Sunday, May 5, 2013
Film kicks off the second phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Let's face it. Those of you who are interested in films like "Iron Man 3" and have waited through a year of comic book conventions dressed as your favorite Marvel superhero do not need Cinema Siren to tell you whether to head out to keep one of Hollywood's biggest studio franchises alive and Robert Downey Jr. out of the poorhouse. You already have your tickets. It's the souls who usually stay home with a glass of wine watching "Downton Abbey" and occasionally go to the multiplex only for the most-hyped and well-reviewed blockbusters the studio wants to charm into theaters. ["Iron Man 3" is now playing at Regal Ballston Common 12.] With its mix of magnetic superstar power, exciting action and strong character development, "Iron Man 3" has a…
Monday, April 22, 2013
PG-13 film starring Tom Cruise opens Friday in theaters.
In director Joseph Kosinski's "Oblivion," you can see a love for and desire to expand on the great classics of science fiction on film. With the most impressive use of IMAX for a feature film to date, in that respect he has created something new and exciting — a 3-D movie where you don't need the glasses. Production designer Darren Gilford ("TRON: Legacy") and cinematographer Claudio Miranda (who won an Oscar for "Life of Pi") make, to quote the movie, "an effective team." The visual landscapes of the film and the meticulousness taken in the action sequences are extraordinary. The integration of computer-generated imagery, or CGI, and live filming is another indication of the rapid advancements happening in moviemaking. Computer work is …
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Elvis, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and Alfred Hitchcock fill this Easter collection.
Last month, I got a chance to meet Ben Mankeiwitcz, the Turner Classic Movies host and curator — who is actually from the Washington area and was here promoting this year's TCM Classic Film Festival, which runs from April 25 to 28 in Hollywood. If you haven't heard, they have a festival, and they feature both great movies and great guest stars. This year, they'll include Polly Bergen, Ann Blyth, Mel Brooks, Jane Fonda, Mitzi Gaynor, Tippi Hedren, Max Von Sydow, Eva Marie Saint and Mickey Rooney, just to name some of my favorites. Mankeiwitcz said attendees are some of the most knowledgeable movie fans in the world but surprisingly diverse in age. One fan who expertly quoted stats of actors and actresses of the 1950s was 13 years old, he …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Cinema Siren: Four flicks, two of which are worth your time.
This week, we have four new movies of note: "The Call," "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," "Stoker" and "Upside Down." 'The Call' — Don't Answer This movie stars Halle Berry as 911 operator Jordan in a race against time to save a teenage abductee Casey (Abigail Breslin). For a story that centers on the potential torture, rape and death of a young girl, it starts off well enough. We learn why Berry's character is highly invested in keeping alive the girl at the center of the action. She's been there before, and it didn't go well. This means not only will you be watching extended scenes of a terrified teen screaming and crying in the trunk of a car while the serial killer trundles along with her toward his torture lair and kill zone, you …
Monday, March 4, 2013
Cinema Siren gives it two out of five starfish.
By the time the bombastic, yet tragic minor-keyed blockbuster-like theme music swelled to accompany the climactic battle scenes in "Jack The Giant Slayer," I was tempted to flamboyantly roll my eyes in slow motion. I couldn't have cared less. This new release, that was slated for last summer and tellingly sat on the shelf until now, is exceedingly straight-ahead, uninventive and laden with special effects. It leaves the audience feeling like it spent an evening at an expensive restaurant expecting to taste some delicious, innovative dish, only to find themselves digesting a bland, flavorless Betty Crocker casserole. Not only is the cuisine uninspired, ultimately, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. Something new? Not hardly. Jack buys …
Monday, February 11, 2013
Inspired by a weekend trip to London to see 'Macbeth,' Cinema Siren showcases her favorite films influenced by the Bard.
Cinema Siren is writing from London this week and preparing to see James McAvoy in "Macbeth" at Trafalgar Transformed. A fan of his work for years, I jumped at the chance to see a new and exciting version of the play put together by the famous British stage director Jamie Lloyd with production design by Soutra Gilmour, who won the 2012 Evening Standard award for Best Design. It got me thinking about the many cinematic versions of Shakespeare's work in film history. Shakespeare never goes out of style, as witnessed by the recent release directed by Ralph Fiennes, "Coriolanus," in 2012. Joss Whedon is planning to release a home movie version of "Much Ado About Nothing" — no kidding, it was filmed at his house — on June 7 starring his usual …
Monday, January 21, 2013
Cliches eclipse acting in 'Mama,' and violence crumbles 'The Last Stand.'
January. Everyone knows it is when the mediocre to the truly awful hobble off to die a quick death after beating each other senseless for a quick buck in the box office arena. When a film gets slated for a January release it is because there are no other contenders to fight for those dollars, or it won't survive any other time anyway. After all, everyone with any sense is scrambling to see the Oscar nominees. So one approaches January movies with a mix of optimism and dread. Two genre-specific movies have recently been released. If you are a fan of horror or ultra-violent action flicks, the studios are expecting you to gravitate away from those Oscar-nominated movies and toward these unproven offerings. "The Last Stand" is a supposed …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Director Kathryn Bigelow overlooked for Oscar in Best Director category.
"Zero Dark Thirty," which brought in $24 million in its first two days of wide release, has been lauded worldwide and almost universally as an impressive piece of filmmaking. It's a movie that is anything but formulaic. It is always very different for those of us who live in the Washington area. Our experience of anything political is amplified. The headquarters of the CIA and FBI, not to mention the White House, are all within driving distance. It is nearly impossible not to have heard about the controversy surrounding this film. Sens. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz., denounced the film, for its depiction of torture. “We believe the film is grossly inaccurate and misleading in its suggestion that …
Monday, January 7, 2013
The great, the bizarre and the awful movie of 2012.
This year we saw superheroes, grown-up movies, genre mash-ups and cartoons scoring places at the top of the box office. Much was made about big flops, from the divisive "John Carter" and ridiculous "Battleship," both of which starred the same unlucky actor. This topsy turvy year in the world of film is likely to lead to some interesting shifts in focus for actors and filmmakers alike. The box office receipts didn't automatically match studio expectations in 2012. For once, some of the most lauded movies took money away from the mediocre ones. Out of respect and a hope for healing I'm sure we all wish for the families involved in Colorado, Cinema Siren isn't going to spend much time on the movie event in 2012 that made the most news. Any …
Monday, December 10, 2012
The holidays are a great time to get a head start on Oscar viewing.
December is Oscar time. Filmmakers need to get their movies in under the wire so they'll be in the running for this year's awards. Consequently, this month is a weird mix of crowd-pleasing mediocrity and painfully long masterpieces that mix horribly with a need for fluff. But what's a movie lover to do? Gotta see them! Having only viewed two of these films — "Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook" — I'm as in the dark as you all are about how truly great these movies are, and how they measure up to each other as far as acting and scripting are concerned. All I know is what I hear, and I'm hearing a lot. All the critics associations are putting together their lists of bests, and they all influence how the Oscars go. So far, these are the …
