Author: Brandon Fibbs
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Review: Animation takes wing in stylized ‘Legend of the Guardians’
Zack Snyder, best known for such hyper-violent fare as “300” and “The Watchmenm,” may be the last person you’d expect to helm an adaptation of a popular series of kid’s books (the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series by Kathryn Lasky). But the truth is that Snyder’s flamboyant style works particularly well for this fantasy adventure that…
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Review: Affleck takes “The Town’ by storm
The rehabilitation of Ben Affleck is complete. His penance has been accepted. The star of “Gigli,” “Daredevil” and “Pearl Harbor” has now earned audiences’ respect again (to say nothing of finally being worthy of wife Jennifer Garner). After a period of disastrous films, and a career trajectory in a nosedive, the Oscar winner wowed everyone…
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Review: ‘Easy A’ one of the wittiest, smartest high school comedies in years
Back in the days before digital photography, it was not at all unusual for professional photographers to shoot half a dozen rolls of film with the implicit understanding that only one or two images would survive the cut and be worth the effort. Likewise, every once in a great while, a high school comedy comes…
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REVIEW: Coming of age movie is no ‘Stand By Me’
After the past couple of decades Rob Reiner’s had, it’s no surprise he’s begun mining the material that solidified him as a director of note in the first place, particularly 1986’s “Stand by Me,” about four boys’ physical and psychological journey from innocence to manhood. In “Flipped,” a 1960s coming-of-age romantic comedy adapted from a…
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Review: ‘Flipped’ is paper-thin and monotonous
After the last couple of decades Rob Reiner’s had, it’s no surprise he’s begun mining the material that solidified him as a director of note in the first place, particularly 1986’s “Stand by Me,” about four boys’ physical and psychological journey from innocence to manhood. In “Flipped,” a 1960s coming-of-age romantic comedy adapted from a…
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Review: ‘I Am Love’ is a sensual melding of the past and modernity
“I am Love,” easily one of the most sensual films I have ever seen, is a ravishing delight, an operatic melodrama of stunning beauty and luxuriant texture. It is a thing elemental, a piece of art that works as pure, unadulterated hedonism, electrifying the senses with incandescent fire. It is a film out of time,…
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REVIEW: ‘The American’ comes off more as art than action film
“The American,” based on Martin Booth’s 1990 novel “A Very Private Gentleman,” is not an action movie in the conventional sense. It is perhaps more accurately described as an art house film with guns. George Clooney’s character does something in the first few minutes of “The American” that lets us know right off that we…
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REVIEW: ‘I Am Love’ proves a stunning modern classic
“I am Love,” easily one of the most sensual films I have ever seen, is a ravishing delight, an operatic melodrama of stunning beauty and luxuriant texture. It is a thing elemental, a piece of art that works as pure, unadulterated hedonism, electrifying the senses with incandescent fire. It is a film out of time,…
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Review: ‘Going the Distance’ has laughs and charm
It’s about time someone made a romantic comedy about long-distance relationships. The setup is ripe with both comic and dramatic possibilities, dueling polarities that “Going the Distance” mines equally. This leads to a bit of narrative schizophrenia that will doubtlessly cause those interested purely in romantic comedy to bemoan some serious relational introspection, but it…
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REVIEW: ‘Machete’ lacks edge
Believe it or not, the character of Machete was not invented as a fake commercial in 2007’s “Grindhouse,” though that was the first time he showed his face to the world. Director Robert Rodriguez conceived of using his cousin, Danny Trejo, as an ex-Federale turned crusading assassin while making “Desperado” in the early ’90s. The…