Jason Ritter is the 29-year old son of the late John Ritter. Like his dad, he’s an actor.
Sometimes I cop a little bit of an attitude at second (and third!) generation actors. Many of them (Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estavez, Bridget Fonda, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Jared Harris, Joely Richardson, Colin Hanks, even Gwynneth Paltrow) don’t even come close to equaling the talent and charm of their famous parents.
However, there’s another group (Jamie Lee Curtis, Timothy Hutton, Jane Fonda, Amanda Plummer, Beau and Jeff Bridges, Michael Douglas, Sean Astin, Geraldine Chaplin, Laura Dern, and others) who make a believer out of me by holding their own as performers.
After seeing him in the films Happy Endings and now The Education of Charlie Banks, I am happy to add young Mr. Ritter to this list.
In the movie (which was made in 2007 but only now released), Ritter plays a toxic, violent but charismatic bully. He’s rather great in the role, and the fact that his 5′ 9″ frame does not make him a natural to play a physically imposing character makes his performance all the more impressive.
Ritter plays the kind of creep who makes you believe he’d gather followers around him like the Pied Piper even though he’s capable of committing acts of great destruction.
I look forward to seeing what Ritter does next.
PS: It’s interesting to note that in “Three’s Company, ” his father played a straight man pretending to be gay; in Happy Endings Jason plays a gay man pretending to be straight.
Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 239 user reviews.
Over the next undetermined amount of time, due to underwhelming demand, I will be posting my movie awards from the past. Try not to pee in your pants with excitement. That would be gratifying but undignified.
Watch this space!!
Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 199 user reviews.
Christian Bale almost ruined The Dark Knight and Batman Begins with it. Whenever he spoke from within the Batsuit, his speech was a low, guttural, utterly expressionless growl. No change of inflection, no color, nothing. I can’t believe someone as talented and perceptive as director Christopher Nolan would let him get away with it.
Where did this daffy choice come from? I suspect from the world of video games. Metal Gear Solid is one of the most popular and revered of all game franchises. Though not my cup of tea, the games had many fine qualities and legions of fans.
I was always baffled when actor David Hayter’s voice work was praised as the games’ main character. In sequel after sequel, it was always the same thing: a guttural, expressionless snarl, speaking every single line exactly the same way. It was that stupid In-Batsuit-Snarl. Everyone (weirdly) found that brilliant.
A much better model would have been the wonderful voice acting Stephen Russell did as the title character in the Thief games. He, too, played a dark, shadowy character, but his performance used much more nuance and color.
Well, now the Snarl Virus is spreading. Clint Eastwood has been using it for years (thought it’s not as bad in his recent, wonderful, Gran Torino).
Have you seen, or more importantly, heard, the trailers for the upcoming megamovie Watchmen? The talented Jackie Earle Haley plays Rorschach and uses the exact same monochromatic drone.
This must stop. Immediately.
Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 253 user reviews.
Wall E: So how much time to you have? Once again Pixar proves it’s the smartest, savviest and most creative creators of popular movies. This movie is gorgeous, funny, sad, innovative and unforgettable.
Slumdog Millionaire: This magical film combines director Danny Boyle’s raw filmmaking sensibility with old-fashioned movie appeal.
In Bruges: This very dark comedy from writer/director Martin McDonagh tells the story of two hit men (Brendon Gleeson and Colin Farrell) cooling their jets in a tiny Belgium tourist town after a job back home has gone very, very wrong. Ralph Fiennes is a scream as their impatient boss. The writing and acting is tremendously good.
Gran Torino. The trailer made this movie look like a Death Wish clone, but nothing could be further from the truth. Clint Eastwood’s beautiful movie about a bigot who finds a connection with the Hmong immigrants in his neighborhood is a stunning piece of work.
The Reader: I like movies about moral ambiguity, and The Reader has it in spades. It also has stunning acting by Kate Winslet and David Kross.
Milk: Both director Gus Van Sant and star Sean Penn show remarkable taste and restraint in this biopic of the first openly gay person ever elected to office in the United States. The movie is full of wonderful performances, particularly from Emile Hirsch (never thought I’d say that, as he is not my cup of half-caf mochachino), James Franco and Josh Brolin.
Frost/Nixon: Ron Howard returns to form with this superbly-made dramatization of the famous interviews.
