Movies

redblog Talks with the Author and Stars of Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Erika Olson | September 1st, 2010 | Filed under: Interviews, MoviesRight before Diary of a Wimpy Kid hit theaters this spring, the two stars of the film, along with the author of the bestselling children’s series, hit the road for a promotional tour. Redblog was lucky enough to get to chat with them. Below is a reprint of that interview. Diary of a Wimpy Kid [...]
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DVD Reviews: Kung-Fu Classics from the Shaw Brothers
by Locke Peterseim | September 1st, 2010 | Filed under: DVD Reviews, MoviesWhen Quentin Tarantino released his two-part martial-arts epic Kill Bill in 2003-4, the opening title proclaimed it was shot in “Shawscope.” In fact, quite a bit of QT’s action flick was a direct homage to the hundreds of brightly colored, hyperactive kung-fu and swordplay flicks produced and imported to the United States by Hong Kong’s [...]
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Liam Neeson is in (Almost) Every Film in the Redboxes
by Locke Peterseim | August 31st, 2010 | Filed under: DVD Reviews, MoviesThis spring I realized with creeping Lovecraftian horror that we had six–count ‘em, six – Val Kilmer videos in the redboxes at one time, most of them direct-to-video exercises in bad-movie tolerance and hair, um, “experimentation.” (You can revisit the Val-pocalypse here.) (And you’re still playing the Kilmer game at home, he’s got another one in [...]
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Trailer: Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan
by Erika Olson | August 31st, 2010 | Filed under: TrailersAlthough I should have known better — Black Swan IS a film by Darron Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler), after all — the beginning of its trailer had me sighing, “Oh, yippee. A battle of ballerinas. SNORE!” But then I reached the – 52 point. Whaaa…. ? Yep, freaky stuff is goin’ [...]
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DVD Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Erika Olson | August 31st, 2010 | Filed under: DVD Reviews, MoviesDVD review: True to its irreverent and sarcastic roots, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is sure to make fans of Jeff Kinney’s best-selling children’s series want to shout “Zoo-Wee-Mama!” in approval. It accomplishes the tough task of balancing juvenile humor (there will be boogers!) with sly adult wit. The following is a reprint of our [...]
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Takers
by Locke Peterseim | August 29th, 2010 | Filed under: Movies, Theatrical ReviewsA lukewarm version of Heat, Takers gets by just doing its half-slick, half-shaky thing: delivering cliché cops-and-criminals thrills with a mostly likable cast. As for the bits that blow up into overwrought silliness, they—like the rest of the film—are easily forgotten outside the theater. Takers is somewhat surprising—not in its plot and characters, or its [...]
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The Last Exorcism
by Locke Peterseim | August 29th, 2010 | Filed under: Movies, Theatrical ReviewsThe latest entry in the handheld-horror genre is no great shakes… or twitches… or spasms… The Last Exorcism is a familiar head-spin on the usual “demons begone!” routine. But while it lacks new, genuine chills, it does have a couple lead performances that are more nicely realized than in other video faux-umentaries. It’s easy to [...]
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Locke’s Redbox Picks of the Week
by Locke Peterseim | August 28th, 2010 | Filed under: DVD Reviews, Movies, Weekly redbox PicksRecommended Smaller, Overlooked or Underrated Movies New this Week in the Redbox Kiosks $5 a Day – I’ve written before about how even “indie” films sometimes fall into their own cliches, especially the “quirky but heartwarming” kind. And this little road lark from British director Nigel Cole will certainly feel familiar: an estranged father and son [...]
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Locke with This Week’s Radio Reviews
by Locke Peterseim | August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Movies, Radio Reviews, Theatrical ReviewsWhat movies did I talk about this morning with Bob Miller in the Morning at Portland’s KPAM radio? What films didn’t I talk about? We covered the cops-and-robbers heist movie Takers and the Blair-Witchy, Paranormaly “faux-mentery” The Last Exorcism in theaters this weekend, mentioned The Back-Up Plan on DVD, and I put in recommendations for a couple [...]
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Poor Jen
by Erika Olson | August 26th, 2010 | Filed under: Hollywood Chatter, In My Humble OpinionIt seems Jennifer Aniston just can’t win these days. Even though The Switch was actually a decent film and her performance in it was significantly better than what she gave us in, say, the thoroughly dreadful Bounty Hunter (still in redboxes – I dare you to sit through it!), nobody’s ever going to realize this [...]
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