enjoy it again before
settling in for the second season, the series
first season arrives in a three disc Blu-ray set
on Tuesday, January 29th. Read
More...
January/11/08 11:07 PM Filed in:
Christian
Toto reviews | Romance
| Comedy
Watch
enough bad rom-coms and it seems like Hollywood
can't get the boy-meets-girl formula right
anymore. It's one reason why it's good to catch
up with "When Harry Met Sally …" again.
Read
More...
January/06/08 11:02 PM Filed in:
Joe Zad
reviews | Action
Christian
Bale and Russell Crowe star in an updated remake
(i.e. profanity and graphic violence) of the
Glenn Ford fueled 1957 Western of the same name.
Both actors deliver a gritty performance to prove
the traditional Hollywood cowboy film still has a
place in theaters. Read
More...