Doubt: John Patrick Shanley’s Broadway Pulitzer-Prize-winning play becomes a fascinating movie. Four acting powerhouses — Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis– tear up the screen
The Dark Knight: A rich, complex, well made and beautifully acted movie.
Priceless: A beautifully old-fashioned caper / romantic comedy starring the wonderful Audrey Tautou.
Honorable Mention: Cloverfield, Defiance, Sex and the City, Boy A, Frozen River, The Duchess, Last Chance Harry, Role Models, Young@Heart, Fear(s) of the Dark, Waltz With Bashir, Pineapple Express, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, The Bank Job, Flawless
Best Event Movie
Cloverfield: The premise – a murderous sea monster goes through a rampage through Manhattan and you’re only point of view is that of an amateur video camera wielded by a dazed twenty-something partygoer – worked remarkably well. Any movie that understands that the scariest thing is the unknown scores big points. The fact that you never know any more than the terrified kids who are filming the action ratchets the tension level up to a fever pitch. Technically the movie is also ingenious.
Best Actor
Brendon Gleeson, In Bruges
Andrew Garfield, Boy A
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Michael Sheen, Frost/Nixon
*Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Sean Penn, Milk
Dustin Hoffman, Last Chance Harry
Best Actress
Audrey Tautou, Priceless
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
*Kate Winslet, The Reader
Keira Knightley, The Duchess
Judith Light, Save Me
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Emma Thompson, Last Chance Harry
Best Supporting Actor
Colin Farrell, In Bruges
Ralph Fiennes, In Bruges / The Duchess / The Reader
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
*Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
Omar Benson Miller, Miracle at St. Anna
Michael Kelly, Changeling
Anil Kapoor, Slumdog Millionaire
David Kross, The Reader
Tom Cruise, Tropic Thunder
Best Supporting Actress
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Death-Defying Acts
Jane Lynch, Role Models
Amy Adams, Doubt
*Viola Davis, Doubt
Beyonce Knowles, Cadillac Records
Kathy Bates, Revolutionary Road
Lena Olin in The Reader
Best Screenplay
Well, the year’s ten best movies had the ten best screenplays, duh.
Best Documentary Feature
*Young@Heart. This stunning movie tells the story of a chorus of senior citizens who bring new meaning and insight to rock and punk standards. To see it is to have your heart lifted right through the rafters.
Constantine’s Sword: Tells the story of the Roman emperor who cynically made Christianity the official religion of the empire, thus damning Western Civilization to two centuries of superstition, intolerance and suppression of science. Thanks, Constantine!
Bigger, Stronger, Faster: A surprisingly insightful look at the world of performance enhancing drugs in our competitive American culture.
Man on Wire: A fascinating look at the journey of acrobat Philippe Petit and his six-year odyssey to create one of the best guerilla stunts of all time: Walking a tightrope between the tops of the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York.
Religulous: Bill Maher travels the world to try to discover why grown-up people still believe in fairy tales
Saving Marriage: The inspiring story of the fight for marriage equality in Massachusetts
Best Production Design
Changeling
The Dark Knight
*The Fall
Best Cinematography
The Fall
The Dark Knight
*Slumdog Millionaire
Best Direction
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Best Foreign Language Film
Note: I promise I’m not pushing some creepy Gallic agenda here. It was just a really good year for movies from France, what can I say?
Priceless (France): Audrey Tautou once again proves she’s a movie force to be reckoned with in this charming, retro comedy.
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (France)
The Class (France)
*Tell No One (France)
Best Animated Movies That Weren’t Wall E
Madagascar 2: Back to Africa
*Waltz With Bashir
Bolt
Fear(s) of the Dark
Best Song
*“Gran Torino” from . . . Gran Torino
“You’re As Gay as the Day is Long” from Hamlet 2
“Rock Me, Sexy Jesus” from Hamlet 2
“Raped in the Face” from Hamlet 2
One of the Most Beautiful Movies I’ve Ever Seen
Visionary director Tarsem’s The Fall. Rent the Blue-Ray of this, play it on your widescreen HDTV and prepare to be blown away by the imagery.
I’m Really Sick of Superhero Movies . . .
But Ironman and The Dark Knight were both very good, considering.
Underrated
Australia: I don’t get why audiences stayed away from this gaudy birthday present of a movie. I was sure it would be Hugh Jackman’s first big non-“X Men” film success, but the movie got tepid reviews and never took off at the box office. Very odd.
