What I Learned from Movie X: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

This is a column that I started writing for Box Office Prophets. I had a lot of fun with it, and hope to start it up again someday. We’ll see.

“I’m sure that you assumed, while walking into Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, that you were in for another Michael Bay smorgasbord of explosions, boobs and explosions, with some fun racism thrown in for the kids. And yes, all of that was in there, but there was so, so much more (there kind of had to be; the freaking movie is two and a half hours long). Little did you know that you were actually about to be treated to one of the most blatant pieces of conservative propaganda shown in movie theaters since Glen Beck’s Common Sense Comedy Tour.

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Review: Inception

God bless you, Christopher Nolan. Two years ago you made one of the most remarkable, interesting, complex Hollywood blockbusters in history – The Dark Knight, a superhero movie with ideas and complex relationships and fascinating characters to go along with the big explosions. Not only that, but you made a movie that made more money in the United States than any movie not made by James Cameron. The sky was the limit for you. You could have become another Hollywood hack, directing sequels and remakes and sleeping in piles of gold-plated money. That’s what everyone else has done, including Gore Verbinski, Roland Emerich, Michael Bay, John Turtletaub, even Peter Jackson and George Lucas. You could have joined their ranks, churning out Hollywood garbage, disappointing your millions of fans.

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Review: Jonah Hex

“As a lover of action films, I am always excited to see a movie that truly wows me, and this weekend Jonah Hex had me walking out of the theater with a big wow. From the very first trailer, I thought that this movie looked awesome, and I decided to ignore the reviews and give it a shot. I went in expecting dumb summertime escapist fun with some cool action sequences, and not only was I not disappointed, I was actually surprised by how much better Jonah Hex was than I expected…”

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Don’t Overlook It: Ondine

A few months ago I started a new column at Box Office Prophets, titled “Don’t Overlook It.” It shined a light on independent films recently released in theaters or on DVD, hoping to increase awareness for these films, which typically are not advertised on television or released on more than a handful of screens. This is the most recent article I wrote in this series, about the Neil Jordan film “Ondine,” starring Colin Farell.

“There are a few directors I love who I feel don’t get nearly enough attention, and near the top of that list is Neil Jordan. Jordan is, in my humble but always right opinion, one of the most unique and underrated auteurs working today. And yes, he is very much an auteur, both because he writes and directs the majority of his films and because he imparts his own personal directorial stamp on each work that he creates. Anyone looking for evidence of that, or anyone looking to see a beautiful, magnificent and moving film, should see Jordan’s latest effort, Ondine…”

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