http://billsaysthis.com/movies Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:40:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Sony Film is attempting to establish a beach head in the computer animation space to complete against Pixar/Disney and Fox but hasn't made a great deal of progress yet. Surf's Up is their third major release, better than either Open Season and Monster House but still not as good as ... http://billsaysthis.com/movies/2008/04/surfs-up There have been a number of movies in the last few years focused on people dealing with the emotional devastation of 9/11 and, for the most point, I tend to avoid them as too painful or too likely to be maudlin. Somehow, though, I had the feeling that Don Cheadle ... http://billsaysthis.com/movies/2008/04/reign-over-me When I was about 10 or 12 I started reading Allen Drury's Cold War tales of political intrigue in Washington, D.C. He had such an imaginative way of retelling what the real life pundits and politicos tried to warn us were the true dangers of those villainous Soviets and Red ... http://billsaysthis.com/movies/2008/04/advise-consent Nicholas Cage has starred in many big action movies over the years but given his physical and emotional natures has been a poor choice for the roles (e.g., Gone in 60 Seconds, Face/Off, Con Air). Characters that are a bit on the quirky, self-conscious side are better fits (Matchstick Men, ... http://billsaysthis.com/movies/2008/04/next This 1960 movie is one of those classics I'm willing to bet most people under the age of 60 have never watched but still feel they know all about. I admit I was one of them until the other day. Let me say upfront, I don't really see the whole ... http://billsaysthis.com/movies/2008/03/spartacus In the not-distant past Bob Hoskins made a good impression on me with his performances in movies like The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? So when I noticed that he produced and starred in a recent (1996 release) version of Joseph Conrad's classic novel of ... http://billsaysthis.com/movies/2008/03/the-secret-agent Seriously, how did this win the Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Director of 2007? Maybe there were subliminal messages embedded in the theatrical or screener version that I missed watching on DVD. The only other reasons I can think of are along the lines of technical excellence, the combination of ... http://billsaysthis.com/movies/2008/03/no-country-for-old-men After a career mostly spent writing children's animated dinosaur movies and writing and directing fluffy romantic pics, Michael Davis steps up and, in my book, scores a near bullseye with a misunderstood satire of the recent Jason Stathem/Vin Diesel ultra-violent anti-hero thrillers. Clive Owen is Smith, the anti-hero at the core ... http://billsaysthis.com/movies/2008/03/shoot-em-up Love, Actually is one of our (my wife and I) favorite movies, which we watch every New Year's Eve (or Day), and Ryan Reynolds is turning out to show up pretty well most times too so when we saw a 'new movie from the people who brought you Love, Actually' ... http://billsaysthis.com/movies/2008/03/definitely-maybe Nearly a decade after its release I finally saw this 1999 Brad Pitt/Edward Norton cult classic that, more than anything else, reminds me of a dramatic version of Office Space. Both are highly negative looks at the life of a modern corporate worker, or white collar slave as Pitt's character ... http://billsaysthis.com/movies/2008/03/fight-club