A Good Year for Heist Movies
The Bank Job: Jason Statham and Saffron Burroughs starred in this terrific, based-on-a-true story of a complicated robbery.
Flawless: Director Michael Radford’s surprisingly affecting caper movie starring Michael Caine and, in a terrific performance, Demi Moore.
Not Saying it Was a Good Movie, But He Can Wear That Suit
Keanu Reeves as Klaatu in the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still
Proof that Ryan Reynolds is Definitely (Not Maybe) Ready For a Bigger Career
Definitely Maybe
Proof That James Franco is Getting Better and Better
Milk and Pineapple Express
Just Put Them in Your Movie. They’ll Make Your Movie Better
The dependable and wonderful J.K. Simmons
The intense and riveting Viola Davis
The luminous and perpetually underrated Lena Olin
Best New Word From a Movie
“Bromosexual” from Pineapple Express
Please Let’s See More of . .
. . . the hilarious Danny R. McBride, who was so good in Tropic Thunder and so hilarious in Pineapple Express
. . . the beautiful and versatile Sophie Okonedo from The Secret Life of Bees
. . . Omar Benson Miller, who gave a beautifully tender performance in Spike Lee’s underseen Miracle at St. Anna
. . . Melissa Leo, who tore up the screen in Frozen River
. . . the intense Dominic Cooper from The Duchess and Mamma Mia!
. . . the talented Michael Kelly, who was so good in Changeling
. . . the talented David Kross of The Reader
Best Gay Couple in a Movie
Justin Long and Brandon Routh in Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Tough, Entertaining Little Independent Movies
Transsiberian
Frozen River
Funniest Movies
*Role Models
Pineapple Express
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Best Comeback of 2008
Forget Mickey Rourke. The true Comeback Kid of last year was, without a doubt, World War II. In one year you could revisit the war in The Miracle in St. Anna, The Reader, Valkyrie, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Good and Defiance. And that’s just the ones I can remember.
Really Hardworking Actor
Mark Strong: This handsome Brit appeared in no less than six films released in 2008, including Rocknrolla, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and Good.
He’s Rilly Rilly Talented and Should Be a Bigger Star
Lee Pace, who gave memorable performances in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and The Fall.
Memorable Lines
Miss Pettigrew Lives For a day. At a party in 1939 London, after watching a group of drunken young people whoop and cheer at the sight of a group of British warplanes flying overhead, Frances McDormand’s Miss Pettigrew sighs and murmurs, “They don’t remember the last one. . . “
In Bruges: “Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn’t, so it doesn’t.”
In Bruges: “Why in the world would anyone have to go to Belgium?!
Doubt: “Where’s your compassion?” “Nowhere YOU can get at it!”
In Bruges: “They’re filmin’ midgets!!”
Frost/Nixon: “When the President does it, that means it’s not illegal.”
Role Models: “No, venti is twenty. Large is large. In fact, tall is large and grande is Spanish for large. Venti is the only one that doesn’t mean large. It’s also the only one that’s Italian. Congratulations, you’re stupid in three languages.”
Tropic Thunder: “Everybody knows you never go full retard.”
I Wonder How Many Phantom Of the Opera Fans Realized . . .
. . . that they were listening to the legendary Michael Crawford all through the movie Wall E. The clips from 1969’s Hello, Dolly! largely featured Crawford singing the role of Cornelius, 19 years before he created his most famous role as The Opera Ghost in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway juggernaut.
Big, Splashy Popcorn Movies That I Heartily Recommend
Eagle Eye
Lakeview Terrace
Only Good Horror Film This Year
The Strangers: Despite its nihilistic ending (which, admittedly, isn’t uncommon in this genre), this home invasion story is creepy and effective.
Way, Way, Way Better Than I Expected
Sex and the City: Who knew this series had such a terrifically entertaining feature film in it?
Deserved to Do More Business
Leatherheads: This was a fun movie about the birth of professional football. Now if you read that statement back, and you know me, you’ll agree that it’s as unlikely a statement as I’m liable to ever make. So rent this stylish period comedy.
Not As Bad As Everyone Said It Was
The Happening: Everyone gets pissed off when the new M. Night Shyamalan movie isn’t The Sixth Sense. I say just shut up and enjoy his twisted imagination.
Worst Movies I Saw in 2008
10, 000 BC: Great title, great visual effects . . . still boring. Well, at least director Roland Emmerich remains consistent.
