Samantha Who?: The Complete Second and Final Season
September 2, 2009
Sometimes life isn’t fair. How can a clever, genuinely funny show like Samantha Who? get canceled after only two seasons and yet a pedestrian sitcom like Two and a Half Men is still on the air after six years? The show was highly rated during its first...
Sunshine Cleaning
August 31, 2009
This year’s Little Miss Sunshine (2006) is Sunshine Cleaning (2009). Not only did it attempt to follow the same path: debuting at the Sundance Film Festival but it also stars Alan Arkin. However, it also features Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, two up-and-coming...
Adventureland
August 21, 2009
Summer jobs are usually the bane of a young person’s existence. They are what you slog through so that you can afford to go to school. They are the drudgery you endure while daydreaming of going to the beach, hanging out with your friends or going to...
The Last Days of Disco: Criterion Collection
August 19, 2009
With The Last Days of Disco (1998), Whit Stillman completed his loose-knit trilogy of films about doomed Preppies in love. Much like vintage Woody Allen, the characters in Stillman’s films exist in a hermetically-sealed world on the Upper East Side...
I Love You, Man
August 7, 2009
Thanks to the success of Judd Apatow comedies, many of the actors in his unofficial repertory company have parlayed their memorable supporting roles into starring turns in their own films. Case in point: Paul Rudd (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) and Jason Segel...
Confessions of a Shopaholic: Two-Disc Special Edition
June 23, 2009
With Muriel’s Wedding (1994), Australian filmmaker P.J. Hogan injected fresh, new life into the romantic comedy and all to the beat of a memorable soundtrack dominated by Abba songs. He gave the film an edgy quality with a shocking plot twist partway...
Shameless Series 6
June 4, 2009
Having been a big fan of Shameless from Series 1, and Series 6 will not disappoint. There are the usual laughs and Series 6 continues with the same mix of sex, drugs and scams that it has always had. I wonder what people must think of urban Manchester...
Wise Blood: Criterion Collection
June 1, 2009
Legendary filmmaker John Huston had an uncanny ability to adapt unfilmable literature into well-crafted films. He made sense of Dashiell Hammett’s convoluted plot with his take on The Maltese Falcon (1941), he successfully translated Malcolm Lowry’s...
Russell Brand in New York
May 21, 2009
Russell Brand is a famous British comedian but he has yet to break big in North America and it’s certainly not for a lack of trying. He had a memorable supporting role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) and an infamous hosting gig for the 2008 MTV...
Galaxy Quest: Deluxe Edition
May 11, 2009
When Galaxy Quest was released in 2000, it was a modest success but it certainly didn’t light the world on fire. Over the years, it has quietly amassed something of a cult following who delight in the film’s affectionately satirical jabs at the Star...
