Articles tagged "jr."

The PopMatters Summer 2009 Movie Preview Feature

Summer of Same: May 2009

by Bill Gibron

[27.Apr.09] :. May's titles include the fourth films in two aging franchises, more Pixar perfection, and the reboot of a TV series from 40 years ago. And they say there are no new ideas.

The PopMatters Summer 2009 Movie Preview

Short Ends and Leader

Off Balance Comedy Could Use Some ‘Cleaning’

by Bill Gibron

[27.Mar.09] :. It’s a part of life we generally don’t think about - mostly because it reminds us of our own morality, and because of the gruesome nature of the business. For most, we didn’t even...

Short Ends and Leader

News

Actress Emily Blunt: A star who’s about to be born

by John Anderson [Newsday]

[23.Mar.09] :. Despite indelible performances as Anne Hathaway’s tormentor in “The Devil Wears Prada” and as Tom Hanks’ seductress/underwear model in “Charlie Wilson’s...

PopWire

News

When this British actress chooses film roles, the accent is on America

by Roger Moore [The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)]

[19.Mar.09] :. Emily Blunt is British to the core, London-born, a veteran of the West End stage and many a BBC production. But in spite of break-out work in her native accent in films such as “The Devil...

PopWire

TV Review

Death on a Factory Farm

by Cynthia Fuchs

[16.Mar.09] :. In exposing animal cruelty, Death on a Factory Farm inspires your outrage, a first step toward changing weak laws.

Recent TV reviews

Film Review

Sunshine Cleaning

by Renee Scolaro Mora

[13.Mar.09] :. Despite occasional nuances, we can see from a long way off where Sunshine Cleaning is headed.

Recent Film reviews

The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Third Season

by Christel Loar

[23.Feb.09] :. This is as complete a DVD set as any fan could wish for, and the comedy holds up incredibly well after more than 40 years.

This year’s Supporting Actor?

by Rafer Guzman [Newsday (MCT)]

[19.Feb.09] :. When it comes to the best supporting actor Oscar, the winning hand could be held by The Joker. That, of course, is the late Heath Ledger, whose eye-popping turn as The Joker in “The Dark...

Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.: Catnip Dynamite

by Christel Loar

[16.Feb.09] :. An absolutely irresistible aural explosion of sparkling, spaced-out power pop and platform-stomping glam rock!

Independent Lens: Tulia, Texas

by Cynthia Fuchs

[10.Feb.09] :. As Tulia, Texas follows the many turns of the Drug Task Force case, from the initial convictions to investigations of undercover agent Tom Coleman, it becomes a cautionary tale.

New in Town

by Renee Scolaro Mora

[30.Jan.09] :. New in Town subjects Lucy (Renée Zellweger) to a series of life-changing revelations, most stemming from a reductive big city/small town dichotomy.

The New Classics - The 30 Best Films of 2008

by PopMatters Staff

[16.Jan.09] :. Unlike previous years, where classics came crawling out of the celluloid woodwork with regular reckless abandon, 2008 was more calm… and considered. That's not to say that choosing 30 top titles was hard. The difficulty in placing them in some manner of rank order suggests the actual depth of quality involved.

Iconic - The Top 20 Male Performances of 2008

by PopMatters Staff

[14.Jan.09] :. Like the gladiators of old, 2008 resembles a battle of formidable acting gods, especially when looking over the 20 choices presented below. Indeed, if anything, choosing a winner requires more of a leap of faith than any amount of critical skill - they all were that good.

Are We Not Funny? Laugh, Damn You!

by Chris Barsanti

[5.Sep.08] :. The problem with the (inexplicably popular) Tropic Thunder may be that Ben Stiller is just not a funny filmmaker. Not even remotely.

‘Madness’ Maintains Tropic Thunder’s Gimmick

by Bill Gibron

[29.Aug.08] :. Say what you will about Tropic Thunder - hilarious Hollywood satire or sorry excuse for politically incorrect potshots - but it’s hard to deny its insularity. Of all the contained within...

Jack Black talks ‘Tropic Thunder’ and how he got the girl

by Roger Moore [The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)]

[14.Aug.08] :. They teach it in Interviewing 101: find common ground with your subject. But when your subject is rich, famous, plump and happy Jack Black, that might be tricky. Do your homework and there, in the...

Tropic Thunder

by Cynthia Fuchs

[13.Aug.08] :. Tropic Thunder tells you that race and masculinity and class identity issues make men in this business mean and juvenile. And then it tells you again.

