Posts Tagged ‘movie review’

  • 22 Dec

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    Cinecast Episode 195 – Z-Axis

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    The last episode of 2010 clocks in with a triple review, as Kurt and Andrew look at David O. Russell’s earnest and farcical boxing drama, The Fighter, as well as John Cameron Mitchell’s look at how a couple (in this case, Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman) grieve the loss of their young son in Rabbit Hole. Andrew and Gamble gripe on and praise Tron 2 for various reasons, before Gamble gives a double-sneakpeak of The Green Hornet and Fockers 3: Meet those Tiny Mothered-Fockers. All three of the boys discuss their Top 5 male performance picks of 2010 (and add a few honorable mentions in there to boot), and along the way there are digressions on Stanley Kubrick, Stephen King, the nature and requirement of good comedy writing and whether or not it is a good idea to watch mega-blockbusters under the influence of strong cocktails and bacon popcorn.

    The Cinecast will return early in 2011. Be safe. Be happy. Be catching up on the holiday cinema offerings if the family gets to be too much for you!

    As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!

     
     

    Cinecast Episode 195 [ 3:00:09 | 103.09 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

     

    To download the show directly, paste the following URL into your favorite downloader:
    http://rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_10/episode_195.mp3

    ALTERNATIVE (no music track):
    http://rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_10/episode_195-alt.mp3

     
     
    Full show notes are under the seats…
    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 22 Dec

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    Cinecast Episode 195 – Z-Axis (Alt. No Music Version)

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    Cinecast Episode 194 (alternate version with no music). This post is simply for streaming purposes and easier access for iTunes subscribers. For full show notes and listener comments, please visit the official post for this episode.

    Thanks!

     

    Cinecast Episode 195 - Z-Axis (Alt. No Music Version) [ 3:00:09 | 103.09 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

     
     

  • 16 Dec

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    Cinecast Episode 194 – An Island of Loneliness

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    After several weeks of ‘shooting the shit’ and not bothering with the current film releases, we attempt to make up for lost time, and even (mother mercy!) get ahead of the game. This episode is loaded down with SPOILER-style reviews of two films in limited release (there is your fair warning) and one that many are looking forward to this Christmas. But fear not dear listeners, Black Swan is getting wider by the week and Finnish oddity Rare Exports, a delightfully deadpan anti-Christmas kids flick is probably coming to a theatre near you any moment now, hopefully VOD or other distribution channels will follow. The last is the Coen Brothers latest, a re-envisioning of the Charles Portis novel that is similar enough to the 1960s John Wayne movie in story and plot that spoilers are more or less moot. The boys pour on the love of classic westerns as well as experimental looks in the genre from Cat Ballou to Deadwood. And being that years end is just around the corner, it is time for lists once again. All three of us present our TOP FIVE female performances as an appetizer for our ten picks of the year. Some great DVD choices this week lead into a rousing “discussion” (and by discussion, we mean an epic They Live styled “PUT THE GLASSES ON” smackdown with Gamble doing his best Roddy Piper and Andrew assuming the stoic Keith David position) of how ‘interesting’ Michel Gondry’s Green Hornet is for what it is. It is worth staying to the end for that one, even if Kurt throws up his hands in exasperation of the whole argument. Oh, and just to mix things up a little we talk some Terrence Malick and the recently web-release Tree of Life Trailer.

    As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!

     
     

    Cinecast Episode 194 [ 3:04:51 | 105.77 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

     

    To download the show directly, paste the following URL into your favorite downloader:
    http://rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_10/episode_194.mp3

    ALTERNATIVE (no music track):
    http://rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_10/episode_194-alt.mp3

     
     
    Full show notes are under the seats…
    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 16 Dec

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    Cinecast Episode 194 – (Alt. No Music Version)

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    Cinecast Episode 194 (alternate version with no music). This post is simply for streaming purposes and easier access for iTunes subscribers. For full show notes and listener comments, please visit the official post for this episode.

    Thanks!