Burn After Reading: My Beloved Coen Brothers follow up their Best Picture winning No Country For Old Men with this unwatchable, arrogant mess.
Quantum of Solace: I loved Casino Royale, but this second outing for Daniel Craig as 007 is ugly, boring and stupid.
*The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: A double winner for also being the most overrated borefest of the year. I liked this movie a lot better when it was called Forrest Gump.
Please Keep Directing and Please Stop Acting:
Ben Stiller
Performer Who Most Makes Me Long For Death
Steve Coogan, Tropic Thunder and Hamlet 2
Not Nearly As Good As Everyone Said It Was
I think I’m the only person who enjoyed Ang Lee’s 2003 The Hulk, and it certainly was no worse than this new version starring Ed Norton.
Richard Roeper Lost His Mind . . .
. . . over Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It’s a perfectly fun and funny movie from the Judd Apatow factory, but it’s not the second coming of Christ.
And Speaking of Richard Roeper . . . Ben Lyons Must Be Killed
Shame on Buena Vista Television for replacing Roeper with the vacuous Ben Lyons on “At the Movies.” When reviewing Tom Cruise’s Valkyrie, rather than claiming the movie was actually good, he actually said, “Tom Cruise is one of the biggest celebrities on the planet! Just enjoy the movie!!” Like we should simply be grateful that a star of Cruise’s wattage deigned to take the trouble to stand in front of a camera for our benefit. That’s the kind of statement a fanboy should make, not a movie critic. Ben Lyons must be killed.
My Ex-Wordprocessing Cohort Chad McKnight Deservers Better Than . .
The Signal
Such a Disappointment After Supersize Me
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? And what in the world was the talented and appealing filmmaker Morgan Spurlock thinking when he decided this paper-thin confection was a worthy follow-up to his super Supersize Me?
Other Disappointments
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. What a bore. What a letdown after the excellent The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: While not actually terrible, this was a disappointment in so many ways. Why bring back Marian (Karen Allen) and then make her act as if she’d been dropped on her head repeatedly since the first movie? Why have a plot that feels like it’s cobbled together from every movie cliché imaginable? Why have the title prop look like a big ugly piece of molded plastic?
Most Bullshit-Covered Documentary
Water. Did you know that water was MAGIC?
The Workout Rule
My friend Tayler and I have worked out this important Hollywood rule. It goes as follows: If you are a young, nice looking actor who’s been hired to be in a movie because you’re a young, nice-looking actor (as opposed to because you’re, say, the next Ed Norton), and it’s at all possible that you will go shirtless at any point in said movie, Get Thee to a Gym.
If you’re Hayden Christensen and you bare your bod in a piece of crap movie like Jumper, you need to be in shape. Consider it an important part of what they’re paying you for.
Extra Points For Following the Workout Rule
When he was hired to play the lead in Stop-Loss, Ryan Phillipe was told that he’d have to get in the best shape of his life. And you know what? Mr. Phillipe is not only a good actor, but he understands The Workout Rule. Watch the movie – his commitment to The Rule makes the film better.
Please.
Mamma Mia
What in the World Were the Critics Smoking When They Gave This Boring Piece of Tripe Rapturous Reviews?
Reprise: Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier proves that boredom has no language barrier.
Worst Performance in a Musical Since Jack Nicholson in Tommy
Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia! S.O.S. indeed.
In Memoriam
Paul Newman
Charlton Heston
Heath Ledger
George Carlin
Roy Scheider
Sidney Pollack
Richard Widmark
Arthur C. Clarke
Eartha Kitt
Van Johnson
Bettie Page
Robert Prosky
Paul Benedict
Mr. Blackwell
Levi Stubbs
Edie Adams
Bill Melendez (Peanuts animator)
Don LaFontaine (legendary movie trailer voice: “In a world . . . “)
Jerry Reed
Isaac Hayes
Bernie Mac
Bernie Brillstein
Estelle Getty
Jo Stafford
Evelyn Keyes
Cyd Charisse
Stan Winston
Harvey Korman
Yves St.-Laurent
Dick Martin
John Phillip Law
Eddie Arnold
Gary Gygax (inventor of Dungeons & Dragons)
Brad Renfro
Suzanne Pleshette
Ann Savage (noir diva)
Robert Mulligan (directed To Kill a Mockingbird and The Other)
Sam Bottoms
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Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 170 user reviews.
