ShowbizJunkies

A giant among movie reviewers, the legendary critic Roger Ebert has passed away at the age of 70. Just this week he let it be known that his cancer had returned and that he would have to cut back on the number of movies he would review going forward, with health issues forcing him to [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion “Inspired” by the true events in the PBS Frontline documentary Snitch, the fictional feature film of the same name attempts to do a number of things … too many things.   The documentary examines the efficacy of mandatory minimum sentencing in relation to drug offenses. Parties found guilty in [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, SoberingConclusion.com Director Lasse Hallström used to make great movies like My Life as a Dog, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and The Cider House Rules. I don’t know what happened (I suspect Y2K) but now he’s releasing his second, HIS SECOND, Nicholas Sparks adaptation, Safe Haven.   For those who don’t remember, [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion Have you been wondering what happened to all of those paint-by-number, buddy action films from about 30 years ago that lately can only be found at 2AM on a movie channel you get as part of your digital cable bonus pack? Some of that genre was defined by director [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, SoberingConclusion For a brief moment I thought about employing an age-old reviewing strategy for Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters; namely using as many words as there are minutes in the runtime (88 in this case). However, I had a couple of points to make and so this review will easily pass [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “Now life has killed the dream I dreamed,” sings Fantine (Anne Hathaway) who’s become a prostitute after being fired from the factory she worked at to support her daughter in the big screen film adaptation of the Broadway hit musical, Les Miserables.   Victor Hugo’s classic story remains the same, taking [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion Quentin Tarantino has a knack for taking genre films and twisting them to meet his stylized writing and direction style. Whether it’s Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, or segments within the Kill Bill franchise, his love of cinema has translated into a career based on both paying homage and subverting [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion Ten years ago, Chicago was brought from Broadway to the big screen and it was hailed as the return of the movie musical. It would go on to win multiple Oscars and was a financial success thanks to the inclusion of big name actors who could draw in middle [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion By now, most people know that the latest movie from Judd Apatow, This is 40, is a quasi-sequel to the 2007 hit Knocked Up. The “quasi” part comes from focusing on two of the supporting characters and leaving the leads from the original out of the picture.   Here [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “Bilbo Baggins, I’m looking for someone to share in an adventure,” says the Grey Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to the small Hobbit named Bilbo (Martin Freeman) in director Peter Jackson’s return to Middle-earth film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.   At first Bilbo wants nothing to do with an adventure, claiming [...]