     

    Cinecast Episode 194 (alternate no music version) [ 3:04:51 | 105.77 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

     
     

  • 23 Jul

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    Cinecast Episode 93 – Apples and Oranges

    52

    cinecast_promo.jpg

    Sorry for the delay here kids. Had some MAJOR technical difficulties over the past week or so (including after we recorded the show). It’s been some dark nights. But we’re back now. Well sort of. Our little audio widget is proving to be very uncooperative. I told Kurt not to feed it after midnight, but he responded, “fuck Joe Dante and his little superstitions” and did it anyway. The show can be streamed from this site only at the moment. Please use the little Audio button below, click the central Podcast display in the masthead (in between Featured Article and Reviews images).

    This Episode: The Dark Knight (a bit SPOILERIFIC) and a little bit of Hellboy II.

    Click the little Audio Icon until we get our Widget back in order:

    Cinecast Episode 93 [ 1:05:17 | 44.83 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

    To download the show directly, paste the following URL into your favorite downloader:
    http://www.rowthree.com/audio/episode93.mp3

    Unwrap the complete Show Notes…
    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 04 Jul

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    Today, We Celebrate… Our Independence Day!

    100
    Don\'t Make Plans for August

    My first real experience with true Summer Blockbuster hype that I can really remember was Independence Day (or ID4 as some of the promotional materials touted it as). I was 20 years old and walked into the flashy new theater at the Mall of America (which is now a completely crap theater) around 4:30 in the afternoon, only to find out that ID4 was sold out for every screening until 10:50 that evening. “Holy shit” I thought. I’ve never seen this before. I convinced my girlfriend at the time to hang out at the mall all day until our screening at 10:50 that night. Reluctantly she agreed. And I’m so glad she did. It was the most memorable and maybe the best theater experience I’ve ever had in my life. And probably why I saw the movie in the theater at least 5 times back in late ’96.

    Now, does ID4 have some holes and get a little cheesy here and there? Most certainly. Is some of the dialogue a little corny? Yeah. But the rest of the film is so enjoyable and successful and cool and fun and exciting that these very minor problems are so easy to overlook. Instead of the typical review, I’ll assume everyone’s seen the movie and present a list of reasons why I love ID4 so much (currently at #53 on my list of favorite movies of all time) and why I had such a great experience.


    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 02 Jul

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    Review: Hancock

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    Hancock one-sheet

    Director: Peter Berg (The Rundown, Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom)
    Writers: Vincent Ngo, Vince Gilligan
    Producers: Akiva Goldsman, James Lassiter, Michael Mann, Will Smith
    Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Jae Head, Eddie Marsan
    MPAA Rating: PG-13
    Running time: 92 min

    There are movies, flicks, film and cinema. Each of us has their own measure of what precisely each of those values quantify. For me, Hancock definitely falls under the category of movie. Big action, big stars, big effects and a little bit of drama thrown in to keep the movie from getting too stale or too close to the “flick” side of things. For a new take on the superhero genre with a bit deeper of a story, Hancock largely succeeds at what it sets out to do. Although not without some clunkiness along the way.

    John Hancock (Smith) is a rogue super-hero in Los Angeles. Superman strength, skin like steel and of course the ability to take to the skies on a whim. The only one of his kind, he feels ostracized from society and thus resides as sort of a recluse and becomes a binge drinker. But when trouble comes calling, Hancock is always willing to help out; but not before usually causing quite a bit of trouble himself (destroying buildings, tearing up roadways, blowing up vehicles, etc). When one day he saves the life of a go-getter, entrepreneur P.R. rep named Ray (Bateman) from being killed, it sparks an idea in the young idealist’s head: make Hancock a better person by representing him as sort of his agent. Ray’s first step is to convince this foul mouthed, binge drinking asshole of a superhero to reprimand himself to state prison and go to AA meetings and anger management classes; all the while teaching Hancock about what a real superhero does and how he behaves. It’s a struggle, but they both work through it together as best they can – much to the chagrin of Ray’s wife Mary played by a Charlize Theron.
    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 24 Jun

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    Review: Je Ne Sais Quoi

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    Je Ne Sais Quoi poster by Keegan Wenkman

    Director: John Koch
    Writers: John Koch
    Starring: Dave Andrae, Victoria Nohl
    MPAA Rating: NR
    Running time: approx. 90 min

    In the midst of summer blockbuster season, it’s nice to head in the direction of the “dustier” corners of the city and find cinema that is of the slightly more independent fare. Or in the case of Je Ne Sais Quoi, extremely independent fare. It’s quite a treat to get away from the lowest common denominator crowds at the multi-plex and take in some true art that’s not only enjoyable, but also inspirational for its heart and indie spirit.