‘Tropic’ Blunder

by Bill Gibron

[13.Aug.08] :. We hear it all the time, that comedy cop out meant to assuage the offender of all implied guilt: “It’s just a joke.” Be it a race under attack or a particular person getting the...

Danny O.D.: Too Much McBride?

by Bill Gibron

[12.Aug.08] :. That’s it. I’ve had it. I am officially at my character actor capacity. Nothing personal on the man in question, but after a summer where it seems like he shows up in every movie made, I...

The Return of the Popcorn Circus: August 2008

by Bill Gibron

[1.May.08] :. Talk about a crowded schedule. There are more offerings scheduled this month than in the previous two combined.

Black in America - Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination

by Cynthia Fuchs

[3.Apr.08] :. That "Eyewitness to Murder" doesn't reach a definitive conclusion speaks elliptically and effectively to the experience of being "black in America."

Performance Art: The Best Acting of 2007 - Female

by PopMatters Staff

[9.Jan.08] :. From the most sweetly nuanced performance of Jennifer Jason Leigh's career to Cate Blanchett's revelatory portrayal of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, the women of 2007 were stellar.

Bug

by Jake Meaney

[25.Oct.07] :. Bug does what it sets out to do, which is to burrow under your skin and fester there, goading you to dig it out with something sharp.

After swearing off comedies, Cuba Gooding is back

by Roger Moore [The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)]

[8.Aug.07] :. “The last thing I want to do is a sequel, following in Eddie Murphy’s footsteps,” says Cuba Gooding of taking on the Eddie Murphy role in “Daddy Day Camp,” the sequel to...

Part 4: Challenging Convention

by PopMatters Staff

[21.Jun.07] :. As cinema went completely commercial, abandoning art for artifice, true aesthetic acumen was hard to come by. Luckily, for the movies included herein, it was their difference, as well as their diversity, that helped them stand out from the rest of the high concept hackwork.

William Friedkin: A master storyteller returns with Bug

by Colin Covert [Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT)]

[29.May.07] :. “What a director’s doing at all times in a film is creating an atmosphere where the actors feel free not only to perform,” William Friedkin explained, “but to expose...

Bug (2006) (2006)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[25.May.07] :. What goes on in Aggie's head is the point of departure for Bug, which is not, as early trailers suggested, anything like a conventional horror film.

Monkey Business (Part 4: August)

by Bill Gibron

[4.May.07] :. In past years, Hollywood purposely counter programmed these renowned Cineplex dog days, trying to offset the perception that cinematic scraps were all the studios had to offer. From the look of this lame list, it's apparently back to the filmic fridge for some patently warmed over offerings.

Monkey Business (Part 1: May)

by Bill Gibron

[1.May.07] :. Talk about frontloading your approach. Each week in this first full month of patented popcorn movies finds another famous franchise icon making a major blockbuster bow. Only truly disastrous results from these guaranteed crowd-pleasers will keep the coffers from clogging with cash.

Tyler Perrys Daddys Little Girls (2007)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[15.Feb.07] :. A disappointingly outsized villain, Jenny fills up what would have been Madea's space, only she's not so strong, entertaining, or even convincing.

Norbit (2007)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[9.Feb.07] :. In the poster, he looks squished and distressed, she looks furious, as if daring you not to get the joke built into the very concept of Multiple Murphys.

St. Elsewhere - Season 1

by Mark Labowskie

[9.Feb.07] :. St. Elsewheremodernized narrative structure, shook up the visual language of TV drama, and introduced "place" as the central character around which the actors came and went.

Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)

by Brian Holcomb

[10.Jan.07] :. In Chris Paine’s witty and very partisan documentary, we are presented with the sad but familiar tale of corporate greed and corruption shaping our daily lives -- shaping it without our support, but with our apathy.

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[15.Nov.06] :. In making Arbus' biography understandable, if "imaginary," the film also makes her work -- so thrillingly strange -- a bit too familiar.

Shadowboxer (2005)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[21.Jul.06] :. While their profession is both odious and familiar, Mikey and Rose's sexual relationship is less commonplace.

Eternals #1

by Mike Lukich

[17.Jul.06] :. Jack Kirby had a knack for creating heady, mind-bending concepts dressed in superhero clothing, and Neil Gaiman simply refines this already brilliant material with sharp dialogue and characterization, while weaving it into a modern context.

Capote (2005)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[4.Apr.06] :. As Miller and Kimmel finish one another's sentences and demonstrate a charming sort of sync, the artists here suggest how Capote came to be such a tight, complex, and elegant film.

