On Netflix dvr this Michael Showalter and David Wain’s 2001 cult classic Wet Hot American Summer is funny but is particularly impressive for having cast so many eventually super-famous people: Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks and Ken Marino joined already or at-the-time famous Christopher Meloni, Janeane Garofalo, Zak Orth and Marguerite…
dvd of the week Something about the wildly successful American Sniper struck a chord, and it’s not clear what. Pundits argued about its politics, about whether it was for or against the war in Iraq, whether the film is racist or just murderous, whether it’s true or not, whether or not it deserved to receive…
In its first weekend in wide release, American Sniper earned more money than all of the other eight nominees for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards. It made $107 million through the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, a record for a movie in January. By the time the Oscars are given out, it’s…
dvd of the week Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel’s surprise megahit, is hugely entertaining. Our hero Star Lord – played by crazily hot, adorable and very funny Chris Pratt –is joined by the furry Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), hilariously taciturn and wooden Groot (Vin Diesel), a green lady named Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and a super-literal…
I must admit that the biggest reason I was so excited to see Guardians of the Galaxy was Chris Pratt. I’ve been a fan since he guested as trustafarian college student on The OC in 2006, and I developed a silly school boy crush on him in Parks & Recreation, on which he’s played adorable…
In this comic fictionalization of the Abscam scandal in the 1970s – in which the FBI gleefully and unethically entrapped more than a dozen politicians including six members of the House of Representatives and a senator – David O. Russell has made his best movie, and he’s the guy who gave us The Fighter and…
dvd of the week When I read that Silver Linings Playbook was about two psychologically troubled people, I was initially concerned. So many film depictions of crazy are just crazy awful. I wasn’t encouraged when the first few scenes of the film took place in a mental hospital. But shortly after Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper)…
I miss the days when movies occasionally had long weird names like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? and To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar. The long name certainly didn’t indicate excellence, but rather a quirky nature; this was not meant to be a mainstream movie. Those usually…
