Bad Teacher review - Diaz gets her bitch on

I wouldn't really call Bad Teacher a movie, so much as it is an hour and a half of Cameron Diaz acting like a complete money-grubbing bitch. I have to admit, it's fun to watch her exploit her coworkers, obsess about finding a man to leech off, smoke a bunch of pot, and try to embezzle money from students to get a boob job. Still, she's never quite as "bad" as the title implies. Her deeds are mean, yeah, but most fall into low grade crimes. Stealing test scores is as bad as it gets.

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KNIGHT AND DAY is insane fun; Cruise is back (review)

Rating:  (Good)

In an earlier article, I compared Knight and Day to Killers. I'm glad I bet on Cruise. Except for a slight slip involving a couch, he seems to have a lock on his career. He knows his strengths and they're all are on display in Knight and Day, a film that revels in its lunacy so convincingly that I couldn't help but join the fun. After seeing a preview of the film on Saturday, I left beaming, ready to drive fast and kick some ass. This is a better popcorn flick than almost anything out there and has just enough flirting to keep the ladies interested.

The most exciting moment for me was about 20 minutes in, when I realized that I had no idea what was coming next. Almost every shot from the trailer takes place in the first few scenes of the movie. I can't remember the last time that's happened; it felt really liberating to not know what was coming. After the first few moments, which are thrilling, it's all surprises and they're all fun as hell. I felt like I was back in a 60s action movie with amped up pacing to satiate my modern eyes. 

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SHREK FOREVER AFTER brings Shrek back to his roots

Rating:

One of the best things about Shrek (2002) was its universal appeal. Kids enjoyed watching a giant ogre yell at an Eddie Murphy donkey and adults enjoyed the jabs at Disney fairytales and occasional lewd jokes. Along with early films like Ice Age and Pixar's yearly entries, Shrek helped define the tone of the many computer animated movies to come. Sadly, in each of its sequels, the Shrek series has slid further and further into mediocrity and family fun, straying from its rather unique roots. In this fourth, and claimed finale, Shrek comes full circle, embracing the movie that started it all. If Shrek The Third was this good the series would still be going strong.

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Hollywood copies itself: KNIGHT AND DAY vs KILLERS

I've been studying the summer movie releases coming up in 2010 and I've noticed that a lot of Hollywood releases are, well, copies of one another. We've seen this before. For every Deep Impact, there is an Armageddon. For every Dante's Peak, there is a Volcano. For every A Bug's Life, there is an Antz. Either by plan or cosmic coincidence, Hollywood tends to copy itself, but studio executives may have hit Ctrl+C a few too many times this year. 

In each edition of this series, I'll present a new movie pairing. You be the judge. 

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New KNIGHT AND DAY trailer looks like a good time

Tom Cruise does not want to give up his Mission Impossible persona. Even when he's not playing super spy Ethan Hunt, he's playing a secret agent of some sort. In this case, he's a secret agent who defects, dragging along an innocent woman, played by his Vanilla Sky cohort Cameron Diaz. Looks like a lot of action topped with a bit of story, but hey, sometimes that's a good thing. The film is directed by James Mangold, the man responsible for Identity and 3:10 to Yuma, two great films from the past decade. It hits theaters June 25th--that's one weekend before Twilight Eclipse, ladies.

THE BOX is perplexing but powerful (Review)

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Never push the big red button. It's never a good idea. Things blow up, people die, civilizations end, bad guys laugh. Still, it's always too tempting to resist. The big red button is a problem for us, it seems. In The Box that button does two things: it rewards you with one million dollars and ends the life of someone you do not know. Is it worth it? It's certainly worth exploring.

Would you walk naked down Time's Square on a busy day if someone promised peace somewhere else in the world? Would you really sacrifice your dignity for those you don't know? Richard Matheson asks this in the forward to his short story, Button, Button.

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