'8: The Mormon Proposition' Trailer

Not sure what I feel about this one.  I'll certainly disagree with some of the viewpoints this filmmaker is so obviously trying to make, but with such a touchy subject it might be hard for Oscar to pass this up come voting time.  Another early contender for Best Documentary I'd say.

Ask The Movie Wizard A Question

Hey guys, I'm trying to make this site more interactive.  Which is why I'm going to have a new weekly Q&A column for this site.  If you have a question you'd like to ask me go ahead and ask away.  The best questions will be posted on this site (so you may want to include your name and website if you want some recognition).  The widget is below but also on the right bar.  I look forward to hearing the questions.

"Kick-Ass" Review

Can an entertaining movie be made that is laced with corse profanity, brutal violence, and comical situations that in real life aren’t funny? Of course they can, only a conservative parent who grades movies on the content scale over the artistic scale would tell you otherwise. If I just described you then you can stop reading this review now, as “Kick-Ass” was not made with you in mind. Based on the comic book of the same name the story revolves around a young teen named Dave (Aaron Johnson) whose only talent involves simply existing in the world as we know it. Unpopular with girls and with no remarkable talents, he never-the-less has a heart for helping people and wonders why more people don’t do so.

Read Rest of Review Here

"How To Train Your Dragon" Review

After years of living in Pixar’s shadow Dreamworks Animation has finally delivered a film that rival’s the animation king of CGI films. “How To Train Your Dragon” tells the simple story of a young Viking named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) who is considered weak by the rest of the Vikings for being unable to hold his own in a fight with dragons who destroy their town on a weekly basis (the town is old but the houses are new). His dad is the leader of the Vikings named Stoick (Gerard Butler) who - like most fathers in animated films - considers his son to be awkward and a bit of a disappointment. No, he’s not odd in that he’s gay, because he has a crush on the feisty Viking girl Astrid (America Ferrera), but odd because he has no violent traits.

Read Rest of Review Here

"Greenberg" Review

If you’ve been reading my reviews for awhile you’ll know that I’m not Ben Stiller’s biggest fan. I feel he’s a one trick pony that plays one pathetic wimp after another. In some ways “Greenberg” is not much different from previous characters Stiller has played, and in some ways this is about as far from those previous characters as you can get. The movie stars stiller as Robert Greenberg, a man who has recently been released from a mental institution. At the age of 50 Greenberg is stuck in life. At one point the lead singer of a rock band that almost got signed to a record deal, he walked away from that dream and destroyed not only his life but the lives of his band mates and friends.

Read My Full Review

"The Ghost Writer" Review

“The Ghost Writer” is the latest film from Academy Award-winning director Roman Polanski. It may possibly also be his last film depending on whether or not he is successfully extradited from a 32-year old crime and scandal he’s been involved with. Indeed, his scandal seems to go on almost as long as the scandal Adam Lang (Pierce Bronson) has going for him in this film. Though the focus of the movie is on the dirty politician (possibly inspired by Tony Blaire), the protagonist of the film is on the ghost writer who has been hired to clean up the manuscript of Adam’s memoir’s. The ghost writer is never named but simply referred to as Ghost throughout the film, and is played with surprising conviction by Ewan McGregor.

Read Rest of Review

"Waking Sleeping Beauty" Trailer

Here's the trailer for "Waking Sleeping Beauty."  My review is below. Hope it comes to your area so you can enjoy this yourselves.

"Waking Sleeping Beauty" Review

One of the great things about “Waking Sleeping Beauty” is that it gives you reasons to both root and condemn the studio it’s about. Rarely will you see a documentary that is more insightful then political, but it just goes to prove that insightful documentaries are always going to be better then political ones. The movie was directed by Don Hahn, producer to some of Disney’s biggest hits including “Beauty & The Beast,” which for the longest time was the only animated film to be nominated for Best Picture (until Pixar’s “Up” came along). Hahn took a break from the studio so that he could work on other projects, and this is the first time we’ve seen him in the directors chair. Turns out he can direct a pretty effective documentary.

Read Rest of Review

"The Secret of Kells" Review

Chances are if you were watching this years Academy Awards when the Best Animated Feature category came up you - like the rest of the world - were completely unsurprised that Pixar’s “Up” walked away with the statue. However like the rest of the world you were likely confused when the category nominated a film called “The Secret of Kells,” a film virtually no one had heard of. I’ll admit if I wasn’t as deep into the movie industry as I am I probably wouldn’t have heard of it either. That said while I heard of it I still didn’t know what it was about or where it really came from. Turns out it was a co production between France, Ireland, and Belgium, though it was recorded in English in preparation for an American release.

Read Rest of Review

"Alice In Wonderland" Review

Why it took Tim Burton this long to make a movie adaptation of “Alice In Wonderland” I’ll never know. Considering Burton’s previous accomplishments of making movies with weird worlds and isolated protagonists, it seems like he would have tackled Lewis Carol’s classic book years ago. But then back then he’d have to make sets to create the world he does here, which would have been tedious and expensive. Now he can just put his characters in front of a green screen for half the cost and just as nice a look. To say this movie looks great would be an understatement as for all the complaints Burton gets on his storytelling I hear very little complaints of his visual accomplishments.

Read Rest of Review

"Shutter Island" Review

See folks, this is what I’m talking about. If “Shutter Island” proves nothing else it’s that horror movies don’t have to suck. Yes it’s got less deaths then the Saw movies do, but this is ten times scarier. Imagine a setting that is dark and creative. Imagine characters who you care about the outcome to. Imagine a twist ending that actually gives you a chance to realize where it came from rather then dumping it on the audience for no reason. And hey, this movie even has a story. Imagine that, a movie that is about something other then how graphic it can be. The movie takes place in 1954 and is about a US Marshal named Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), who has been assigned to find a missing prisoner who escaped from a mental institution on Shutter Island.

Read Rest of Review