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There are a lot of terrible movie titles out there, and everyone has their list, but most of these titles are attached to terrible films! It's when bad titles are attached to good movies that there starts to be a problem. For instance, this week, The Men Who Stare at Goats hits theaters, and we thought it was a lot of fun, but that title is a real snoozer. Who's going to go see this movie with that title? Yes, they stare at goats, but they stare at them to make their hearts stop beating! Why not call the movie Goat Killers? Or Heartstoppers? Or The Men Who Kill Goats With Their Minds? We looked at the last decade and found a bunch of film titles we think misrepresent or detract from the films they're attached to, for various reasons.
It's hard to forget Milla Jovovich. With her piercing eyes and model looks, she stands out in most of her films, and has actually played a slew of memorable roles, from her Return to the Blue Lagoon roots to the star-making The Fifth Element to the epically dull The Messenger to the flashy, nonsensical Resident Evil series. But in between, Jovovich does these bizarre smaller films that you've never heard of, many of which never even make it to theaters. Milla fans may know and love them, but the rest of America stumbles across them in their local Redbox and is like, "What the hell is this?" Here are five we watched for Milla, but remember little else about.
"What have you done to Michael Jackson?" When Said Taghmaoui spoke those words in Three Kings, it kicked off one of the most bizarre exchanges and gruesome torture scenes in the history of cinema. And that's just from talking about the guy! Jackson's actual film appearances have been few and far-between, but he's worked with some of America's greatest directors and helped created some of film's most indelible images. From horror to crime to sci-fi, from John Landis to Martin Scorcese to Francis Ford Coppola, we ran down all of Jackson's greatest film appearances -- movies and television -- in honor of the release of This Is It, his final concert film. Check out our Michael Jackson Movie Guide, and let us know your favorite below.
So the Weather Channel has announced that they're going to start showing movies with weather themes. While one of the announced films -- The Perfect Storm -- features weather as a central plot, the rest factor in weather only tangentially and include Misery (James Caan crashes while driving in a blizzard), March of the Penguins (a blizzard kills some baby penguins) and Deep Blue Sea (a storm strands scientists at sea with killer sharks). We have some suggestions -- some obvious, some not-so-obvious -- for movies that might make good Weather Channel material.
In Hollywood, apparently all you need to establish "nerdy" is a pair of glasses, limp hair and some frumpy clothing. Unfortunately, while unusual-looking leading men are plentiful in Hollywood, unusual-looking leading women must be in short supply, because the movies have a tendency to "nerd up" gorgeous young starlets and try to convince us that they are friendless outcasts. In Jennifer's Body, Amanda Seyfried dons the glasses to play the nerdy, less-popular friend of Megan Fox, despite being every bit as pretty -- as if her friend wouldn't give her any fashion tips! Ellen Page will similarly nerd up for Whip It next month, and the pair have gotten us thinking about the other adorable women of Hollywood who have worn the glasses, the lab coats and the sweats of the nerd. Keep in mind that this list doesn't include the generally frumped-up (Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich), the nerdy-in-flashback (Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed) and the supermodel scientists that aren't even trying (any female mathematician or computer tech in a James Bond movie).
It's the Fourth of July weekend, and to many Americans that means cookouts and fireworks and sandy beaches. Unfortunately, it also means that it's as hot as balls. And so bright! It seems like we get closer and closer to the sun every year! This year, why not draw all the blinds, turn on the air conditioner, sit in the dark and watch movies that convey all the fun of the holiday, but without the annoying sunburns, sandy crevices and botulism risks? We've hand-picked the following movies for the complete 4th of July experience, or a reasonable facsimile.
What would it be like to have a dad from the movies as your real dad? This Father's Day, before you think about trading in the man whose loins from which you fruited, consider the good and bad parts about being related to the following guys...
If you're making a movie set in Las Vegas, there are pretty much three storylines you can choose from. Someone in your movie is either going to rob a casino, participate in a sporting event or, most commonly, make some bad life decisions. It could be booze, drugs, sex or gambling, but there's a good chance your main character is going to get mixed up in one of those things, and it's going to work out badly. Since The Hangover follows the survivors of a Vegas bachelor party gone horribly awry, we thought we'd run down some of our favorite "going crazy in Sin City" movies.
In Sam Raimi's new horror movie, Drag Me to Hell, a girl is cursed to be forcibly taken you-know-where after she gets shovey with an old lady at her bank. Uh, is she crazy? Has she never seen a movie before in her life? You do not mess with old people. They've been around the block a few times, and they know how to make your life hell, either literally or figuratively. Be especially wary of ones with vague Eastern European accents -- you never know when you're going to get slapped with some sort of culturally stereotypical curse. (It's not racial profiling, it's just common sense.) Here are ten movies featuring old people who are not to be trifled with.
Angels and Demons opens this weekend, and boy, does it look... exactly the same as The Da Vinci Code, except this time Tom Hanks has a decent haircut. And when the defining characteristic of your lead character is his haircut, you may be in trouble. (In other words, don't expect to beat Star Trek, Tom.) We're kinda disappointed, because usually Hanks delivers memorable, distinctive performances, whether good (Philadelphia) or bad (Bosom Buddies). Putting aside his famously Oscar-winning performance and his first steady cross-dressing job, we thought we'd run down the five roles that make Hanks a saint in our eyes, and the five that make him the devil.
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