Beyond The Films....

Send this one back to the kitchen...

2010-07-30T00:01:00.004-04:00

By Phantom Steve Carell stars as “Big Dumb Steve Carell” in Steve Carell’s Big Dumb Movie a/k/a Dinner for Schmucks. I’m not sure what possessed anyone involved to barf up this big dumb meal on to cineplex screens... As mentioned above, Steve Carrel plays Dumb Steve, here known as Barry, in what might be the dumbest Steve he’s ever played. The only problem is, it isn’t funny this time. It’

Salt Review

2010-07-28T16:14:00.004-04:00

By Phantom Salt is the latest action-thiller from Angelina Jolie (Tomb Raider series), veteran Tom Clancy director Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger), and screenwriter Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium, The Recruit). Salt follows Jolie as Evelyn Salt a CIA-operative that might be a Soviet Double Agent. She might even be a Triple or Quadruple Agent. The action begins when a mysterious Russian

Despicable Me Review

2010-07-26T14:17:00.001-04:00

-by Ann Marie I’m having a bad bad day, it’s about time that I get my way. Steam rolling whatever I see, huh despicable me. (Pharrell Williams) Steve Carell is back on the screen as Gru, competing to become the world’s greatest villain. This might seem like a piece of cake, but for Gru it’s harder than it seems because he’s up against Vector, voiced by Jason Segel, a hotshot newcomer. The

Toy Story 3 Review

2010-07-21T11:45:00.003-04:00

By Anne Marie "Our friendship will never die. You're gonna see. It's our destiny. You've got a friend in me. You've got a friend in me. You've got a friend in me." However, in Toy Story 3, Andy is packing and getting ready to head off to college. Does this mean the friendship is over between Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang? As the story begins, the audience jumps right into the action as

Up in the Air Review

2010-07-20T18:38:00.002-04:00

By Phantom Up In the Air is one of 2009’s most unique films. Directed by Jason Reitman (Juno), the film follows Ryan Bingham (George Clooney: Syriana, The Men Who Stare at Goats) as he crosses America several times over for a most peculiar job – he is a professional at firing people. He spends the majority of his time travelling and has a personal goal of collecting a certain amount of

Inception Review

2010-07-17T12:09:00.004-04:00

By: Phantom Inception is a wholly original sci-fi actioner, in an era where sequel-itis rules and cheap CGI special effects come a dime a dozen. The following review is mildly spolier-y... so jump to the last paragraph if you don't want to ruin anything. This film is worth going in knowing nothing about other than "It's Good." The film follows professional Dream Extraction expert Dom Cobb,

Predators Review

2010-07-16T20:14:00.004-04:00

By: Phantom “I ain’t got time to bleed.” Again! Predators was everything I wanted in a new Predator movie. It’s a violent action romp that will thrill newcomers and old fans alike. The film starts out with Adrian Brody (also in this summer's Splice) in freefall, who crash lands in the jungle after fussing with his parachute. Soon met by Danny Trejo, Alice Braga, Walton Groggins, Oleg,

Solitary Man Review

2010-07-16T18:14:00.015-04:00

By: Phantom Solitary Man, of his own design. Michael Douglass’ character Ben Kalman wears all black and is introduced to us with to Johnny Cash’s cover of Neil Diamond’s “Solitary Man” playing in the background. Ben is kind of like Johnny Cash… if Cash had no sense of personal responsibility or dignity or morality. That is to say, Ben is nothing like Johnny Cash. But he wants to be Johnny

Slice Review

2010-06-04T16:26:00.001-04:00

By Phantom Splice is one of the best movies I have seen this year. I once read someone review a movie as “just like a Martin Scorsese film” as the best praise one could give. This movie is just like if David Cronenberg made Gattaca. Mixed with The Fly. Of course DC couldn’t have made this film- the mutations occur on objects outside the protagonist’s body and didn’t carry his signature

Exit Through the Gift Shop Review

2010-05-19T13:53:00.002-04:00

Exit Through the Gift Shop the new film by Banksy… or is it? This film is a documentary about a documentary (Think a more meta version of Lost in la Mancha) that ends up questioning “what is art?” When Thierry Guetta, an amateur filmmaker if there ever was one, sets out to film Banksy after getting drawn into the world of graffiti and street art proves to be unable to produce a comprehendible

Robin Hood Review

2010-05-14T09:30:00.001-04:00

by Ann Marie. Robin Hood meets Gladiator and Braveheart. Robin Hood follows a different story line unlike the original story. We start in a battle scene and that's when we meet Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) fighting with King Richard (Danny Huston) the King of England. It isn't until Robin decides to break away from the war and go on his merry way that we start to understand the storyline

Iron Man 2 Review

2010-05-11T12:48:00.000-04:00

-by Ann Marie. He’s snarky, he’s sarcastic and his ego isn’t one to mess with. Continuing where we left off in Iron Man, Iron Man 2 follows Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and we are in for another ride. In the beginning of the movie, the audience meets Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) the son of a famous scientist, which is learned later. After his father asses on, Ivan rummages through his things

The Ghost Writer Review

2010-04-29T12:36:00.001-04:00

By: James "Phantom" Ryder A politician haunted by the ghost of his misdeeds… ghost writer that is! The titular Ghost Writer (Ewan McGregor) in the film is not granted a name (they tend to be paid to stay anonymous) and serves as a plain metaphor for the sins of Prime Minister Adam Lang (Piece Brosnan) haunting him. It’s a clever device in a movie that is often very clever. The film is smart