    I have to admit right off the bat for being a bit biased towards this film. It is shot entirely on location in my home city of Minneapolis and the fact that the cast and crew are also natives of Minneapolis of course raises my brows maybe more than the next guy. Still, one must look at a film objectively as possible and gauge it on its merits, not necessarily how close it sits to your heart. And I have to say, Je Ne Sais Quoi works really well throughout most of its running time. It’s got some hints of technical problems and first time screenwriter-itis, but all in all most enjoyable and funny.
    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 21 Jun

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    Review: Mongol

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    Mongol poster

    Director: Sergei Bodrov (Running Free, Nomad)
    Writers: Sergei Bodrov, Arif Aliyev
    Producers: Sergei Bodrov, Anton Melnik, Sergei Selyanov
    Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Khulan Chuluun, Sun Honglei, Odnyam Odsuren, Pai Ying (II)
    MPAA Rating: R
    Running time: 126 min

    One of the five nominees for best picture in the foreign language category at last year’s Oscar ceremony, Mongol was one of the films on my most anticipated list that I knew would be a long while before ever seeing (as is the case with almost all of the foreign language nominees). Trying to fuse Asian history into the Braveheart genre (yes, I just proclaimed Braveheart a genre), it succeeds fairly well at accomplishing what it wants to, but it’s not without some problems and I can praise the Academy for at least getting something right this past year by not awarding Mongol with the coveted prize. Although it is quite a fine film in its own right.

    Marketed as the rise of Genghis Khan, Mongol really doesn’t spend much time with the actual rise to power of Khan or any time with his subsequent conquests that he is famous for. Instead, we focus most of our time with Khan as a young boy and then later in his early life; of which he spent most of as a captive. In fact, not until the final 10 seconds of the movie is he even referred to as Genghis. Until that point, his name was Temudjin. Temudjin was a man of strong spirit and courage. As a young boy he chooses his wife from a neighboring clan. Unable to rejoin with her for several years, the film spends most of its time with one of them trying to rescue the other. Making friends and enemies along the way, Temudjin basically sets up his destiny piece by piece as he befriends and betrays various members of multiple clans.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 17 Jun

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    Cinecast Episode 90 – Maybe You’ll Want Your Hearing?

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    cinecast_promo.jpg


    Cinecast Episode 90 [ 1:51:44 | 76.72 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

    This Episode: The Incredible Hulk, The Happening, Kurt’s Eco-Horror 10, DVDs and more…

    Unwrap the complete Show Notes…
    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 16 Jun

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    R3 Review: The Happening

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    Director: M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, The Village, Lady in the Water)
    Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
    Producers: M. Night Shyamalan, Barry Mendel, Sam Mercer
    Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez
    MPAA Rating: R
    Running time: 91 min

    Another debate filled, joint review from a few of the contributors here at RowThree.

    Synopsis: A mysterious breeze of air brings about mass suicides to an unexpecting east coast. We follow one small group of people as they go on the run; desperately trying to survive, while simultaneously attempting to solve the mystery as to why this could be happening.

    read all of our reviews below…
    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 16 Jun

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    Review: The Incredible Hulk

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    Incredible Hulk poster

    Director: Louis Leterrier (Transporter I & II, Danny the Dog)
    Writers: Zak Penn, Edward Norton
    Producers: Avi Arad, Kevin Feige, Gale Anne Hurd
    Starring: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, William Hurt
    MPAA Rating: PG-13
    Running time: 114 min

    How much can really be said about The Incredible Hulk? Bruce Banner’s version of Mr. Hyde is about as brainless as it gets. With sub-par acting, seen-it-before action sequences and cameo/throw-back gimmicks, most of my in-theater time was spent thinking about which movie to sneak into next.

    Bruce Banner (Norton) is a man on the run from the military. He hides a secret genetic code within his blood that John Hurt and the rest of the military command want to use as the ultimate biological weapon. Banner, meanwhile, is hiding out in a third world country trying desperately to find a “cure” for the gamma ray induced defect in his blood; which, when his heart rate goes above a certain point, causes Banner to morph into a raging, angry, green beast that can “toss a forklift like it’s a softball.”

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