ShowbizJunkies

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion Most loyal readers know I’m not much for reading books (hello, film critic). Still, there was a time when I poured through the pages of authors like Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, and John Grisham … feel free to draw the obvious connection regarding their works making it to the [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “This train is for circus animals,” says Vitaly (Bryan Cranston) the performing tiger to Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) who are on the run in Europe and still trying to get back home to [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion From Aardman Animations, the studio that brought us Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run and Creature Comforts, comes The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Like their other work, the animation is largely of the stop-motion variety, though CGI was used to flesh out background details. The result is a wonderfully detailed [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “I’m here for your gold.” “Afraid we don’t have any gold old man. This is a leper boat,” and once again Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) has bungled another looting adventure in the animated comedy, The Pirates! Band of Misfits. After 20 plus years of losing the coveted Pirate of the Year [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, SoberingConclusion February 12th, 2010. A date that will live in infamy. I apologize for casting any flip sensibilities on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked but 2/12/10 was the release date for Valentine’s Day … and in a cinematic sense, the landscape is still recovering. Writer Katherine Fugate and director Garry [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “It’s the Muppet telethon…Yaaaaaayyyyy!!,” exclaims Kermit the Frog putting on one last show with all his old Muppet friends in their old theatre in an effort to save it from destruction in the comedy movie, The Muppets. The Muppets have been out of the spotlight for at least 12 years and [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “Fear me, if you dare,” says Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) to a foxy feline hooded thief who has bungled his latest attempt to steal the magical beans from the notorious outlaws Jack and Jill in the animated adventure, Puss in Boots. After trying to out dance the thief, Puss discovers [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion   Are you glued to the cable news channels? Is listening to campaign rhetoric your idea of a good time? Oh, and most importantly, are you a Democrat? If the answer to all three questions isn’t an unmitigated ‘yes’, then feel free to cross The Ides of March off [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion   The first question one should ask when considering what movie to watch is whether or not Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in it. From Mysterious Skin to The Lookout to (500) Days of Summer, his subdued and quiet brilliance have made for some of the most exciting and fresh cinema [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “So I thought we might start by canvasing the neighborhood,” says FBI special agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) to Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson). “Sorry. You lost me at ‘we,” replies the sergeant in the dark crime comedy The Guard. A maverick Irish cop in a small town in County Galway, [...]