Away We Go
The film may not work as well for others as it did for me, but objectively speaking, this is a flat-out hilarious film at the very least. At best, though, it’s a poignant examination of that quarter-life crisis where you have to figure out what the hell you’re going to do with the rest of your life.
Grade: A
Continue reading... | 06/02/09 | Comment
Up
Up is expectedly fantastic, but in an expected way. Pixar has latched onto a formula with their films, and it would be nice to see them try to stretch themselves thematically in their upcoming projects.
Grade: B+
Continue reading... | 05/29/09 | Comment [1]
State of Play
The whole thing feels like a throwback to journalism pictures of the seventies, providing timely commentary on the state of print journalism in a film that’s highly entertaining as a thriller.
Grade: A-
Continue reading... | 04/18/09 | Comment
Who Will and Should Win Oscar, 2009
With Slumdog Millionaire steamrolling most all awards it’s eligible for in the precursor awards, this year’s Oscars will be a bit anticlimactic when Best Picture and Best Director are announced, but there are still some potential spoilers in store for the rest of the major categories.
Continue reading... | 02/10/09 | Comment
Year in Review: 2008
It was an incredibly good year for film, where most of the highly-hyped films lived up to the hype, where blockbusters were strong, where even the bad films were bad in an entertaining way, and where once again, an animation studio from Northern California knocked everyone’s hypothetical socks off with their latest offering.
Continue reading... | 01/20/09 | Comment
Year in Review: 2007
Part of the reason that I’ve waited a year to put this list out is that 2007 was a particularly weak year for films, full of very good movies, but very few masterpieces. However, there were several gems and at least ten worth seeking out on Netflix if you haven’t already.
Continue reading... | 12/25/08 | Comment
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
With Benjamin Button, brilliant production values serve to cover up some structural and thematic issues that in lesser hands may have derailed the film.
Grade: B+
Continue reading... | 12/25/08 | Comment
Slumdog Millionaire
It’s a crowd-pleaser in the most trite sense of the word – it’s a film that exists solely to entertain and please its audience. It’s a movie that works on every level, pulling its audience into a foreign world, then making that world every bit as familiar as our own.
Grade: A-
Continue reading... | 12/22/08 | Comment
Australia
It’s an ungainly beast of a movie, but it’s never boring, and Baz is clearly passionate about the finished product. Give him some more editing time, and we may have a great finished product on our hands.
Grade: B+
Continue reading... | 12/21/08 | Comment
Doubt
The acting is superb, but the adaption is clearly better-suited to a stage. It’s the kind of glossy, slick prestige production that’s bound to feel deep and important, but it’s merely a solid and well-done character study.
Grade: B+
Continue reading... | 12/11/08 | Comment
© 2008 Ben Waldorf.