1941

Contrary to what you may have heard, it was not a commercial flop. The budget was $35,000,000. The world box office was $92,455,742. No flop even by Hollywood studio bookkeeping. The thing was, it just wasn’t a mega-blockbuster like his previous two movies. However, it is true that it ran way over time and budget, and Spielberg himself ... Read more »

2 Days in New York

A sequel to 2 Days in Paris, but you don’t have to have seen the first one to enjoy this one. That’s because in the first, Julie Delpy and Adam Goldberg are a couple, but it’s falling apart. In this one, he’s history, and she is in a new relationship with Chris Rock. They have a young boy child (which is not his) and he gets visits from an older girl child from a ... Read more »

2 Days in Paris

We loved Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise and its nine-years-later sequel, Before Sunset. Here is a film she practically made all by herself. Her parents are played by her real-life parents, and she even ... Read more »

2 Guns

Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlburg are trying to set up a big dope deal south of the border, but it’s not going well. We eventually discover that each is an undercover agent, and neither is aware of the other’s situation. So eventually they decide they have to work together, though both of them complain about it a lot. It’s a typical buddy picture and is fun most of the time, and three ... Read more »

20 Feet From Stardom

I really wish I’d taken notes while I was watching this, because the only name I remember is Darlene Love. Remember her, from when the producers of this movie brought her up with them to accept the Oscar for Best Feature-Length Documentary? She sang her acceptance, and it was the best acceptance in a night full of good ones. She was a member of The Blossoms, way back in 1957, and was part ... Read more »

20 Million Miles to Earth

A showcase for the stop-motion talents of Ray Harryhausen (still alive this year of 2013, at age 92!), whose name appears quite early in the credits. It was made in Italy, because Ray had never been there, wanted to go, and had the studio foot the bill. Good for you, Ray!

I guess the 20 million miles in the title refers to ... Read more »

2010

It seemed appropriate that the first movie we would see in 2010 would be … 2010. I always felt this was a misbegotten project. I can’t say it’s a bad movie, because it is honestly made, not stupid, and is that rare thing, real SF. (Though the director could not stop himself from having things make sounds in vacuum, something we are probably stuck with forever, in ... Read more »

2012

What one has to say right up front is that the premises this movie are based on are utter bullshit. The first premise is that because the Mayan calendar seems to end in the year 2012, that something bad is going to happen. Something like the end of the world. This is sort of like saying that, because there are no more January days ... Read more »

2012 Tropfest New York

We had never heard of Tropfest. It seems it is the world’s largest festival for short films. When I say short, I mean short. The maximum running time is seven minutes, credits included. It began small in Sydney in 1993 and gradually expanded, sort of like Sundance. Now it’s a pretty big deal, having had festivals in Abu Dhabi, London, ... Read more »