Review: Twilight
Catherine Hardwicke no doubt set out to make a gritty drama of teen angst set against the backdrop of the dreary Pacific Northwest, but a few weeks prior to shooting, a producer must have handed her a script for “Twilight” and said make this instead. The first screen adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s bestselling romantic vampire series is like a cheap wine looking for a bottle, which is really a shame because I would surely lap it up if only served properly. Targeted at teenage girls, it would seem my age and gender preclude me from this discussion, however I believe that young women are yearning for much more from their heroines, so let’s get started with the nit pickiness. Read on...
Got a New Camera, Made a Tiny Movie
SHOT!DEAD from Jonathan Poritsky on Vimeo.
I’m still trying to figure out how to use my Nikon D90 for video. It’s another paradigm shift that involves a steep learning curve, but mark my words kids: Nikon started the revolution. Jim Jannard, while you may be bringing fire to the people in the know, Nikon has delivered to the people who don’t, and that is what matters. Canon will have to compete, which means so will Sony, and so will you, RED. It can only get better from here, so let’s see where it takes us.
Review: Pineapple Express
It had to happen sometime. As much as I had hoped to stave it off for as long as possible, the day had to come when I would leave a Judd Apatow production utterly dissatisfied. “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” nearly did me in, but further rumination on the film showed a real maturation happening in the cabal of dirty little boys that surround the Hollywood comedy magnate. Too bad that the progression toward a better kind of toilet humor didn’t make it’s way into the teams latest, and arguably most anticipated, “Pineapple Express”.
Read on...
Review: Wall•E
In the past I have drizzled praise all over Pixar, specifically the fantasy-realist films that Brad Bird has made with them. There are many reasons to heap laurels on the Disney-owned animation studio: its innovation in the field of computer animation before such a thing even existed, its creative use of all available tools at any given point in their history, its ability to captivate the minds and pocket books of children and adults alike. “Wall•E”, however, is something different, something more than any of us thought these imagineers were capable of.
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Review: Iron Man
“I’m working on something big.”
The last thing you’d think the world needs is another comic book movie franchise, and yet Jon Favreau’s Iron Man breathes fresh air into an otherwise stale summer blockbuster season. It has all the staples of a big summer hit (star power; grade A special effects; built in rock anthem) but it does feel, even if only in the tiniest way, that something like the comic book genre in large part has been rethought, and not a moment too soon.
The summer of 2007, the most successful on record, was riddled with sequels that helped solidify the studios’ ridiculous haul to the bank. The powers that be knew there would be only one way to come close to making ludicrous amounts of money this summer with nary a threequel in sight: go back to the drawing board and start up great new franchises. Iron Man is the first taste we have of this new season of grass-roots heroism, and it is a scorcher of a first look. Read on...
