David Chase has gone from “The Sopranos” to taking a sixties-rock nostalgia trip with “Not Fade Away." It’s a film that knows its subject well enough, and even has E-Street Band member Steven Van Zandt to help pick the bluesy rock-infused soundtrack. And yet I don't know what I'm supposed to take away from the band focused on here. Doug (John Magaro) is a New Jersey kid inspired by The ... more >
MOVIES | DVD
Promised Land
Matt Damon and John Krasinsky
Directed by Gus Van Sant
“Promised Land” is the movie that Matt Damon and John Krasinski of “The Office” teamed up to write. Damon was even going to direct at one time before scheduling conflicts encouraged them to bring on Gus Van Sant. Damon is Steven, vice-president of a natural gas company who travels with his partner (Frances McDormand) to the rural town of McKinley in order to buy up people’s land and ... more >
Jack Reacher
Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike and Richard Jenkins
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
“Jack Reacher," based on the Lee Child novel “One Shot," begins chillingly enough with the stigma of the recent tragedy in Connecticut. A sniper looks through his scope and guns down five people in cold blood. But while “Reacher” is far from perfection it doesn’t deserve this kind of relevance, either. The shooting inquiry brings Reacher (Tom Cruise) to Pittsburgh. He’s an ... more >
Zero Dark Thirty
Jessica Chastain and Joel Edgerton
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
"Zero Dark Thirty" may be the best unentertaining movie I've seen this year. This is Kathryn Bigelow’s second film based on the war on terror, and it is just as much of an imperfect as it is an interesting take on the past decade as “The Hurt Locker,” and has roughly the same type of main character in it. “Zero” is very easy to follow, comes off impeccably well-researched and has a ... more >
The guilt trip
Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand
Directed by Anne Fletcher
“The Guilt Trip” is the kind of film you'd want to take your aunt to in order to make up for not calling her often enough during the year. Or anyone who enjoys predictable and fluff entertainment, for that matter. "Breezy," "cute," and "nice" apply, with Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen doing their damndest best to make these qualifiers stick. The "Funny Girl" performer plays Joyce, a ... more >
The Hobbit
Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen
Directed by Peter Jackson
So who’s ready for another nine plus hours of hobbits, dwarves, orcs, elves, and Gandalf? Honestly the way director Peter Jackson, taking his fourth trip to Middle Earth, has worked this first of “The Hobbit” trilogy; it will feel like it’s going by in a flash. I’m so impressed with what he’s done here; proving again that nobody could do a better job of bringing J.R.R Tolkien’s ... more >
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence
Directed by David O. Russell
A romantic comedy may feel like a strange new direction for director David O. Russell (“I Heart Huckabees,” “The Fighter") but his adaptation of Matthew Quick’s namesake novel is a winner, serving up equal parts romance and uplifting drama. What of Bradley Cooper 2.0? He plays a demanding role to perfection. His Pat Solatino, a bipolar Philadelphia man who spent eight months in a ... more >
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