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Showing posts from May, 2012

Dark Shadows (2012)

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I had to mull this one over.  I'm a Tim Burton fan.  I like his movies.  Burton's movies are sort of subversive to me, and I like his humor.  While watching the movie I was struck at what type of movie it wants to be.  In the beginning it did feel like a straight horror/suspense type movie, and then it goes astray.  But I had to say I liked it.  Near the end I did feel Burton was going over the top, but it fits the film.  I love Johnny Depp , and he is one of America's true jewel.  In this film he does reach for the balcony in his acting, but then again this film is based upon a soap opera from the late 60's early 70's.  I understand what he was going for, and he really made me laugh with his performance of Barnabas Collins. I know some critics seem to think Burton is re-hashing the same old thing he's done before, but I disagree.  I think Burton's style keeps evolving, and I think what Burton did here is what Burton does best.  I could not see anyone

The Avengers (2012)

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So it's been a movie waiting to be seen ever since it was announced.  My boys were eager to see it, and so a family outing to the movies was planned for Saturday.  From all the hype and all the publicity was the Avengers worth seeing?  The answer is a resounding yes.  Clocking in at 2 hours and 22 minutes the Avengers is a movie with a lot of action packed into it.  After all it's not just one superhero we're dealing with but 6, and there's a lot of story to tell.  The story is simple.  The Earth is in peril by the demi-god Loki (Thor's brother), and an alien race who has decided to help Loki take over the Earth.  With that the Avengers starts and doesn't stop until the final minutes of the movie.  The battle scenes are extrodinary, and the banter between the superheros is funny at times.  Joss Whedon the movies director does a nice balancing act of humor and action.  My boys were mesmerized by the action and enjoyed the film.  I did find that there were

Harry & Tonto Re-visited (1974)

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Turner Movie classics re-broadcasted the movie "Harry & Tonto" last night, and after viewing the first few minutes I was hopelessly captivated again by the story.  The movie is a favorite of mine, and as I am growing older it seems to speak to me even more.  I've reviewed the film already so I won't re-hash why its a classic or why the movie works. Instead I''ll just speak to it's authenticity and it's refreshing view of older people.  Paul Mazursky's direction is so well done that you feel that you may be actually looking at a documentary instead of a feature film.  Art Carney's performance is flawless, and ever so real.  The film speaks about today even though it was made back in 1974.  The characters that inhabit the film are all funny and seem to be cut from a bit of reality that even speaks to us today. When one character talks about a coming "depression" you only have to think about the Wall Street banking crises of