MANSOME- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “From director Morgan Spurlock and producers Will Arnett and Jason Bateman comes a raucous but thoughtful documentary examining what defines masculinity in our modern culture of male grooming products, suave celebrities and avant-garde facial hair.”
5/18/12- Bad reviews all around including today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment May 19th, 2012
THE SAMARITAN- 2012. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “After twenty?five years in prison, Foley (Samuel L. Jackson) is finished with the grifter’s life. When he meets an elusive young woman named Iris (Ruth Negga), the possibility of a new start looks real. But his past is proving to be a stubborn companion: Ethan (Luke Kirby), the son of his former partner, has an ingenious plan and he wants Foley in. The harder Foley tries to escape his past, the tighter he is ensnared in Ethan’s web of secrets, until it becomes all too clear to Foley that some wrongs can never be made right.”
5/18/12- Despite Jackson’s abilities this movie has been panned by all including today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment May 19th, 2012
NEVER STAND STILL: DANCING AT JACOB’S PILLOW- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Legendary dancers and choreographers Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Suzanne Farrell, Mark Morris, Judith Jamison and Bill Irwin appear alongside new innovators to reveal the passion, discipline and daring of the world of dance.”
5/18/12- Today’s NY Times thought it was OK but too pedantic. They liked the dancing. TRDB.
Add comment May 18th, 2012
TALES FROM DELL CITY TEXAS- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “In this documentary, filmmaker Josh Carter travels to Dell City, Texas — population 569 — and helps the residents make their own shorts about the town, producing a charming look at their community and their lives in this remote rural area.”
5/18/12- Good review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment May 18th, 2012
DARK SHADOWS- 2012. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive” Awful reviews all around. TRDB.
Add comment May 15th, 2012
I WISH- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “When he learns that a bullet train will soon connect the city where his mother lives to the city where his estranged father resides, young lad Koichi and his kid brother hatch a wildly imaginative plan to use the new train to reconnect their parents.”
5/11/12- Fairly good reviews in general and in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment May 11th, 2012
GOD BLESS AMERICA- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “Disgusted with American society and diagnosed with a brain tumor, Frank teams up with teenager Roxy and the two begin killing reality TV stars, bigots and others they find repugnant in Bobcat Goldthwait’s black comedy.”
5/11/12- Fair professional reviews and better audience ones. TRDB.
Add comment May 11th, 2012
NESTING- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Feeling like they’ve become boring, thirtysomethings Neil and Sarah take a trip down memory lane. They soon wind up breaking into the apartment they shared in their twenties — and throwing a party there that gets out of hand.”
5/11/12- Weak review in today’s NY Times and other professional reviews as well. So far audiences seem to have liked it. TRDB.
Add comment May 11th, 2012
YOU ARE HERE- 2010. Synopsis by Netflix. “In this inventive picture puzzle of interlocking plots, staffers at a call center dictate the movements of several subjects, an archivist (Tracy Wright) observes the shifting contents of her library, and a figure named Alan (Emily Davidson-Niedoba) sees a door where one hadn’t existed. Protagonists appear and recede, narratives ebb and flow, and the philosophical questions fly as characters plot their locations in technology-driven times.”
5/11/12- Very good professional reviews but awful audience reaction. This drama got a mixed review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment May 11th, 2012
A BAG OF HAMMERS- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “Best friends Alan and Ben are unable to face adulthood and lead decent, moral lives, much to Alan’s sister’s chagrin. But when the twosome must become “fathers” to a new neighbor’s son, stealing cars at funeral homes is no longer an option.”
5/11/12- Poor review in today’s NY Times and in general. Audiences seem to have liked it though. TRDB.
Add comment May 11th, 2012