Culture

Unstoppable

February 26, 2011 Culture

Not much to say about this action thriller.  It’s just plain fun start to finish.  It’s based on the 2001 “Crazy Eights” incident in Ohio in which railroad workers battled to stop runaway train CSX 8888 carrying hazardous materials.  In this version, the train is 777 and in Pennsylvania, the action’s amped up and all [...]

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The Good Wife

February 17, 2011 Culture

Inspired by the downfall of whoremonger and also former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, The Good Wife follows the adventures of Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies), who has to return to practicing law after her Spitzer-like husband Peter (Chris Noth) gets sent to jail for whoring and corruption.  The show, I guess, is designed to answer [...]

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Film: Black Swan

February 12, 2011 Culture

This was entertaining and elevated by the fabulous performance of its lead, Natalie Portman, but underneath everything, it’s kind of dopey, no?  A repressed ballerina gets the lead role in Swan Lake but starts to lose it as she attempts to access the Black Swan within?  It’s like one of those bad Freudian movies they [...]

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DVD: Red – A Revealing Error

February 7, 2011 Culture

This Bruce Willis blend of comedy and action was underrated by critics and under-loved at the box office but it’s the filmmakers’ own fault, and their mistake is revealing. First, it’s basically a fun flick.  Based on a graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, it’s about a bunch of aging CIA killers getting [...]

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DVD: Stone

February 4, 2011 Culture

Here’s a strange little crime picture.  Robert De Niro’s a parole officer, Edward Norton’s an arsonist, Milla Jovovich is Norton’s wife, a childlike country beauty ready to sleep with anything that moves.  You think it’s going to be a predictable programmer and instead it turns into a muddled, inconclusive meditation on sin, redemption and God…  [...]

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Predictions, Oscar and Otherwise

January 31, 2011 Culture

Last week was pretty interesting–and it should be even more interesting to find out what happens next. First, we had a State of the Union message that, had I the capacity for despair, would’ve driven me to it. The president came across as a cynical poseur–a man who responds to the utter refudiation of his [...]

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The Social Network

January 29, 2011 Culture

Meh.  Like most of what Aaron Sorkin writes, this film is quick, witty, shallow and overrated.  Apparently, a lot of its central contentions about the motivations and actions of Facebook inventor Mark Zuckerberg aren’t really true so instead of being an exploration of the Facebook phenomenon the whole thing is really an exploration of what [...]

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Piranha!

January 21, 2011 Culture

Those who object to graphic nudity, hideous over-the-top gore or mindless stupidity had best avoid this film – but I have to confess, it made me laugh.  A remix of a 1978 Roger Corman Jaws ripoff, it’s also a general parody of all those old 70′s horror flicks like Frogs, Sssssss and, ultimately, Jaws itself [...]

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God to Gervais: No, Really – Thank You!

January 19, 2011 Culture

British Comedian Ricky Gervais ended his reputedly raucous evening of hosting The Golden Globes ceremony Sunday night with the mildly witty remark, “Thank God for making me an atheist.”  I can’t help but reflect that God might well respond, “No, really, Ricky, thank you.”  The atheism of someone like Gervais – a man who radiates [...]

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The Fighter

January 15, 2011 Culture

If there’s any justice at the Oscars, Christian Bale is a solid lock to win Best Supporting Actor for his turn here as the meth addicted brother of an aspiring boxing champ.   I’ve heard flashy roles like this are easier on an actor than playing someone who’s basically “normal,” yet Bale gets the whole thing:  [...]

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