Sir Critic on Cinema

That's a wrap for Sir Critic on Cinema

2009-10-07T12:41:04-05:00

“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a critic.” Freeze frame. Cue Tony Bennett’s “Rags to Riches” as Saul Bass titles zip across the screen, a la Goodfellas. For nearly four years now I have...

Zombieland/Whip It - two very fun debuts

2009-10-02T07:54:17-05:00

Zombieland and Whip It wouldn’t seem to have much in common, but it just so happens they are both highly entertaining directorial feature debuts. When I first saw the trailer for Zombieland, I was surprised to learn that what looked...

What's opening Friday, Oct. 2?

2009-10-01T09:35:58-05:00

If you believe the tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, well, there’s nary a rotten one in the bunch this week. Bright Star: Jane (The Piano) Campion’s film about the romance between John Keats and Fanny Brawne has gotten strong Oscar buzz...

Do you like going to second run movies?

2009-09-30T11:29:31-05:00

The recent closure of the Beaver Valley movie theater in Beavercreek brings to mind something that I don’t hear much in the discussion of moviegoing: the second-run experience. Somewhat surprisingly, I don’t go to second-run houses much anymore. That’s partly...

What Are You Watching? Monsters, Aliens and such?

2009-09-29T10:53:26-05:00

Today’s DVD selection brings us monsters, aliens, misfits, and a porn star starring in a movie by an Oscar-winning director. Away We Go: John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph play an expecting couple who travel around the country to find the...

Free Roman Polanski?

2009-09-28T12:40:03-05:00

Director Roman Polanski, who was jailed over the weekend by Swiss authorities in connection with his 1977 sex crime will fight extradition back to the United States, his lawyer says. Quite frankly, I can’t blame him for fighting this latest...

'Surrogates' too robotic for its own good

2009-09-25T08:46:50-05:00

Surrogates very effectively shows what it’s like to be a fake human being. That’s why it doesn’t quite work. Although it sports clever action scenes, good performances and an intriguing premise, Surrogates fails to connect because it’s too mechanical for...

What's opening Friday, Sept. 25?

2009-09-24T13:44:04-05:00

The last weekend of September brings us two sci-fi movies and a remake of an 80s musical - all of which are uncertain prospects. None of them has much in the way of advance buzz. Fame: The musical remake is...

Do you want to see older films in 3D?

2009-09-23T12:32:15-05:00

3D seems to be all the rage these days, what with almost every animated film getting the treatment, and a few live action ones (Harry Potter) besides. Now there’s also a movement afoot to take older films, convert them to...

What Are You Watching? Skip 'Ghosts'

2009-09-22T11:39:25-05:00

The summer’s early movies continue to roll out on DVD, but this week’s picks are not much inspiring than last week’s. Battle for Terra: Nobody cared when this animated film made it to theaters. I doubt people will care that...

The Wizard of Oz: Happy 70th birthday!

2009-09-21T11:04:59-05:00

The Wizard of Oz turns 70 this year, and I intend to celebrate by attending one of the hi-def theatrical screenings of the movie on Wednesday - it plays at 7 PM at the Regal in Beavercreek, and at Showcase...

Matt Damon transforms into The Informant!

2009-09-18T07:27:00-05:00

When director Steven Soderbergh flipped a shot upside down early in The Informant!, that told me two things: that I couldn’t quite trust what the movie told me, and that I was in for a memorable ride. The first great...

Meet the real-life Informant!

2009-09-17T10:57:56-05:00

Tomorrow I will write about Matt Damon’s performance as Mark Whitacre, an FBI informant who fingered his employer in what was then the biggest price-fixing case in U.S. history. Today, however, I’d like to introduce you to the real Mark...

What's opening Friday, September 18?

2009-09-17T08:32:55-05:00

September’s one A-list movie opens tomorrow; there are a few other high-profile prospects that might not be high-profile movies. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: My enthusiasm for this animated feature had been kind of muted. Given the positive buzz...

What Are You Watching? Not Wolverine, I hope

2009-09-16T11:15:03-05:00

My tribute to Patrick Swayze pushed my DVD post back by a day, but really, we aren’t missing that much. X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Actually, my headline is a little mean. The movie isn’t that bad, but it isn’t that good,...

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