“ Chronicle ” made 22 million last weekend in the U.S. domestic box office. That’s not bad considering it’s a film cast with relatively unknown actors and for a film released in the dead season of February. This is far more impressive when considering it cost only 12 million to produce the film. How did such a film get away with such a small budget and still bring in a large audience on its opening weekend? The answer can most likely […]
Pass the Popcorn!
Pass The Popcorn: “Safe House”
Denzel Washington plays the bad guy once again in “Safe House.” Is this movie as good as “Training Day,” the movie that won Denzel his second Oscar? Check out our review.
Pass The Popcorn: “The Amazing Spider-Man” Trailer
Although my favorite super hero of all time will always be The Hulk, Spider-Man has always been where my heart is. He’s not rich playboy or a scientist or a God. The lure of Peter Parker is that he’s just an ordinary kid who had something extraordinary happen to him. Don’t we all wish that was our origin story sometimes? Anywho, billed as “The Untold Story”, The Amazing Spider-Man (Out July 3rd) looks to have some new twists and turns […]
Pass The Popcorn: Oscar Nominations (Pomp & Predictability)
It’s Oscar nomination time. Blake sizes up the choices, some of which are surprising, many of which are predictable.
Pass The Popcorn: Base Humor & the Decline of the R-Rated Comedy
2011 was not a good year for comedy. Arguably the best comedy of the year, “ Bridesmaids ” was, at its best, an adequate The Hangover -esque comedy for women and, at its worst, an unnecessarily long and meandering plot with a funny diarrhea scene somewhere in the middle (fecal-spoiler). The R-Rated comedy has had a checkered past, but now that the Judd Apatow-Renaissance is upon us (“ The 40 Year Old Virgin ,” “ Knocked Up “), the theater audience has been treated with some good and often great […]
Pass The Popcorn: “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
The first trailer for the “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” was released this week and it can be described in one word: EPIC. The film acts as a prequel to the J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and Peter Jackson returns as the director, producer, and co-writer. Guillermo del Toro also joins the team as one of the film’s co-writers, and it’ll definitely be interesting to see his take on this well-known fantasy story. The film was shot in […]
Pass The Popcorn: “The Muppets”
The Muppets are back! The Muppets are back! Does the new movie featuring Kermit, Piggy and the rest live up to expectations?
Pass The Popcorn: “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”
As you’re probably already aware of, the latest Twilight movie, “Breaking Dawn: Part 1” was recently released in theaters. The fourth (and second to last) movie in the Twilight Saga tells the story of vampire, Edward Cullen, and his mortal fiancée, Bella Swan, finally tying the knot. Since I have this sort of OCD thing going where I can’t start a series without finishing it (so yes, I’m admitting that I’ve seen all the other Twilight movies…shut up), I went […]
Pass the Popcorn: Kevin Smith’s “Red State”
The notion that Fred Phelps – pastor of the charming family church Westboro Baptist, prolific funeral picketer, originator of the adorable slogan “God Doesn’t Much Care For Homosexuals At All” “God Hates Fags” – is perhaps the worst person on the globe right now isn’t new; after all, perhaps the only good thing about the Phelps clan is that nobody actually takes them seriously. No, what’s truly surprising about public perception of the Westboro Baptist Church is that it took this […]
Pass the Popcorn: Pearl Jam Twenty
Rock documentaries can be a bit of a tightrope act for filmmakers. On one side of the line are the diehard fans, the ones who have followed the band for years and obsessively researched every last detail about their favorite musicians. On the other are the casual fans and general audiences that may barely know the subject at all. It can be hard to cater to both sides, and often directors have to choose who they want to favor: do […]
Pass the Popcorn: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Call me old fashioned, but sometimes I think the modern day slasher formula has ruined the contemporary horror film. While some movie makers adhere to the Hitchcockian pillars of suspense and atmosphere, it seems far easier to scare by showing rather than implying. On one hand I can understand: dread, especially of the supernatural variety, can be so difficult to manufacture consistently. It’s far easier, and far more instantly gratifying, to scare the audience on the most basic of grounds: […]
Pass the Popcorn: Fright Night
Whatever happened to the Nosferatus of the world? Sometime between that 1921 masterpiece of gothic horror and today, vampires ceased to become cold blooded monsters and started to become the creepy fixation of adolescent girls (not to mention soccer moms) everywhere. The modern day vampire is brooding, sexy, and urbane, more interested in passionate affairs with young, bored women than with devouring the life blood of peasants. The gnarled, bird-like face created by F.W. Murnau has somehow transformed into the […]
