James Rocchi's Archived Posts
MegaFault
by James Rocchi | December 16th, 2009 | Filed under: DVD ReviewsThe good folks at Asylum Entertainment have a charming ability — parasitic opportunism to a cynic, exuberant connection to the spirit of the age to an optimist — to make films that are fairly close to other movies. Is Transformers coming soon? Well, says Asylum, bring on Transmorphers. Is 2012 coming to theaters? Say hello [...]
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G-Force
by James Rocchi | December 15th, 2009 | Filed under: UncategorizedI put G-Force on the same way you might approach a medical appointment or a DMV trip: Okay, this has to happen, let's get it over with. But for some reason — and trust me, no one is more surprised by this than I — I actually found myself kind of, sort of, mostly enjoying [...]
Read Full Post 1 CommentCarriers
by James Rocchi | December 11th, 2009 | Filed under: DVD ReviewsUndeservingly dumped into a handful of theaters seemingly in the middle of nowhere by Paramount a few months ago, Carriers deserves to find an afterlife on DVD — or, at the least, I think it does, for reasons I'll get into at greater length. Carriers starts with four friends speeding down the road in their [...]
Read Full Post 48 CommentsThe Messenger
by James Rocchi | December 10th, 2009 | Filed under: Theatrical ReviewsStaff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) almost looks fine. Almost. Wounded in Iraq, he's back in the U.S. to heal up. With few months left in his term of service, the Army is going to keep him busy doing vital work, teamed up with the salty swaggering Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to work notification [...]
Read Full Post 1 CommentThe Dog who Saved Christmas
by James Rocchi | December 9th, 2009 | Filed under: DVD ReviewsDo you like dogs? Do you like Christmas? Of course you do; you're not, after all, a communist robot. And The Dog Who Saved Christmas relies upon, and recognizes how, a combination of Christmas and canine cuteness will, in fact, work fairly well. Mixing Home Alone with The Incredible Journey — the hero dog, Zeus, [...]
Read Full Post Comments OffThe Cove
by James Rocchi | December 8th, 2009 | Filed under: DVD ReviewsWhen The Cove played in theaters earlier this year, it got terrific press (including our own Erika Olson's review), after raves on the festival circuit and controversy in the news. Now that The Cove is on DVD, though, it's a lot more easy to access it; there's still the question, though, if that makes The [...]
Read Full Post 2 CommentsUp in the Air
by James Rocchi | December 4th, 2009 | Filed under: Theatrical Reviews(As Up in the Air opens in select cities this week, we're re-printing our review from the Toronto Film Festival) Up in the Air, director Jason Reitman's follow-up to his Oscar-nominated Juno and his debut Thank You for Smoking, isn't just a stronger and richer film than either; it's a strong and rich film in [...]
Read Full Post 3 CommentsEverybody’s Fine
by James Rocchi | December 4th, 2009 | Filed under: Theatrical ReviewsNear the end of the year, Oscar-consideration movies stack up at the theaters like airplanes over a snowed-in airport. If the major studios ever come to their senses and start releasing Oscar-worthy films year-round, not only will we benefit as audiences, but we also won't have the traditional post-Thanksgiving rush and crush of intended contenders [...]
Read Full Post 4 CommentsPaper Heart
by James Rocchi | December 3rd, 2009 | Filed under: DVD ReviewsThere are moments where your tolerance for certain things is tested to the utmost. Watch Last House on the Left, your capacity for violence will be given a run-through. Watch Chicago, your tolerance for singing and dancing will get a workout. And if you watch Paper Heart — stand-up comedian Charlyne Yi's mock-documentary where she [...]
Read Full Post 3 CommentsNight at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
by James Rocchi | December 2nd, 2009 | Filed under: DVD ReviewsIt seems that one of the worst, most harsh things you can say to judge a film these days is to attack failings in its connective tissue, the skeleton and sinew that join all its separate parts: "It's just a bunch of scenes … it's not a movie. …" And yet, on the other hand, [...]
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