Trainwreck

I loved Amy Schumer’s one-woman stage show. And she is about the hottest thing in comedy right now, I know that. These days I’m used to seeing comedies where I don’t laugh much, and I realize that they are not making them for me, but for younger generations that often laugh at things I don’t really find all that risible. But (aside from the abominations of Adam Sandler) I don’t expect ... Read more »

Traitor

Here’s a rarity, an action/spy movie that is intelligent, not exaggerated, that spends more time pondering some of the moral questions of espionage and, especially, “black” ops, than staging phony car chases and fistfights. It may be the only time in years that the hero is a devout Muslim. So what happens? It doesn’t do any business while people flock to see the stupid stunts in Quantum of ... Read more »

The Tramp and the Dictator

A real find! It’s a “Making of” sort of documentary about one of Charlie Chaplin’s greatest films, and certainly his most courageous. At the time he made The Great Dictator, it wasn’t thought to be a wise thing to make a film angrily lampooning Adolph Hitler. America was still neutral as regards the Nazi regime. Chaplin did it anyway, and it is a triumph. By that ... Read more »

Trance

Trance (2013) Sometimes a movie gets too complicated for its own good. The director, Danny Boyle, has some really fine movies in his portfolio, and this is certainly an ambitious one. But it goes a few steps too far.

The premise is promising. (The promise is premising?) James McAvoy is involved as the insider in a huge heist of a Goya from an auction house, where someone has just ... Read more »

Trance

Sometimes a movie gets too complicated for its own good. The director, Danny Boyle, has some really fine movies in his portfolio, and this is certainly an ambitious one. But it goes a few steps too far.

The premise is promising. (The promise is premising?) James McAvoy is involved as the insider in a huge heist of a Goya from an auction house, where someone has just agreed to pay ... Read more »

Transamerica

Never having seen “Desperate Housewives,” I was not familiar with Felicity Huffman. In fact, looking through her credits, I realized I’ve never seen her in anything, in a part large enough to be noticed. So my first reaction was “Isn’t it nice that this pleasant but rather horse-faced woman with the odd voice found the perfect part for herself!” Imagine ... Read more »

Transatlantic Tunnel

In 1972 Harry Harrison published a novel in Analog called A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! (alternate title: Tunnel Through the Deeps). I remember liking it. I think it was an early example of the SF genre known as steampunk. These stories take place in alternate futures where steam power is still king, inspired by the novels of Wells ... Read more »

Transatlantic Tunnel

In 1972 Harry Harrison published a novel in Analog called A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! (alternate title: Tunnel Through the Deeps). I remember liking it. I think it was an early example of the SF genre known as steampunk. These stories take place in alternate futures where steam power is still king, ... Read more »

Transcendence

I tried my best to like this, but in the end it’s just another out-of-control supercomputer story. Ancestors include 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Colossus: the Forbin Project (1970), Resident Evil (2002) and its sequels, the Terminator films. Even my novella “PRESS ENTER.” That would be okay if it brought something new to the table, but there really wasn’t ... Read more »

Transformers

To my considerable surprise—nay, even astonishment—I actually liked this movie until the obligatory over-the-top gun battle/fist fight/car-wrecking/mega explosion ending. I was prepared for it to be about as deeply characterized as those crazy Hasbro toys it was based on, but it was a lot more than that. The transformers themselves were dazzling, as we’ve come to expect, but this was on a ... Read more »