Thursday, February 28, 2008

Major Barbara @ Sidney Harman Hall


The Shakespeare Theatre's production of George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara is stellar. Vivienne Benesch and Ted van Griethuysen, pictured above, are fantastic and Griethuysen's Andrew Undershaft steals the show with his delivery of Shaw's charming and scathing dialogue. After 100 years, it is amazing how this play transcends time and still reflects the world was we all know it. The clash between family and business, religion and state, and wealth and charity are dramatic, intriguing and down right hillarious. Kudos to the Shakepeare Theatre for delivering another great production for a very appreciative season ticket holder.

Click here to go to the offical website.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Jumper

Doug Liman and David Goyer are back on the screen with this latest sci-fi, action thriller. Hayden Christensen throws off the black robes of Darth Vader to play a teenager who discovers he has the ability to teleport and escape his less the ideal homelife for new adventures in the Big Apple until his luck turns for the worse. The action is well done even if the teleporting seems to be a bit excessive at times. Rachel Bilson and Diane Lane complete the cast as the love interest and the absent mother with a secret. I recommend seeing this at a matinee so you get the best value for your money.

Click here to check out the official website.

Diary of the Dead

This is George Romero's fifth installment for his legendary Living Dead film series that all started with the Night of the Living Dead. Romero is the undisputed king of the zombie movie genre and this film delivers with his trade mark style, piercing socio-political commentary, and cutting edge visual effects. It amazes me how Romero can still keep the genre fresh and relevant when you thought you had seen everything possible from a zombie flick. This is a must see film for all horror fans and will be a welcome addition to my personal horror DVD collection after it leaves the big screen.

Click here to check out the official website.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

The Spiderwick Chronicles

Spiderwick is the next installment of a children's book to get the big screen treatment due to the industry's abiltily to realize these stories with the proliferation of CGI effects. The story is not bad and the fantastical creatures do deliver a good mix of the beautiful and cute with the scary and evil. Feddie Highmore, from such great films as Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, takes on the task of portraying twins on the big screen with differing personalities. I appauld his effort at trying to strech his abilities as a child actor but the performance is very wooden at times and does not stand up well to his past efforts. Spiderwick is still a worthwhile film to see with the kiddies in tow but you may want to hold off with the really young children because there are some rather frightening moments that they may not like but the older kids will love.

Click here to check out the official website.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

The Eye

Another in a long line of american remakes of Asian ghost stories. Sans the long-haired pasty tormented ghost girls and ear-numbing chatter noise, the movie is a rental at best. If your going to rent it , go ahead and get the original and wallow in the culture. Jessica Alba is pretty and does a fare acting job but it is not enough to surpass the orginal film. Boo!

Click here to check out the official website.

Rambo

I just saw this and it is the most violent movie I have ever seen. Everything and eveyone explodes in a rain of bloody body parts. The previous movies do not hold a candle to this one. If you like to revel in over the top violence, this movie is for you.

Click here to check out the official website.