tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-113343552008-08-13T11:47:52.473-04:00Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-28431319546550904002008-08-13T11:37:00.004-04:002008-08-13T11:47:52.590-04:00

2 stars I don't feel like I oscillate too much in my opinion of movies. The five star (with half stars!) rating system works pretty well for me. I find that it offers enough shades of grey to differentiate a movie I might like due to fond nostalgia but upon an adult viewing I realize that it maybe kind of blows (Dirty Dancing ) from a movie that I might like due to fond nostalgia but upon an

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-24997783871996737332008-07-23T10:44:00.002-04:002008-07-24T11:13:07.409-04:00

4.5 stars Guys, I want to cry when I think about how much Christopher Nolan is giving me hope for the future of filmmaking. No, seriously. The Dark Knight is a real movie! With real editing and acting and a neat score and everything! It's like Michael Clayton if George Clooney were replaced by Batman!* Yeah, THAT real! Michael Clayton real! I think I'm not exaggerating when I say that this

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-47968500406397149722008-07-17T10:48:00.000-04:002008-07-17T10:49:15.832-04:00

2.5 stars You have to admit that it's almost not worth me writing a review of anything like Hellboy, a comic book character that I happen to know nothing about but you happen to know everything about. If I say it's phenomenal, purists will turn up their noses and insist that a filmic version can only sully the glory of the original blah-de-blah. If I say it's not phenomenal, I'll be told that

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-5822835983365449202008-07-10T09:57:00.001-04:002008-07-10T09:57:40.823-04:00

I honestly wrote an uppity sentence about how sometimes I have "things to do", "people," and I can't "flit off to the movies every five seconds" just to "compete with Daniel Neman," who gets to do this as a full-time job, I might add. But since the meat of my piece this week is how I've watched like fifty DVDs lately, I deleted said sentence, realizing I had no leg to stand on. I don't have

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-67424307780837595262008-07-02T09:35:00.000-04:002008-07-02T09:36:42.785-04:00

4.5 stars Well, I saw Wall-E last night, and I've had 24 hours to mull it over. 24 hours that I've been spending pulling gravel out of my hair from the Virginia Center Commons parking lot, upon which I crumbled, overcome with emotion, after some animated robots ripped my heart to shreds. There is 100% chance that I have just viewed the film that will win the 2009 Best Animated Film Oscar. I know

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-21425937555533635422008-06-18T13:15:00.001-04:002008-06-18T13:16:57.659-04:00

1 star While this review does contain more plot than I normally like to reveal, i.e. greater than 5%, I wouldn't exactly call it a "spoiler." I figure if you go to see The Happening, it'll be purely to experience the magic that is M. Night Shamyalan and the pitiful rat king he makes of filmmaking. And that's not the kind of spectacle I can easily capture with words. SHALL WE BEGIN? M. Night

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-65418454721437508992008-06-11T12:25:00.001-04:002008-06-11T12:26:28.656-04:00

Thomas McCarthy, 2008 2 stars I don't know about you, but I started the summer off with a bang. Typically skeptical of summer blockbusters, I was surprised to notice how many of them this year seemed to actually interest me. It's early June, and I've already seen three huge-budget films. I can't say I'm not excited about Get Smart. The cuteness of a Steve Carell /Anne Hathaway team is only

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-14788681554214409122008-06-04T10:29:00.001-04:002008-06-04T10:30:44.559-04:00

4 stars (yes! FOUR stars!) So the other night I put my brand new marriage* in jeopardy during what began as a pleasant post-honeymoon dinner with my sister and her husband. I'd masterfully steered the conversation towards movies, a skill I've acquired to mask the fact that I'm generally oblivious to most other topics, and we touched on the early summer blockbusters. We cruised past Iron Man with

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-12287967179831668712008-04-24T07:47:00.001-04:002008-04-24T07:48:49.574-04:00

3.5 stars Sometimes it's tough to like Judd Apatow. I liked The 40 Year Old Virgin, loved Knocked Up, and tolerated Superbad -- it's not really the movies themselves that provoke these qualms. It's the fact that the guy puts out a few good movies and all of a sudden he's arrogant enough to have his own BRAND of film? Now a "Judd Apatow" film doesn't mean that Apatow himself had anything to do

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-72579129347929774432008-04-11T10:45:00.004-04:002008-07-17T10:50:20.958-04:00

I'm really hoping that this is comedy's year. The Oscars are slowly reflecting America's fatigue of big, sweeping epics in favor of more detailed and experimental character studies (a result of our war weariness perhaps?), and in the last couple of years, little, well-made comedies have inched closer and closer to the forefront. Little Miss Sunshine was universally beloved, and Juno was so

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-45225641644748640652008-04-02T09:28:00.004-04:002008-07-17T10:50:42.450-04:00

4 stars (from my review at RVAnews!) It's easy (and fun!) to scoff away at films that recycle old devices and try to pass them off as new. Usually that sort of thing makes me furious...or at least annoyed and/or whiny. But sometimes a movie will follow a path that is so well-worn that we thought surely no one will dare to try to breathe new life into this dead horse, but dare they do. And they

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-14199615620241246122008-04-01T11:41:00.002-04:002008-04-01T11:44:28.926-04:00

(repost of my article at RVAnews!) The VCU French Film Festival! An annual three day event during which Richmonders stampede the Byrd Theatre like eager vessels for French directors to fill up with their wisdom! A time for us to wonder while we stand in line how we possibly got so lucky as to be the first Americans to view these. And until this year, a time for me to stress out about which

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-15487161308924997792008-03-19T09:30:00.003-04:002008-07-17T10:51:06.118-04:00

