Movie Monday: the Retribution of Resident Evil
There are some things that just won’t die—things that seem finished time and time again, only to dig themselves from their graves and grotesquely shamble around, masquerading as something full of life while not being very “lively” at all. I am speaking not of zombies, but of sequels. Take, for instance, Resident Evil: Retribution, a […]
Sorry for Strangers
The other day, as I was typing up a blog or movie review or some such, my Plugged In compatriot Adam Holz stumbles into my cubicle, eyes all red. He’d been listening to Taylor Swift’s new song “Ronan,” and he told me exactly what he told all of you in his review. “This may be […]
Days to Remember
It’s interesting how we sometimes forget. I had almost forgotten about today’s significance until I drove in this morning and heard about the ceremonies at the World Trade Center Memorial, Washington D.C., and elsewhere. “Oh, that’s right,” I thought to myself. “It’s 9/11.” Just three months ago, a fire tore through much of my hometown. […]
Movie Monday: Possessive Possession
Did you go to a movie this weekend? I thought not. Not very many people did. The top 12 movies earned a grand total of $51.9 million this weekend: Given rising ticket prices, that equates to just 276 attendees nationwide (according to a rather disheveled box office expert I found loitering outside my cubicle). And […]
Movie Monday: The Possession
If we’ve learned anything about cinematic evil spirits over the years, it’s that they’re all kinda grabby. Like petulant toddlers, they like to take things from their harried mortal prey—be it their happiness or well-being or, very often, their very souls. You might say they’re rather (ahem) possessive. So perhaps it shouldn’t surprise us that […]
This Is No Laughing Matter
Last night I was leafing through Neil Zawacki’s book How to Be a Villain (yes, it was a gift; no, it wasn’t from a disgruntled reader who thinks I’m well on my way) and ran across a section titled “The Evil Laugh—A Must-Have.” Zawacki calls the evil laugh “a defining characteristic of any supervillain,” and […]
A Lasting Footprint
I never met Neil Armstrong. Honestly, I’d have a hard time recognizing him without his spacesuit on. And when he died Saturday at the age of 82, I couldn’t remember what he looked like for a while, not until I went online to get a little refresher: After all, most of my memories of the […]
Movie Monday: Spending (a Little) on The Expendables
Last weekend, seven films earned $10 million or more at the box office. This weekend, one did. Yep, summer must be almost over. The Expendables 2—a bombastic tub of bullets, explosions and really bad dialogue—claimed its second straight weekend win. But looking at the box office estimates this week, that’s not saying a whole lot. […]
The Ringtone of the Times
My youngest daughter started college this week. We got a call from her last night, and she gave us the full rundown of her classes: the ones that look fun (Latin American History), the ones that look boring (French). She was excited to sneak into a needed biology lab, even though her credit hours are […]
Movie Monday: The Expendables 2
Subtlety? Art? These are not the things a summer movie is typically made of. In the dog days of August, sometimes folks just want to see a big, dumb hound of a flick. And let’s face it: The Expendables 2 is as big and as dumb as they come. Featuring Sly Stallone and basically every […]
