Movie Recommendations, Rants and Ruminations
One of the main threads of Toy Story 3 is how the toys escape (while sending up virtually every convention of the prison movie genre). On NPR’s Fresh Air, Toy Story 3‘s editor Lee Unkrich and screenwriter Michael Arndt recently discussed how they watched many prison movies for inspiration. The interview is here.
The movie that they call the “most boring” is Le Trou, which actually tops my list of Best Prison Movies.
The best American studio movie of the year – Toy Story 3 – is now available on DVD. If you don’t have kids in your life, you probably missed it. That would be a mistake – it’s not just for kids. Adults will howl at the enhanced roles of Ken and Barbie, an impassioned duet of “Dream Weaver” and the funniest scene in movie history involving a tortilla.
Pixar understands that the best animation in human history is not enough by itself, and tells great, great stories. Pixar screenwriting is incredibly superior to that of other animation studios.
This is a significant achievement in film making and belongs in the elevated class of Toy Story and Toy Story 2. It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
The good autumn movies have started to roll out, and it’s time to go back to the theaters. This week I’m recommending Mesrine: Killer Instinct, Animal Kingdom, The American and The Tillman Story. I’ll be seeing Soul Kitchen soon and will have a recommendation on that, too. And Inception, Toy Story 3, The Girl Who Played With Fire, Get Low and The Kids Are All Right are all still playing in theaters. For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.
For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TV include Rebel Without a Cause, The Graduate and Touch of Evil, all coming up on TCM.
Now we’re really down to the August dregs in theaters. Here’s your chance to see some better movies from earlier in the year.
Inception, Toy Story 3, The Girl Who Played With Fire, Get Low and The Kids Are All Right are all good and still playing in theaters. For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.
You can also catch up a good movie with my DVD of the week, Sweetgrass, or last week’s Fish Tank. For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TV include A Face in the Crowd, Anatomy of a Murder, The Stunt Man and The Outlaw Josey Wales, all coming up on TCM.
As my friend Keith always advises me, movie distributors send out their weakest material in August. Make lemonade out of the lemons by catching up on the better movies from earlier in the year.
Inception and Toy Story 3 are two of the year’s best. If you want a thriller, go with The Girl Who Played With Fire. Robert Duvall gives another masterful performance in Get Low. For an indie dramedy, try The Kids Are All Right. For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.
My DVD of the week is a British coming of age drama from earlier this year, Fish Tank. For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TV include Cool Hand Luke, A Place in the Sun, A Face in the Crowd, Anatomy of a Murder, and The Stunt Man, all coming up on TCM.
Inception and Toy Story 3 are two of the year’s best. If you want a thriller, go with The Girl Who Played With Fire. Robert Duvall gives another masterful performance in Get Low. For an indie dramedy, try The Kids Are All Right. For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.
My DVD of the week is the great 1995 documentary, Crumb. For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TV include The Set-Up, Leave Her to Heaven and The Fallen Sparrow, all coming up on TCM.
Well, we’re at the halfway point of the movie year – the summer movies are winding down, and the Oscar bait is still ahead of us in the autumn and holidays. So it’s time to take stock of the year’s movies to date. I now have ten movies on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far. You can read my comments and watch the trailers on the Best Movies of 2010 – So Far page.
Better yet, you can see Toy Story 3 and Inception in the theater this week.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Prophet, The Girl on the Train, Fish Tank, The Ghost Writer and Sweetgrass are all available on DVD right now. Sweetgrass is also available on Netflix streaming video.
The Secrets of Their Eyes will be available on DVD on September 21. The DVD release of my top film of the year so far, Winter’s Bone, is October 26.
I recommend the summer’s one high quality blockbuster, Inception. If you have followed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, you will want to continue the trilogy with The Girl Who Played With Fire. The indie dramedy The Kids Are All Right is enjoyable, too. One of the year’s best, Toy Story 3, is still playing. For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.
My DVD of the week is one of 2010’s best: A Prophet (Un Prophete). For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TV include The Set-Up and Leave Her to Heaven, coming up on TCM.
I recommend the summer’s one high quality blockbuster, Inception. If you have followed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, you will want to continue the trilogy with The Girl Who Played With Fire. The indie dramedy The Kids Are All Right is enjoyable, too. One of the year’s best, Toy Story 3, is still playing, but the equally great Winter’s Bone has become difficult to find. For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.
My DVDs of the week are the gnarly Step into Liquid and the way awesome Riding Giants. For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TV include The Searchers and Bad Day at Black Rock, coming up on TCM. Before Sunrise is still playing on IFC.
I can’t speak to the three most promising new films, because I haven’t seen them yet: The Kids Are All Right, Inception and The Girl Who Played With Fire. But that should be remedied by next week’s recommendations. In the mean time, I can say that the “must see” films in theaters remain Winter’s Bone and Toy Story 3. Winter’s Bone has been out for a while, so, if you haven’t seen it in a theater, you’d better see it soon. For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.
My DVD of the week is Tortilla Soup. It’s the closest thing to a chick flick that I’ll be recommending for at least a month. For the trailer and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TV include The Searchers and Bad Day at Black Rock, coming up on TCM. The Crying Game and Before Sunrise are still playing on IFC.