Star Trek: The Next Generation (DVD vs Blu-ray)
My friend showed me an episode from the newly minted Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray set. The disc comes with three episodes and is meant as a teaser for the upcoming season box...
Editorials
The Best of 2011
I’m feeling extremely lazy this year. And I already covered many of these on the site. And the recent Oscar nominees have once again depressed me. So, without further excuses, here are my favorite...
Cinema Notes: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, A Dangerous Method
I’d been promising a friend my Blu-ray copy of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows for weeks. I finally remembered to bring it today as I was leaving to meet him for a viewing of...
Cinema Notes: Melancholia
The last few minutes of Melancholia had me paralyzed with fear, on the verge of tears. The film then cut to black and, as if in the place of an insufficient exhale, I began...
Cinema Notes: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
My primary criticism of Niels Arden Oplev’s original 2009 adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had to do with the way the film was stitched together. In the original film,...
Cinema Notes: Young Adult
After watching Juno, I wanted to put snakes in my ears so I never had to hear Diablo Cody’s version of teenspeak ever again. The inexplicable critical reception for Cody’s screenplay baffled me. So,...
Cinema Notes: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Being a longtime admirer of director Brad Bird’s work (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles), I will be the first to admit that I probably didn’t leave the man enough room for acceptable error. Mission...
Cinema Notes: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
It’s so good to see Downey Jr. and Law back in these roles. For Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, director Guy Ritchie has broadened the scope of their adventure, taking Holmes and Watson...
Cinema Notes: Shame
With Shame, writer/director Steve McQueen has attained the dream of perfect reception. His film leveled me. I left the cinema with nail marks in my palms and a tempest in my stomach. This is...
Cinema Notes: The Muppets
Oh, the crushing disappointment. I hate to be all Waldorf and Statler, but The Muppets is a thoroughly mediocre film. Lazy scripting, shabby construction and awkward performances doom this occasionally charming work of nostalgia....