Three films that will make you change the way you view film as art

letmein

There were recent films that I wouldn’t have watched even if I had been given free premiere tickets and even if the tickets came with a free dinner. Transformers 3 was one of them. Total waste of time as far as I’m concerned. Truth be told, these days, and especially after Captain America which was ... (more)

Contagion: one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen

contagion

We have a VCD copy of Wolfgang Peter’s 1995 film Outbreak. People dying from a deadly virus for which there was no vaccine. Sam and Alex watched that film so many times when they were toddlers. Sam because she thought the monkey (the host of the virus) was super cute. It’s been her dream to ... (more)

Harry Potter is a family affair

harry-potter-deathly-hallows (1)

After almost two decades of being a mother, my daughters still manage to surprise me. Last week, the day that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 opened in cinemas, Sam started texting me about when we would go and see it. I told her I had asked her father to buy tickets a ... (more)

Let’s talk exorcism. Is a “possessed” person criminally responsible for his actions?

Speedy and I watched “The Rite” last night. For those of you who are not familiar with the film, it is about demonic possession and exorcism. It says at the beginning that it is based on true events. A seminarian, Michael Kovak, who wants to quit the seminary for lack of real religious faith was ... (more)

Source Code: two thumbs up

Our last three movie adventures were disasters — The Green Hornet, Red Riding Hood and The Adjustment Bureau. The Green Hornet was so bad I wanted to walk out; Red Riding Hood was plain disappointing. The Adjustment Bureau was almost good but I hated the Judeo-Christian underpinnings that some forces out there control our lives ... (more)

As kids grow up, finding common free time gets harder

We had been planning on seeing Red Riding Hood for months. It opened last week and we thought we’d be able to see it over the weekend. Our girls are 18 and 17 but, yes, we still watch movies with them, as a family. I’ve often been warned that when kids get to a certain ... (more)

Of vampires, guns and death

The other night, on a whim, Speedy and I went out at midnight for some food tripping. You can read about our Banchetto adventure at the food blog. Driving home, Speedy remarked that it was the third night in a row that he drove out at midnight and returned two hours or so later. See, ... (more)

The Green Hornet: never mind

Alex had her birthday last week. But because she and Sam stay at the condo near their school on weekdays, we didn’t have a chance to celebrate as a family until last night. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant then saw a movie. The Green Hornet on 3D. I wasn’t expecting a lot, nothing ... (more)

Why I like Javier Bardem

Yesterday’s news was full of tidbits about the newborn baby boy of Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. I knew Penelope Cruz as Tom Cruise’s ex; before No Country For Old Men, I didn’t know who Javier Bardem was. After seeing Vicky Cristina Barcelona, my respect for both rose sky-high. Moreover, in Bardem’s case, the respect ... (more)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

Very rarely does a book get translated into a movie and survive the translation. More often than not, a lot of substance flies out the window to comply with cinematic requirements including the length of run time. Then, there’s the actual and more serious problem of translating words into visuals. End result, people who have ... (more)

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

The first time I saw the trailer many months ago, I knew I was going to see Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. How could I not? I love the 1987 original, and the same director and lead star were doing the sequel. The release of Money Never Sleeps was postponed so many times but, finally, ... (more)

Highly recommended: Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer

Never judge a movie by the scandalous reputation of its director. Roman Polanski may have been in the news more often for his legal skirmishes and his involvement with underaged girls but his personal life does not in any way dampen his prowess as a movie director. His latest work, The Ghost Writer, is magnificent. ... (more)