Holiday cheer got you too cheery? Worried that you may be too happy this week?
Then I can recommend you get to your local art movie house to see Wendy and Lucy. It’s the story of Wendy (Michelle Williams) who is traveling with her dog Lucy to Alaska. In Oregon her car breaks down. Things start go downhill after that, as Wendy has absolutely no financial wiggle room. Except for a drug-store security guard, no one in the crappy little town feels like helping her or giving her a break. She loses her dog. She looks for her dog.
All in all, I can safely say that Wendy and Lucy is, paws-down, the Feel Bad Movie of 2008. Don’t miss it!
Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 205 user reviews.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you different. First there is Alien (1979), directed by Ridley Scott. Then there is Aliens (1986), directed by James Cameron. The first is one of the scariest horror films ever made. The second is my favorite high-tech sci-fi action adventure ever.
We do not discuss the films which followed. They are not real. They are not canon. They are not worthy. Let us never speak of them again.
What a great opportunity it was for Sigourney Weaver, whose previous credits were quite paltry, to land the plum role of Ripley in the first film!
Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to see both movies in a double feature at the American Cinematech at the Egyptian. My friend and I agreed that, seeing them together, it makes it even more obvious that Aliens is easily the better film. But they are both classics, and deserve to be remembered together without the taint of the drecky franchise films which followed them.
Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 263 user reviews.
Against all odds, Heath Ledger’s performance lives up to the incredible hype it’s been receiving for months. As a newly-reimagined Joker, he’s amazingly menacing, creepy, and even complex.
The rest of the movie is terrific as well. Though it’s a bit long, the length allows it time to get into moral territory that’s surprisingly sophisticated for any American movie, much less a summer superhero blockbuster.
Another triumph is that, unlike too many of today’s overblown CGI extravaganzas, the special effects in the movie truly serve the story and the action, not the other way around. There’s none of that fake-looking crap like you got with Spiderman flying around Manhattan like a deranged drillbit (thanks to Amy Hohn for the analogy).
Only one thing seriously bothered me about The Dark Knight, but it bothered me a lot. It’s the same thing that bothered me in Batman Begins. That’s the stupid, childish, fake, overly-gutteral voice Christian Bale puts on whenever he’s in the batsuit. It’s just dumb, and totally unnecessary. I can’t believe the talented director, Christopher Nolan, thought it worked, because it doesn’t.
But everything else in the movie does, especially the wall-to-wall acting, which is uniformly better than you’re supposed to get in movies like this. Kudos to Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman and my girlfriend Maggie Gyllenhaal.
By the way. See it in Imax. Trust me.
Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 161 user reviews.
Lately I’ve been using my new Netflix account to catch up on all of the old Disney animated features that I’ve never seen. I missed most of the package pictures from the WWII era, as well as a few others.
Ever heard of that Disney classic Make Mine Music? How about Mr. Toad? Melody Time?
Well. It turns out there’s a REASON most these movies are obscure.
But at least I was able to get through those. Lately I’ve been trying to get through The Sword in the Stone and it’s just sooo crushingly boring and unfunny and filled with bad music that I just can’t watch it all. Even the Black Cauldron was better than this (actually it wasn’t bad . . more on that later).
Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 266 user reviews.
Starring: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Thomas Kretschmann
Wanted is trash, but it’s reasonably entertaining trash. After several days of seeing crunchy whole-grain granola independent films and documentaries, I wanted to see something that blows up real good. The movie is directed by Timur Bekmambetov, who also directed the Russian Night Watch movies.
The movie deals with McAvoy, playing an uber-nerd in a nothing job in a nothing apartment in a nothing relationship, suddenly gets recruited by Angelina Jolie, who represents “The Fraternity, ” an ancient order of assassins. What follows is formulaic, though the action is first-rate (particularly a sequence when a train dangles off a heartbreakingly high bridge).
The movie is also morally reprehensible. Totally.
You should only see it if you are a huge fan of Jolie’s (I understand there are a certain number of movie fans who fit this description) or want to see things blow up real good. Me, I am smitten with Mr. McAvoy, which is the main thing the movie has to offer me.
McAvoy is a short, slight guy, but this belies a very athletic background. He’s a championship boxer, for one thing, and his physicality and strength add tremendously to his screen presence, not just in this movie, but in everything he appears in, with the possible exception of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
And with that shocking run-on sentence, this post is done.
Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 210 user reviews.
