This year, many families will have to work a little harder to find those blessings to count up. Given a recession triggered by outrageously incompetent government oversight of the mortgage industry, crony bailouts, and a ludicrously out-of-control Transportation Security Administration—to name but a few negatives—how deep do we have to look to find something good?
(More)…
A creepy, yet bittersweet riff on the vampire legend, presented as a teenage revenge fantasy. The pic touches on many themes, but is markedly inferior to the original Låt Den Rätte Komma In (Let The Right One In—2008). The original film was set in suburban Stockholm, Sweden in the winter of 1982. Here, the scene
(More)…
Now here’s a great idea. Do a follow-up to your own 1987 moderate hit Wall Street, against the backdrop of the 2008 financial meltdown, and above all, bring back Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko. How can it miss? For starters, helmer Oliver Stone can’t seem to decide whether he wanted to make a financial market
(More)…
This intense crime drama offers plenty of thrills, but suffers from significant plot holes and unlikely character development. A rewrite is more than indicated here, and one wonders why it never happened. An opening title card tells us that the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston is home to most of the perps who are responsible for
(More)…
This over-the-top revenge fantasy is loaded with cartoon violence, nonstop action, and a surprising amount of big-name talent. But the ham-handed politics and racial undertones will be enough to turn off some viewers. Supposedly, the pic started off as a joke trailer, included in Grindhouse (2007), but since the movie got made, I doubt that
(More)…
No, this piece is not about the late columnist and media figure. Rather, I chose the title to set the mood, and take it from an essay by brilliant economist and political historian Thomas J. DiLorenzo. Quoting DiLorenzo: As William F. Buckley, Jr., the original neocon, declared in 1952, fighting the Cold War meant that
(More)…
This vastly overrated clunker fooled everyone except its original theatrical audience. The pic bombed on release, but wowed the critics at the time, right on down to the present day. Despite its many glaring flaws, which quite literally turn it into a parody of itself, you will search the Web in vain to find anything
(More)…
Disappointing performance by the US team Sure, some calls went against the side, but when you consider that we still have no strikers who can score goals, Team USA was lucky to win its group. Unfortunately, Landon Donovan can’t have a career game every single time, and even if he did, this would not be
(More)…
You may have noticed that I’m not writing about political issues as much as I used to. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I was asked about this by a fellow member of a locally-based trade association. Maybe I’ve been doing this too long, and given other writing assignments beyond the Mike’s Comment collection,
(More)…
Gloriously staged battle sequences do not make up for an overlong, talky and fairly boring experience. Some story elements border on the ludicrous, and there is pointless tinkering with historical reality, along with PC revisionism. Viewers expecting to see the traditional Robin and his merry band in Sherwood Forest are in for a big disappointment,
(More)…
