Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones

Here we go again! Three years after “The Phantom Menace”, another “Star Wars” prequel is coming out. The film begins with a bang, literally, as an assassination attempt is made against Senator Padmé Amidala (Nathalie Portman). Not overly startled, she still meets with Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) to oppose the creation of an army to protect the Republic against disgruntled Separatists led by former Jedi…

Read More

SHE’S THE MAN

Why is that people assume that movies starring teenage girls are made only for them? After all, ninjas aren’t the only ones watching kung-fu movies, and you don’t have to be a gay cowboy to like Brokeback Mountain (not that I like Brokeback Mountain, but that’s another story). Basically, you can be a guy in his twenties and still love Mean Girls, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants or, in the…

Read More

SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT

Movie Infos Title: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Year: 1999 Director: Trey Parker Writer: Matt Stone, Pam Brady, Trey Parker  In a perfect world, there wouldn’t be a need for South Park. But in our society fueled by hypocrisy, greed and intolerance a film like this is essential to remind us what freedom of speech is all about. It seems that only cartoons are…

Read More

Semi-Pro

    Semi-Pro is a Will Ferrell-lead comedy set in the ‘70’s and milking the decade for all of its fashion mishaps and funky hairstyles. Although very similar to most of Ferrell’s movies, this one is based on historical facts and feels more like an homage to basketball than anything else. Edging between being a slapstick comedy, a coming-of-age story and a cheer-for-the-underdog sports film,…

Read More

EVE’S BAYOU

You probably never even heard of this wonderful little film. I didn’t either until I watched Siskel & Ebert’s Best of 97 show, in which Roger Ebert called “Eve’s Bayou” the best film of the year. I didn’t like it nearly as much, but I can understand why Ebert connected with it. As his Siskel said, Ebert and him picked movies that deeply reflect a…

Read More

Blue Crush

So I got played one more time, like every time they market a movie around the sexiness of its actresses. You’d think I’d learned by now that “hot babes flicks” always turn out disappointing but no, I still thought “Blue Crush” might be great fun. It isn’t, dear God it isn’t! Sure, the surfer girls are pleasant to look at, but the characters they play…

Read More

EASY RIDER

Movie Infos Title: Easy Rider Rating: Year: 1969 Director: Dennis Hopper If one movie can evoke a whole era, this is it. It looks, feels and smells like the 60s inside out. What makes it even more striking is that it’s not an afterthought made by filmmakers decades later: you can sense that these guys were putting on film what they were experiencing at the…

Read More

2015 log (10)

(1 Oct) Commando (1985, Mark L. Lester)100 [ Reviewed on Extra Beurre ] (2 Oct) The Martian (2015, Ridley Scott)92 [ Reviewed on Extra Beurre ] (5 Oct) Room (2015, Lenny Abrahamson)59 [ Reviewed on Extra Beurre ] (6 Oct) Knock Knock (2015, Eli Roth)69 [ Reviewed on Extra Beurre ] (7 Oct) Le Rang du lion (2015, Stéphan Beaudoin)67 (7 Oct) Sleeping Giant (2015,…

Read More

50 First Dates

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love the movies of Happy Madison, Sandler’s production company. It’s pretty much always the same deal: Sandler’s a quirky (slacker/golf player/waterboy/ aquarium veterinarian) who sometimes yells a lot and gets aggressive (beating up a giant penguin/ beating up Bob Barker/beating up football players/slapping his androgynous assistant with a fish), but for the most part he’s…

Read More

INTACTO

Movie Infos Title: Intacto Year: 2003 Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo They say Samuel (Max von Sydow) is a “god of chance”. He survived the concentration camps as a child while millions of his fellow Jews died, and since his luck hasn’t run out. You gather that he’s such a foolproof gambler that he now owns the casino! Apparently that isn’t enough and he feels the…

Read More