It’s hard to imagine a movie about the U.S. military training soldiers to discover their psychic powers that wouldn’t be fun, especially if it’s played for laughs. And the first half of Grant Heslov’s directorial debut, The Men Who Stare at Goats, doesn’t disappoint.

The action begins when heartbroken reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) heads off to imbed himself with troops as the Iraq War starts, but Wilton can’t get himself into the country until he chances upon Lyn Cassady (George Clooney). It turns out Lyn spent decades as part of the New Earth Army — a platoon of men, led by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), who lived a new-age lifestyle in an attempt to cultivate extrasensory perception that would allow the U.S. army to win wars nonviolently. Bill now has a secret mission in Iraq, and allows Bob to come along. As the duo gets into a series of misadventures, Lyn shares with Bob the colorful history of the New Earth Army and chronicles the nefarious machinations of Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), whose jealousy of Lyn’s remarkable skill brought an end to the group.

Read the rest of this entry »

Obviously, a children’s book as short as Maurice Sendak’s award-winning Where the Wild Things Are requires a great deal of fleshing out in order to exist as a full-length movie. Luckily, director and co-screenwriter Spike Jonze makes the movie his own by expanding the book’s universal themes about a boy learning to work through feelings of anger, sadness, frustration, and fear.

Read the rest of this entry »

With A Serious Man, Joel and Ethan Coen create a jet-black comedy about anxiety and dread so funny — and so disturbing — that snack counters should sell Klonopin along with the popcorn.

After being informed by his doctor that he’s in perfect health, math professor Larry Gopnik’s (Michael Stuhlbarg) world quickly unravels. In quick succession, his mentally unstable brother (Richard Kind) moves in, a student offers Larry a bribe for a passing grade, his wife (Sari Lennick) informs him their marriage is over, he receives unexpected angry calls from a Columbia Record Club debt collector, and his teenage kids continue to ignore him, apart from his ability to fix their TV’s reception problems. As Larry slowly loses control over his surroundings, he seeks counsel from various rabbis, whose parables offer little help to alleviate his anxiety and fear.

Read the rest of this entry »

Director Kevin Tancharoen makes it clear right from the start that he wants his remake of Fame to be something like the anti-American Idol, a celebration of hard work and dedication to craft. This message gets hammered home early on by Principal Simms (Debbie Allen), the head of the High School for the Performing Arts (P.A. for short), in a forceful speech to incoming freshmen about how if they want fame they’ll have to pay for it — in sweat.

And, for the first half-hour, the movie gets by on showing us just that. The opening montage of kids auditioning for the school has a seductive flow; the rapid editing gives the movie momentum, although it’s a little too quick to let us fully appreciate the dancing. Sadly, as we get to know this new crop of students, the energy quickly dissipates because, when it comes to their lives, screenwriter Allison Burnett leaves no cliché behind. Troubled youth from a broken inner-city home? Check. Driven dance diva who has no time for a personal life? Check. Classical pianist who really wants to sing R&B?
Check. Casting couch? Check. No supportive parents in the entire universe? Check, check, and check.

Read the rest of this entry »

What kid wouldn’t want to see a movie called Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs? The name promises such a messy good time, the biggest problem the movie faces is living up to such a gloriously goofy title.

The story centers on inventor Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader), a young man whose impractical creations — such as spray-on shoes and a device that verbalizes a monkey’s thoughts — have yet to bring him fame or fortune. As a result of his continued struggles, his father (James Caan) wants him to stop his elaborate experiments and come work in his store selling sardines, their town’s chief export. With the city having fallen on hard times, the ambitious mayor (Bruce Campbell) wants to make over the town into a tourist attraction. He sees his golden opportunity when Flint’s newest invention — a machine that turns water into food — causes meatballs to rain down from on high. Flint, basking in the glory of his first success, falls for a weather channel reporter (Anna Faris) sent to cover this highly unusual phenomenon, but he still doesn’t understand why his father doesn’t seem to approve of him even after he’s become the town hero.

Read the rest of this entry »

For a film about a love felt so passionately that it inspired some of the most romantic poems in the English language, Jane Campion’s Bright Star has remarkably little passion in it.

Read the rest of this entry »

We could all use a little pick me up as we head back into work after the Labor Day weekend, and one of the best shows on television is doing everything it can to help. Season 5 of NBC’s comedy The Office comes out on DVD today, and for those of us who have been Dunder Mifflin fanatics from the beginning, this five disc set doesn’t disappoint.

Read the rest of this entry »

There are elements of a Quentin Tarantino film you can always count on — upturning genre conventions, strong female characters, extended conversational detours, and forceful violence. Right from its engaging, nail-biting beginning, Inglourious Basterds overflows with QT’s signature style.

Read the rest of this entry »