4 stars The funniest thing about Funny Games is how spitting mad it made Roger Ebert. Ebert is one of my favorite movie critics. He’s concise, he’s passionate, and he judges big budget movies and independent movies by the same criteria (although sometimes I wish those criteria were a little harsher). On average he finds nice things to say about more movies than anyone else, but this particular

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-60096053708840807522008-03-14T09:27:00.003-04:002008-07-17T10:51:42.374-04:00

from my review at RVANews! 4 stars Darlings. I write this to you from my silken boudoir, perched on a heap of dressing gowns, money, and servants. Yes, that is correct. I have abandoned my boring, polyester world for a life within a screwball comedy from the 1930s. And who can blame me? It’s lavish, it’s droll, men are always wearing suits and offering you champagne, live brass bands play in

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-84799991421023553662008-03-05T12:25:00.002-05:002008-03-08T11:38:58.184-05:00

(from my article at RVANews!) It’s going to be a bleak time in movie theaters for a little while.* The Oscars are over, but the world’s not ready for this year’s roster of superhero sequels. The weather is slightly better, but not mild enough to really embrace any notion one might have to romp around outdoors. Top Model just started, but the rest of your favorite shows won’t come back from the

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-40978347574866643762008-02-27T09:39:00.002-05:002008-07-17T10:51:42.376-04:00

2.5 stars According to me, Michele Gondry is very creative at putting together music videos, but he shouldn’t bother making full-length films. According to everyone else I know, he burst forth from the head of Orson Welles with camera in hand. I’m prepared to accept that divergence, seeing as how my previous position stood on shaky ground. I’d only seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-44361874864982074432008-02-22T12:56:00.002-05:002008-02-22T13:04:28.616-05:00

But who are you going to believe? A cinematic genius or a tenderhearted girl in Virginia? HMM? Here are George Clooney's Oscar Predictions. Although I'm sure the Cloonz will take home the gold (oh, crap, sorry George, there IS no gold for Best Oscar Predictor),* I'll still be interested to see if my own 2008 Oscar predictions, which (I'll be the first to admit) reveal the application of some

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-67366317326745102772008-02-20T12:05:00.004-05:002008-02-20T12:22:42.813-05:00

from RVANews, of course! My annual exhaustive list of what’s going to win Academy Awards, what should win Academy Awards, and the wisdom to see the difference. (For the full list of nominees, go to Oscar.com. I left out some categories because I got bored trying to pretend like I knew anything about foreign short films.) Best Actor Who will win Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood Who

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-22700228617076299452008-02-13T07:53:00.002-05:002008-07-17T10:51:42.379-04:00

Tamara Jenkins, 20074 stars Greetings, good people! I have been enjoying three days of a work conference in yon Colonial Williamsburg! Everything is so pleasant here; there are guys in three-cornered hats, sheep safely grazing, and everywhere is the scent of a wood-burning stove. The only blight on this “revolutionary experience,” as they keep calling it, is the fact that a little voice in my

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-66889167978755412512008-02-12T07:15:00.000-05:002008-02-12T07:26:44.763-05:00

Over at RVANews, Ross has put together (with astonishingly little help from yours truly, who can really only be described as "lazy" and "good for nothing") a nice 2008 Oscar Pick 'em that all may enjoy! The so-called prize is two tickets to Richmond's Westhampton Theater*, but the REAL prize is awe and respect from those of us who did not win at a similar contest last year. Voting begins today

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-56268874911666782902008-01-31T12:56:00.000-05:002008-07-17T10:51:42.382-04:00

2.5 stars (from my review at RVAnews!) This is what happened. I saw Cloverfield on a Friday night, a fair amount of my friends saw it Saturday night, and our Monday morning nerded-out IM conversations went something like this (loosely translated):* Me: A pleasant Monday morning to you! Them: And also to you! How goes it today? Me: Well! Just enjoying the songbirds as per usual. I’m also

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-10974648600445866792008-01-23T09:48:00.001-05:002008-07-17T10:51:42.385-04:00

Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007 4.5 stars Paul Thomas Anderson, acclaimed director of quirky hits such as Magnolia, Boogie Nights, and Punch-Drunk Love, has finally struck oil instead of silver with There Will Be Blood. And when I say “struck oil,” I mean struck so much oil that the intensity of the success will explode near his earlier endeavors, causing them to lose hearing. He will then end up a

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-84994072149627189132008-01-16T10:40:00.000-05:002008-01-16T10:41:58.129-05:00

(from my article at RVAnews!) I think a fair amount of people will agree with me when I say that I was more than slightly relieved that the Golden Globes were downgraded to a press conference this year due to the Writers Guild strike.* Not that I anticipate the ol’ Globes with as passionate of a love/hate fervor as I do the Oscars, but I still do a lot of pacing while Jessica Alba (beautifully)

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-40504799373884348332008-01-03T09:28:00.001-05:002008-07-17T10:51:42.387-04:00

Joe Wright, 2007 4.5 stars (from my review at RVAnews) I’m upset because it’s probably not feasible to watch Atonement every day. Seeing it in theaters, certainly, is impractical after three or four times. I mean, I have to eat, after all. Then I guess I could buy it on DVD, but even then I could probably only watch it ten or eleven times before those others who live in my house start

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11334355.post-30777512944917912092007-12-19T10:03:00.001-05:002008-02-13T07:59:08.559-05:00

Francis Lawrence, 2007 (from my review at RVAnews!) 2/5 I am writing this to you while the one thousand skinny fingers of contagion scrape against my windows and infected faces press against the glass. JK, I’m fine. It’s the wind blowing branches against my house. And luckily for me, any terror that I Am Legend instilled was easily eradicated after I watched just one episode of HBO’s Big

Susan Howsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09055454668954770685noreply@blogger.com