Movie Reviews
Titles starting with T
Ted
Mark Wahlberg is like Peter Pan, he never grew up. But never growing up in James Barrie’s world and never growing up today are two completely different things. Today it involves drinking a lot of beer, farting a lot, sitting on the couch with your asshole buddies and acting gross.
Mark’s asshole buddy is Ted, who is a teddy bear. When he was eight, he made a wish and his teddy bear ... Read more »
Teeth
I browsed some reviews, and culled these opinions as to just what the hell kind of movie this is: Teenage horror-movie spoof, John Waters parody, No Nukes protest movie, twisted sex-education film, quasi-feminist fable, outrageous stunt, cheap gag, macabre coming-of-age story, Cronenbergian body horror story, some kind of token of female empowerment, the Incredible Hulk of sex satires, an ... Read more »
Tell No One
This is based on a novel by Harlan Coben, one of the very best thriller writers working today, and they got it right! Coben wisely sold it to French producers instead of feeding it into the Hollywood meat grinder and stupidity machine, and they have done a superb job. The plot is so convoluted that I’m not even going to get into it, but it is full of surprises, plot reversals, and at its ... Read more »
The Tempest
This has never been one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. I’ve probably only seen it twice, in competent but not outstanding performances. Partly I’m just not enchanted by all the sorcery stuff. I’m a lot happier with the other dramas, and some of the histories. So, although almost no critic I looked at loved it, I have to say I did. For the first time I felt really involved in the story, ... Read more »
Temple Grandin
I first became aware of Temple Grandin from a friend, John, who had a teenage autistic son. That boy must be in his thirties by now. At that time the awful bullshit known as “facilitated communication” was all the rage. John didn’t believe in it, and it’s been conclusively proven to be just another false hope. (Autism seems plagued by shit like that. Currently, it’s the vaccination scare, ... Read more »
Ten Canoes
Here is a movie in the Ganalbingu aboriginal language, with an all-aboriginal cast. It is a simple tale, simply told, though fantastically photographed. Don’t expect great acting, these are all non-professionals. But there is a great deal of humor in it, and the fascination of seeing a way of life so different from ours it might as well be another planet. I was reminded a bit of Read more »
Ten Days Wonder
Claude Chabrol is often called the French Hitchcock, though his themes are a lot deeper than sheer suspense. He’s made some really good films, but this isn’t one of them. It is stagy, almost operatic, but not in a good sense. Orson Welles mumbles his part, and Lee and I were both distracted by the spectacle of his nose, which seems to be made of gray putty. Tony Perkins gives his standard ... Read more »
Ten ’til Noon
Here’s a no-budget indie that succeeds for most of its 80 minutes by putting most of its creativity into an area so often neglected by its big-budget cousins: The script. It’s the same story told from different viewpoints, and with that sort of tale you always think first of Rashomon. If you’re not that much of a film student, you might be reminded of Read more »
The Tenant
Most critics loved this, but there were a few dissenters. Ebert gave it one star. I don’t know if I’d go that low, but this isn’t one of Roman Polanski’s best. It’s not Pirates but it’s a long way from Rosemary’s Baby. One of the problems is that he made a total masterpiece on the same theme: ... Read more »