War For the Planet of the Apes

I just wrote a review of Incredibles 2, in which I lamented the fact that it seems like around 50% of all big movies these days are sequels. Well, what is one to make of this franchise, then? There were five Planet of the Apes in the original series, the first one and then Beneath the, Escape From, Conquest ... Read more »

War Games

When I was working at MGM in the ‘80s they had this war room set on the lot. I wandered by one day when shooting had just wrapped, and they had begun to tear it down. It was my first experience in how shoddy movie sets are. They were clearing it out almost as fast as the trucks could arrive. This was a very high-tech set for its time, with all the consoles and especially the large ... Read more »

War Horse

I can’t resist quoting a line from a review in the Boston Globe: “War Horseis the best film of the year. The year, unfortunately, is 1942.” First, let me assure you that I am a sentimental fool. I often cry at sad movies; hell, I can cry at happy movies. But I really resent being asked to cry every ten minutes during a 2½ hour movie, ... Read more »

The War of the Roses

I sure wish Danny DeVito directed more movies. His ultra-black sense of humor and mine mesh perfectly. I adored Throw Momma From the Train. Not everyone liked Death to Smoochy, but I did. And his performances in movies like {Ruthless People}} are among the best comedy roles ever. And this is his masterpiece. I’m happy to say that it was ... Read more »

War of the Worlds

First, the plot doesn’t make a lot of sense … but when did it ever? I mean, going back to the original story? Alien creatures invade, whip the pants off us, and then die from our teeny little germs. This element remained in the radio play, in the first movie, and in this remake. This one attempts to inject a little “logic” into it, showing the alien machines sucking our blood, using ... Read more »

Warm Bodies

Just when you think a genre is totally burned out, that there’s nothing else you could possibly do with it, somebody comes up with an idea that has a bit of freshness to it. In this case, it’s the zombie movie. And the new idea is, why not tell a zombie story from the point of view of the zombie?

It will only work if you stick more or less to the conventions of the zombie movie. So ... Read more »

Warm Bodies

Just when you think a genre is totally burned out, that there’s nothing else you could possibly do with it, somebody comes up with an idea that has a bit of freshness to it. In this case, it’s the zombie movie. And the new idea is, why not tell a zombie story from the point of view of the zombie?

It will only work if you stick more or less to the conventions of the zombie movie. So ... Read more »

Washington Heights

A fairly average story of a man trying to break out of his origins in a predominately Dominican neighborhood in Manhattan. He’s a cartoonist, his dad owns a bodega that’s in debt. Dad get shot and paralyzed and the son must take over the business. I enjoyed it, it’s well acted and photographed. For a first-time director, not a bad effort at all.

The Wasp Woman

I’m not usually into bad movies, but for some reason when this title came up as I was scrolling through upcoming stuff on TCM, I decided to TiVo it. I didn’t know it was a Roger Corman production until his name appeared in the credits as writer and director. Typically, it had a shooting schedule of about a week. And as usual, Corman used standing sets, and pretty cheap ones at that. There ... Read more »

Water

Water (Canada/India, 2005) I hate fundamentalists of any religion, but Hinduism is particularly foul. There seems to be little of love in the Hindu pantheon, a collection of psychotics who would make a hyena queasy. One of the vilest traditions in the religion concerns widows, and even Muslim women fare better. You have three choices if your husband dies: Throw yourself on his funeral ... Read more »