7 HOME MOVIES STORIES
Smith can't save 'Hancock'
7/4/2008 | REVIEW | Nitpicky viewers will love the chipper opening scene of "Hancock." As the film's initial action sequence which features Will Smith's airborne superhero character wrecking cars, thrashing highways and wiping out several hundred thousand square feet of office space as he brings a group of thugs to justice comes to an end, a news-reporter voiceover informs us of the price tag for the mayhem: a whopping $9 million. A personal record!
Documentaries show another side of Abu Ghraib story
7/4/2008 | COLUMN | In a class that I taught at Gonzaga University a few years ago, the subject of Abu Ghraib prison came up. The discussion was appropriate.
Now on DVD
7/4/2008 | DVD | "Walker Texas Ranger The Complete Fifth Season"The only thing stiffer than Chuck Norris' mustache is his acting, a malady that dates back to his days as Bruce Lee's punching bag in 1972's "Return of the Dragon.
Poor premise, stellar sights
6/27/2008 | REVIEW | Blend the killer-in-training elements of "La Femme Nikita" with the physics-defying stunts of "The Matrix," whip in the Oedipal angst of "The Empire Strikes Back" and sprinkle liberally with "Fight Club's" bad attitude.
'WALL-E' worth taking a look at
6/27/2008 | REVIEW | The late, great Stanley Kubrick ("2001:A Space Odyssey") used to say that if you can turn off the sound and still follow the story, you've made a film.
Now on DVD
6/27/2008 | DVD | "Definitely Maybe"Set against the background of the 1992 Clinton campaign, Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) attempts to explain his divorce and past relationships to his young daughter.
Myers' 'Love Guru' will leave you pining for 'Shrek'
6/20/2008 | REVIEW | Even before it opened, "The Love Guru," Mike Myers' new film, stirred up controversy among Hindu groups concerned that his take on a self-help guru would be offensive on religious grounds.
'Missed it by that much'
6/20/2008 | REVIEW | Apparently there are two actors named Steve Carell. One appears in sharp-witted, humanistic, "small" movies like "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Dan in Real Life" and the occasional smart comedy blockbuster like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" not to mention starring in "The Office," one of TV's edgiest comedies.
The last picture show?
6/20/2008 | Doors are locked and the lights are off at Spokane's lone, beleaguered arthouse theater. Just months after emerging from a nearly nine-year hiatus, the non-profit Magic Lantern organization stunned local independent-film buffs by shutting down the theater and discharging its director.
Shyamalan's 'Happening' loses its way in a hurry
6/13/2008 | If water naturally gravitates toward the lowest point it can find, then perhaps with "The Happening," M. Night Shyamalan has reached his true depth as a filmmaker.
Portman's performance boosts engrossing tale
6/13/2008 | "The Bucket List"Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) have both been diagnosed with cancer. Realizing that time is precious, they make up a list of things to do before they die.
'Miranda Collection' offers entertainer at her best
6/13/2008 | Spending a day watching Carmen Miranda movies is like dropping LSD in a supermarket produce department: You'll never look at an orange in the same way again.
New 'Hulk' offers plenty of eye candy, old story lines
6/13/2008 | REVIEW | Ever since receiving a massive dose of gamma radiation, scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) has had to curb his emotions lest he morph into an angry green giant.
'Zohan' makes the cut
6/6/2008 | REVIEW | There's a spirit of avant-garde goofiness to the new Adam Sandler movie that sets it apart from his usual sophomoric work. Sprung from the fertile comic imaginations of Robert Smigel ("Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog") and Judd Apatow (the grand vizier of film comedy), it exists in a slap-happy parallel universe.
Achieving awesomeness
6/6/2008 | REVIEW | Po dreams of being a great martial artist. He longs to have skills, "an awesome aura so awesome, his enemies would go blind from overdoses of pure awesomeness!
Vaughn goes Wild in comedy
6/6/2008 | DVD | "Control"The list of musicians who died after, presumably, having lived fast is long and growing longer as the years pass. Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix are probably the best known examples.
This 'Sex' hardly sells
5/30/2008 | REVIEW | Carrie Bradshaw's jaw drops. Mr. Big beams. "Oh my God," she gasps. "Oh! Oh, you did me proud!" "Like it," he asks modestly. "Love at first sight!" she exclaims. Yes, true to his name, the tall, dark and handsome figure in Carrie's storied love life has given her what every woman dreams of: a huge, French-doored closet all her own, with recessed lighting, a lushly carpeted floor, and shelves and shelves and shelves for all her shoes.
'Sex and the City': Where are they now?
5/30/2008 | NEW YORK Let's face it: "Sex and the City" may be the quintessential chick flick of all time. Women are booking their seats in giddy anticipation of the film's Friday release.
SIFF promoter finds his niche
5/30/2008 | COLUMN | Cal Ledbetter didn't grow up near a movie theater. As residents of Lacrosse, Wash., Ledbetter and his family had to drive an hour or more to Moscow, Idaho, to see the current releases.
'Home Alone,' it's not
5/30/2008 | REVIEW | Little Mauro (Michel Joelsas) is more concerned with his game of tabletop soccer than the hurried actions of his parents. The year is 1970, and the 12-year-old's imagination is pinned on the approaching World Cup, which Brazil stands a good chance of winning.
'Cassandra's Dream' shows Allen's dramatic, dark side
5/30/2008 | DVD | "Grace Is Gone"1/2Most of the effective looks at what the Iraq War has cost American citizens have been, like this James C. Strouse film, set at home.
Indiana Jones shows his age
5/23/2008 | REVIEW | There is no getting around it: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is shackled with the burden of unreasonable expectations. Does it live up to them?
This bet may not go smoothly
5/23/2008 | COLUMN | Sometime Monday morning, I'm likely to be standing in line at the Ben & Jerry's franchise at River Park Square, buying one of those fruity smoothies they sell there.
The sound of youth
5/23/2008 | REVIEW | "Young @ Heart" follows a choir of generally peppy septuagenarians through six weeks of practice, trial, tribulation and performance. The gimmick that has propelled the group, named Young @ Heart, to a small measure of fame is that rather than sing standbys such as "Sweet Adeline" and "As Time Goes By," they're rockers, rappers and punkers.
Moore plans 'Fahrenheit' followup
5/16/2008 | CANNES, France Michael Moore is taking America's temperature again. Moore, who won the top honor at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival with "Fahrenheit 9/11," plans a followup to resume his examination of the nation's status in the world in the years since the Sept.
