Had you heard how Dory as a character came about in FINDING NEMO? Screenwriter Andrew Stanton knew he needed a character with a memory problem, but how to make them non-pitiful but instead comedic? Then he heard Ellen Degeneres on TV in the background and her self-interrupting, stream-of-consciousness, happy-go-lucky persona was exactly the voice ( Read more... )

The fictionalized story loosely based on real-life Danish artists, Gerda and Einar Wegener, THE DANISH GIRL feels more than a little like historical porn fantasy to me. And then I read on Wikipedia that it's been critiqued for being more forced feminization erotica than a real story. My nutshell review is: sumptuously filmed and art directed, ( Read more... )

As much as I love Tina Fey (she is one of my top role models for a creative woman in Hollywood) and Amy Poehler, I'm often underwhelmed by the things they do for the Big Screen. On TV, omg, their network shows, their SNL work, their hosting duties that are probably the most charming and well-paced of anyone (save Neil Patrick Harris, who can slay ( Read more... )

Small in cast, acted with amazing power by everyone associated with it, directed with unflinching but tender skill by Lenny Abrahamson, and (most of all) written so beautifully by Emma Donoghue based on her own book, ROOM is an amazing indie movie that probably most people won't see. We're lucky that here, in Austin, it's been running for two ( Read more... )

Hey y'all, did you realize there's a new Star Wars movie out? :)

If you didn't, then it's a mystery how you're online reading this. For Pete's sake, the merchandizing that's Disney is doing alone to promote it --! Toys, food, make-up, autos, clothing... But I will say, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a good, familiar-feeling movie. There are so ( Read more... )

Not a particular fan of Hank Williams, since I don't care for country music and I really dislike the whiny-tone country music. But I do l like Tom Hiddleston, a skinny and bony-faced Brit, because he's so happy and charming in interviews and on comic-con panels. So when Austin Film Festival had a premier of I SAW THE LIGHT, where he plays Hank ( Read more... )

If they can make a movie from a game (BATTLEZONE) or make a game from a movie (TRON) or turn a theme-park ride into a 4-movie cycle (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN), why not make a movie of a whole Disney neighborhood? Right, Tomorrowland is not a ride; it's a theme area with rockets and conveyor belts for people, and ice cream shaped like rockets, etc. ( Read more... )

Well, Christopher Nolan, who's made such interesting movies until now (MEMENTO, INCEPTION, the tricky dark BATMAN) has offended me and most other science fiction writers by making INTERSTELLAR and just ripping off the SF stuff that would make his plot easier then ignoring any other rigor around the genre. That's straight-up cheeziness, dude! And ( Read more... )

As I dive back into my movie reviews (neglected for months while I learned my new Dell job), it makes sense to me to start with a movie that's currently running and that people might miss. So here's me telling you that Chris Rock's new film TOP FIVE is very much worth watching -- whether black, white, old, young. Ah, well, maybe a caveat about ( Read more... )

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