Men in Black 3
I had a weird thing happen when attempting to review this movie. The studios did a screening that was at a time late in the afternoon. I...
What to Expecting When You're Expecting
I might lose my man card saying this but…Cameron Diaz rarely looks appealing on screen. She was cute and fun in There’s...
Bernie
It’s a small rural town in Texas and an assistant funeral director – Bernie Tiede – is perhaps the most beloved funeral...
Battleship
Mr. Board was bored watching a movie based on a board game. Although I think it’s false to keep stating in reviews and press...
Dark Shadows
In my opinion, Tim Burton is the worst director making money in Hollywood. And it’s not like things are going to change. He likes to...
The Dictator
You know you’re in for an offensive and funny film when it starts off stating “in loving memory of Kim Jong-il.”
Headhunters
Two of my favorite movies of the year are playing right now at the Hillcrest Landmark. One of those is Sound of my Voice. The other...
A Little Bit of Heaven
Kevin Bacon is that actor we all loved in Footloose and so many movies the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” became...
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye
This documentary is about musician and performance artist Genesis P-Orridge. Sure, I’m not in the target demographic. You mention...
People V. the State of Illusion
Oh, Austin Vickers (no, he’s not an NFL quarterback). Why did you waste my time? Why are you going to waste the time of any sap...
Sound of my Voice
It irked me that last year Martha Marcy May Marlene got so much critical praise. It was an uninteresting movie about cults, with...
The Avengers
What do you get when you take the director (Joss Whedon) best known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer – and you give...
The Raven
When I hear about an actor being cast to play somebody famous, I never really analyze it before seeing the movie. I didn’t think Jim...
The Five-Year Engagement
I don’t mind a comedy going for two hours but when a lot of it isn’t working, I start to wonder why they didn’t just cut...
The Hunter
I always roll my eyes when there’s a set-up early on that involves an expert gun-for-hire, that has all these demands of the people...
The Lucky One
I’m not sure who has a worse track record with bad movies – Tyler Perry or Nicholas Sparks. Perhaps the edge should go to Perry,...
Think Like a Man
I’m guessing the studio would’ve rather had Chris Rock as the narrator and group leader of a bunch of basketball buddies...
Looking for Lenny
When I worked in radio years ago, I had friends with bands always bugging me to play their music on the air. They didn’t realize the...
The Three Stooges
I love the Stooges that had Iggy Pop singing for them. I hated the black and white shorts done in the ‘40s. I remember being more...
Bully
Filmmaker Lee Hirsch may have won Emmy’s and awards at Sundance, and he certainly picked a timely documentary to present to us....
American Reunion
I remember seeing the first American Pie back in 1999. It was an okay comedy. I was amazed when 30 seconds before doing the on-...
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Jiro Ono is an 85-year-old sushi chef. I think it’s safe to say he’s the best in the world. His place is the only restaurant...
Goon
As a kid in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, I’d go ice skating at the House of Ice in Mira Mesa. One day I saw a poster for an...
The Raid: Redemption
While waiting for my friend to show up at the Hillcrest Landmark, I felt a migraine coming on. I asked him to bring me some pills for it....
Detachment
I remember thinking I would hate American History X. It had gotten a bad review from a critic I respected. I saw it and was...
Best Movie of the Year, Worst Interview
From all my years in radio, and now doing movie reviews, I’ve interviewed a lot of stars. I’ve often enjoyed the messages they...
Mirror Mirror
Objects in the mirror appear smaller than they are. So, just grab a few bees to sting your lips and get them the size you want before...
Bullhead
I love the fact that you can catch some interesting indie and foreign films at the Gaslamp Reading and not just at the Landmark Theatres....
Being Flynn
I didn’t have high hopes for this movie. Writer/producer/director Paul Weitz impressed me with About a Boy, but the last time...
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
I fell in love with Kristin Scott Thomas when I saw The English Patient in the theatres. She’s always fun in films but in...
Norwegian Wood
On the day that a best selling book becomes a blockbuster movie (The Hunger Games)… a cult book from 1987, became a small...
The Hunger Games
The film versions of the popular books from Harry Potter and Twilight have worked. That is to say, they made lots of money...
21 Jump Street
It’s not like I thought Jonah Hill would come off an Oscar nominated performance in Moneyball (it wasn’t...
Jeff, Who Lives at Home
Good news and bad news regarding the latest mumblecore film from brothers Jay and Mark Duplass. The good news is that it’s their...
Silent House
I didn’t like the indie movie Martha Marcy May Marlene, although I liked the reception the studio had for the critics. We got...
Friends With Kids
While Woody Allen is off in Europe making his movies these days, I say we let Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein) take...
Undefeated
It’s been 110 years and this football team hasn’t won a playoff game. No, no…it’s not the Chargers. This is the...
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Tilda Swinton is on my list of Top 3 actresses working today. She’s so good that movies I didn’t like (I am Love and...
John Carter
It’s strange that over the last week I’ve been hearing from friends that bought their Comic Con tickets or ones that got shut...
In Darkness
There’s nothing more interesting than watching a movie about a person I knew nothing about. I didn’t know a thing about Oskar...
Project X
It seems like only yesterday that the nerdy bunch in Superbad decided to have a big party, get all the girls, and become the big...
Thin Ice
Sometimes seeing so many movies can be a problem. How can a film lover or critic watch this movie and not think of Fargo, The...
84th Academy Awards -- The Winners and Losers
Billy Crstyal’s return to hosting duties at the Oscars reminded me a lot of the Oscar party I went to at local Point...
Wanderlust
I’m not one of those critics that compares every movie that comes out to a similar movie that’s a classic.
Rampart
I was really excited to see this movie. There was buzz that Woody Harrelson was a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination (and boy was he...
Act of Valor
I remember being in high school and playing basketball with some pilots at Miramar who were talking about the filming of Top Gun on...
The Flowers of War
I would much rather have a film give us a fictional story surrounding a real event, then a movie that is made “based” on a...
This Means War
This means war with Tom Hardy. He impressed me so much in Bronson and has had great turns in Warrior and
Safe House
Safe House had the worst trailer. It showed a cocky Denzel Washington trying to provoke a nervous Ryan Reynolds. And lots of...
The Vow
A couple of newlyweds are making out in their car when it’s hit by a truck. She’s sent through the windshield, ends up in a...
The Grey
Some people have said they hated the vague ending of this movie. I didn’t mind the ending, although I’ve now heard that there...
Talking Before, During, and After the Movie
I’ll never forget the day I stopped talking in movie theatres. I was 12 or 13, and thrilled to be in the theatre in Mira Mesa awaiting...
The Woman in Black
Hammer films launched in 1934 and in the ‘50s, after success with Dracula and Frankenstein films, they went that direction in the...
A Separation
This takes place in Iran (please don’t let the subtitles scare you). It touches upon the unfair divorce laws in the contemporary...
Man on a Ledge
Here’s the problem with Man on a Ledge. It’s the most preposterous story imaginable. And they take an amazing actor...
Albert Nobbs
I tried thinking of clever puns like “Close, but no cigar.” The problem with that one is the movie wasn’t even close. It...
Oscar Nominations for 2012
All my friends think I wake up early for the Oscar nominations. It’s baffling how little they know me. I love nothing more in life...
AT THE DRIVE-IN
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