05 Dec 2007

Thanksgiving Leftovers: "August Rush," "This Christmas," "Hitman," and "Awake"

By Mike Schulz

Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Freddie Highmore in August RushAUGUST RUSH

There's a scene in the tear-jerker August Rush in which the titular musical prodigy (Freddie Highmore) and a friendly Irish rocker (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) - unaware that they're father and son - engage in a happy bit of dueling guitars in Central Park, their matching grins widening as the improvised strumming reaches its climax. It's a great moment, and I mention it because it's the only one in the film that I didn't find excruciating.

19 Sep 2007

Catch Me If You Can: "The Brave One" and "Mr. Woodcock"

By Mike Schulz

Jodie Foster in The Brave OneTHE BRAVE ONE

For what is essentially a lurid revenge thriller, Neil Jordan's The Brave One is fascinatingly complex ... for a while.

01 Aug 2007

Just Her Luck: "I Know Who Killed Me"

By Mike Schulz

Lindsay Lohan in I Know Who Killed MeI KNOW WHO KILLED ME

Lindsay Lohan's latest movie, I Know Who Killed Me, is for those who saw the actress' recent mug shot and were praying that Hollywood would adapt it for the big screen. (The photograph in question, as nearly everyone now knows, was taken after Lohan's arrest for alleged drunk driving and cocaine possession.)

11 Jul 2007

Go, 'Bots!: "Transformers" and "License to Wed"

By Mike Schulz

Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf in TransformersTRANSFORMERS

I laughed out loud a good half-dozen times at Transformers, and for the first time ever at a Michael Bay movie, not derisively. No one could have been less enthused than I at the prospect of a Bay-directed, live-action "adaptation" of the toys I was too old for in the mid-'80s. (I'll admit to a mildly derisive chuckle at the opening credit: "In association with Hasbro.") Yet all things considered, the resulting movie is great fun - 90 minutes of amusement and frequent exhilaration. The fact that the film actually runs 145 minutes proves to be only a slight detriment.

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