You Don't Know Jack Review

2010-04-27T23:35:00.005-04:00

By Ann Marie. Doctor Death, the tale of a man that everyone feared, but yet no one really understood. HBO’s exclusive movie, You Don’t Know Jack, is based in part on the book, Between the Dying and the Dead, by Neal Nicol and Harry Wylie. From the beginning, Jack Kevorkian (Al Pacino) is in a hospital watching his mother from the outside of her room. As she’s lying there in bed, the sound of

The Losers Review: Accused of a Crime They Did Not Commit

2010-04-23T11:03:00.001-04:00

By: Phantom In the year 2010 a crack commando unit was accused of a crime they didn't commit… oops sorry wrong movie. But the fact remains that The Losers is unmistakably A-Team-esque, and with both this and an A-Team movie come out this summer, and it will be interesting to see which one comes out as the “better movie.” On its own The Losers sets the bar high for mindless action-adventure

Kick-Ass Review

2010-04-22T22:31:00.002-04:00

-by: Ann Marie. Kick-Ass or get your ass kicked. When we all grow up we read about super heroes with super powers, saving the planet from the evildoers and getting the girl. Well what if every day people became super heroes and helped citizens who were in trouble? They don’t have super powers, they aren’t special on any account; they are just ordinary people going through their ordinary days

An Open Letter from the Cast and Crew of Hot Tub Time Machine

2010-03-26T13:26:00.001-04:00

Dear Edward D. Wood, Jr., So we herd you made a lot of crappy movies. Guess what dude, we got a new movie that’s going to make your movie look like you spent time and money on the story. We didn’t. Stock footage, Mr. Wood? We got stock footage of Regan that we put “LIVE” on the bottom of the screen so the audience know it’s the 80s! Plus, where are all your sweet internet jokes? We have

Survival of a Cult Genre Gone Mainstream: Survival of the Dead Review

2010-03-12T23:56:00.006-05:00

By DJ Phantom Survival of the Dead is the latest zombie film from the Master of Zombies himself, George A. Romero and is a continuation (a sidequel?) of his previous film Diary of the Dead. The Unnamed Army Leader from Diary, played Alan Van Sprang, returns, this time he to be identified as “Crocket” and be given a more humanistic portrayal. The film follows Crocket and his band of rouges

Fairview St. Review: A Street Worth Seeking Out

2010-03-12T23:00:00.016-05:00

By: DJ Phantom Fairview St., written and directed by Michael McCallum, is a neo-noir drama set around Lansing, MI. The film follows James Winton (M. McCallum, who also stars) after his release from prison and his attempts to assimilate back into civilian life. However, Wintson’s attempts to start over are hindered by his old partner in crime Bobby Stone (Jerrod Root), who wants to lure him

Alphonso Bow Review: Statistically Safe Bet

2010-03-09T11:24:00.002-05:00

By: DJ Phantom. Alphonso Bow directed by Lije Sarki from a screenplay by M. Sarki follows the titular character and his friend Frank as they eat lunch in a restaurant. The restaurant is the primary location in the film, and unfolds in “real-time” as the conversation takes place. Jeffrey Pierce plays Alphonso with motor mouth precision and Michael Dempsey plays Frank his friend who meets up

The Lovely Bones Review: Stanley Tucci is watching, too bad no one else did...

2010-03-08T22:11:00.004-05:00

By James Ryder. I wonder if anyone watched this movie before it was released. Peter Jackson: Alright Cut! That’s wrap; ship it off to the theaters! The biggest problem with The Lovely Bones is the tonal shifts and seemingly random editing. One second we are in a scene in Heaven/Purgatory, then we have a wacky montage with Grandma, then a creepy moment with Stanley Tucci, then Mark Walberg

Brooklyn's Finest... maybe not so much...

2010-03-08T18:42:00.000-05:00

-by Ann Marie. Brooklyn's Finest follows three cops, who we meet in the beginning. We start off with Sal (Ethan Hawke). He's sitting in a car listening to a guy talk about his time in front of the judge. The story then switches to the next character, Eddie (Richard Gere). He wakes up and is sweating. Eddie reaches for a bottle of whiskey and pours himself a glass. The last character we

Alice In Wonderland Review

2010-03-05T14:13:00.000-05:00

-by Ann Marie Off with their heads! "Alice in Wonderland" follows the story of Alice (Mia Wasikowska), but this time she's all grown up. Alice has to face the hardest choice, marrying Lord Ascot (Tim Pigott-Smith). Before she answers, Alice runs after a rabbit, who keeps looking at his watch. Just like in the cartoon, Alice follows the rabbit all the way to his hole and falls in. Where things

17 Again

2010-02-27T00:07:00.000-05:00

-by Ann Marie Ever wish you could go back to being 17 again and relive part of your high school years? Well that's exactly what happened for Mike O'Donnell (Matthew Perry) after he became an adult. When "17 Again" starts, we see young Mike O'Donnell (Zac Efron) who is a big time basketball player, being looked at by the college scouts. All of a sudden, his girlfriend, Scarlett (Allison Miller)

Cop Out Review: Crazy Buddy Cop Caper Comedy from Kevin Smith

2010-02-26T12:58:00.001-05:00

By: DJ Phantom Cop Out directed by Kevin Smith provides the potential for horrible puns if it flops critically – fortunately for both Smith and I, I’m not going to make a Cop Out pun as I found the movie to be a fun popcorn film that provided more laughs than found in the trailer – a rare feat. The film follows longtime New York detectives, Jimmy (Bruce Willis) and Paul (Tracy Morgan), as