Capote (2005)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[25.Oct.05] :. Capote reveals the dangers of journalism in search of authenticity and based in intimacy. It also reveals the monster Capote sees in himself -- or more accurately, the monster the movie sees him seeing.

Grey’s Anatomy

by Samantha Bornemann

[19.Oct.05] :. Confession and communication aren't the norm at Seattle Grace. Instead, the hospital crew all harbor secrets.

Grey’s Anatomy

by Samantha Bornemann

[4.Apr.05] :. Melodramatic? Sure, but in a rousing, manipulating, on-with-the-show kind of way.

13 Going on 30 (2004)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[3.Aug.04] :. Jennifer Garner embodies a joy that's all too rare on recent movie screens, in adults or kids.

Stateside (2004)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[20.May.04] :. Dori Lawrence (Rachael Leigh Cook) is a multi-threat performer, her career reeling between movies and rock 'n' roll, sometime in the 1980s.

13 Going on 30 (2004)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[23.Apr.04] :. 13 Going on 30 is best when it's adorable.

Kingdom Hospital

by Terry Sawyer

[22.Mar.04] :. What haunts Kingdom Hospital most is the recurrent intrusion of clumsy, forced humor.

Tarzan

by Cynthia Fuchs

[6.Oct.03] :. As Tarzan, Fimmel scowls and pouts with pretty precision.

Lyon’s Den

by Chris Elliot

[6.Oct.03] :. Trades on the image of D.C. as a shadow-realm, characterized by backroom dealings and shifting loyalties.

Bingo (1991)

by Mike Ward

[25.Aug.03] :. Bingo's handful of good scenes usually have less to do with the dog than with humans who struggle with their inability to manipulate tools.

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[14.May.03] :. Morpheus is a stanch warrior and provocative thinker, as well as a black man in a world where the machines' agents tend to be white men in suits.

Gangs of New York (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[19.Dec.02] :. Daniel Day-Lewis wears a tall stovepipe hat in Martin Scorsese's long-awaited Gangs of New York.

The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[22.Aug.02] :. The Adventures of Pluto Nash is a whole lot of nada.

Juwanna Mann (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[21.Jun.02] :. It's no longer critiquing mainstream expectations, but instead, absorbing and reflecting stereotypes, drained of context.

Juwanna Mann (2002)

by Noreen Sait

[20.Jun.02] :. Like its men-in-drag predecessors, Juwanna Mann doesn't critique gender stereotypes, so much as it uses them to espouse a morality lesson.

Snow Dogs (2002)

by Tracy McLoone

[17.Jan.02] :. In 'Snow Dogs', Cuba Gooding, Jr. is all giggles and slapstick. I lost count of the number of times he slipped on the ice or fell in the snow.

They Call Me Sirr

by Cynthia Fuchs

Unfortunately titled to call up memories of a couple of Sidney Poitier's most famous films.

Wonder Boys (2000)

by Jonathan Beller

Hey there. If you find yourself pushing on past middle age and wondering why all your potential has only gotten you just where you are and not one iota farther, then Curtis Hanson's new film Wonder Boys may be your sunset tonic.

Woman on Top (2000)

by America Billy

All of these elements combine to create a contemporary fairy tale where the purpose is not only to invoke a nostalgia for the warmth and simplicity of childhood or perhaps the soothing powers of food, but also to address, however whimsically, sex and gender politics.

Wonder Boys (2000)

by Todd R. Ramlow

Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys is very much concerned with the boys its title declares (or, rather, with a certain sort of boyish behavior). More to the point, it actually seems to wonder, as we do and as the characters do, what is to be done with them.

Woman on Top (2000)

by Cynthia Fuchs

Penelope Cruz is as radiant a rising star as you're likely to see in this lifetime, sensuous and dewy-new-seeming.

Time and Tide (Seunlau ngaklau) (2000)

by Cynthia Fuchs

Together with co-cinematographers Ko Chiu Lam and Herman Yau, Hark here develops a peculiar hybrid of corny romance, bad fx (the burning building effect is straight-up lame), and seriously dynamic action scenes, all enhanced by fashionably jaggedy editing, timelapse speediness, slow motion, and ridiculous (in the good way) camera angles.

Tigerland (2000/2001)

by Lesley M. Smith

'Tigerland' turns that same step of acknowledging a responsibility greater than oneself into a personal defeat, the inevitable breaking of a rebel.