ARCHIVES

UNINSPIRING "THE AMERICAN"

By CRAIG YOUNKIN - September 2, 2010They say that a great actor could make the phone book sound interesting. George Clooney is a mighty fine actor but all I could think of during “The American” is no matter how hard you try, a phone book is still a phone book. Standing as one of the slowest movies of the year, Clooney plays Jack, a contractor for assassins laying low in a small Italian town. He ... more >

Up in the Air

The gentle chaos of modern dislocation. Say what?
George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick
Directed by Jason Reitman

Air captures the way we live in a downsizing world. The thing that you must realize is that the critics saying this mostly have worked for newspapers or print publications. They work in a notoriously fickle industry that currently going through financial and existential crises. So a movie about downsizing that follows a corporate downsizer is going to feel intensely real and relevant to those ... more >

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Dig the life fantastic
George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Jason Schwartzman
Directed by Wes Anderson

Smart. Witty. Cool. Hip. Imaginative. Different. And, like any good fox, sly. Those are the words that apply to The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson’s impressively retro journey into stop-gap animation. The film is a breakthrough for those thirsting for something other than CG animation. It is also a breakthrough for Anderson, who has been looking for a second act. The Fantastic Mr. Fox is ... more >