Movie Monday: Dumb and Dumber To
Sometimes, we go to a movie expecting one thing and getting something entirely different. Not necessary bad, mind you … just different. We buy tickets for what we think is a sci-fi actioner and get instead deep ruminations on life and destiny. We ease into our theater chairs prepared for a sweet, Pixar-like movie featuring […]
Sesame Street is 43, 44, 45 Years Old! Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha!
Sesame Street, PBS’ seminal children’s educational show, turned 45 yesterday—a ripe old age for a show whose primary fans are often too young to tie their shoes. And I was one of those fans from almost the very beginning. Granted, I don’t think I watched the first episode on Nov. 10, 1969. I was just […]
Movie Monday: Big Hero 6
When it comes to movies, don’t mess with Marvel. Just don’t. It doesn’t matter how unknown the property is or obscure the cast is or if the director is a sentient bunny. It doesn’t matter if the only superpowers in play are seasonal allergies. If someone sees fit to bring a Marvel property to the […]
Whatever Else Interstellar May Be, It’s Totally Gorgeous
Christopher Nolan’s new film Interstellar has been knocking around in my brain over the last couple of days. It is, as I say in the review, a very ambitious movie—one with lots of big themes that need some time to unpack—and I’m kind of excited about exploring some of them in an upcoming Movie Night. But […]
Movie Monday: Dead Heat
Dead Heat? You may be asking yourself right now. I never saw any trailers for any movie called Dead Heat. What, did Hollywood remake a little-seen, R-rated 1988 cop/zombie comedy starring Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo? No, no. Hollywood isn’t quite that bereft of new ideas yet. We don’t expect to see a remake of […]
Seeing Saw
I’d imagine that Halloween used to be Lionsgate’s favorite holiday. Instead of handing out free candy, the movie studio would give revelers the gift of Saw—a new movie every year—at, naturally, a steep price. And while none of the Saw movies were ever blockbusters (Saw II was the highest, ahem, grossing installment, earning $87 million), […]
It’s the End of the World As We Know It … On Television
Lots of television shows these days seem to carry with them a whiff of Armageddon. I reviewed two such shows this week: There’s Constantine, NBC’s story of a cynical exorcist who’s been warned that hell’s up to something big. Over on ABC, Sleepy Hollow features a modern-day cop teaming up with an 18th-Century Ichabod Crane […]
Movie Monday: Ouija
‘Tis the season for horror movies, what with Halloween coming up and all. So not too surprising we saw such a spirited display for Ouija this weekend. The horror movie predicated on a supernatural board game earned an estimated $20 million this week to haunt the tip-top of the box office. Fellow newcomer John Wick […]
It’s The Simpsons World. We Just Live In It
For 25 seasons and counting, the exact location of Springfield—the town in which The Simpsons takes place—has never been revealed. It could be Ohio. Or Illinois. Probably not Hawaii, given Homer’s one-time snow plow business, but you never know. But as of today, we know exactly where to find Springfield: on the Internet. Simpsons World launched […]
Movie Monday: Fury
Like a tank manned by a handful of war-weary Americans, Fury plowed to the top of the box office this week, pounding its way to an estimated $23.5 million weekend and causing all other challengers to flee before its fearsome caterpillar tracks. It’s not star Brad Pitt’s best financial showing (his most lucrative movie, World […]