HERE COME THE GRANDPARENTS. THERE GO THE RULES. Artie and Diane Decker (Billy Crystal, Bette Midler) agree to babysit their three grandchildren in Atlanta; since their parenting philosophy differs a lot from their daughter’s (Marisa Tomei), they rarely see the kids. A surprisingly big hit at the box office, which is nice for two older … Continue reading Parental Guidance
The Oscars are on tonight, with Chris Rock as host. It’s the 88th annual event since the first Academy Awards were handed out in 1929. The “show” looked decidedly different then – it was in fact a dinner, the ceremony itself took 15 minutes and the awards had already been announced three weeks earlier. There … Continue reading Highlights from 88 Years of Oscars
SCHOOL NEVER LOOKED THIS SCARY. This prequel to Monsters, Inc. (2001) takes us back to school; the story has our two monstrous heroes meeting for the first time as students attending Monsters University. They take an instant disliking to each other, but are forced to work together as a team when they’re close to getting kicked … Continue reading Monsters University
Neil Patrick Harris is hosting next year’s Academy Awards. Anyone who has seen him helm the Tonys or the Emmys knows that this is good news. I’ll soon get to why, but let us first kick off a list of who’s hosted the past seven years and how they merit: 2008: Jon Stewart – This was … Continue reading The 7 Most Recent Oscar Hosts Rated
CAN TWO FRIENDS SLEEP TOGETHER AND STILL LOVE EACH OTHER IN THE MORNING? Rob Reiner’s first idea for a film was rejected by Nora Ephron. They had just had a lunch meeting in New York City together with producer Andrew Scheinman. The purpose was to come up with a project, but it didn’t result in … Continue reading When Harry Met Sally: It Had to Be You
2008 was the year when Joaquin Phoenix announced to the world that he’d give up acting and become a rap artist; apparently, this was also a time when he stopped shaving and showering. Eventually, the whole thing was revealed as a stunt for this faux documentary that aims to show how artists are not allowed … Continue reading I’m Still Here
DOES FOR ROCK AND ROLL WHAT “THE SOUND OF MUSIC” DID FOR HILLS. In 2002, This Is Spinal Tap was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress. It’s not hard to see why. The film has become a template for an entire genre of “mockumentaries” and numerous rock musicians have talked about mistaking it for a … Continue reading This Is Spinal Tap: Band in Need of Aid
IT’S AS REAL AS THE FEELINGS YOU FEEL. Once upon a time there was a Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) who was kidnapped, but two men set out for her – her husband the Prince (Chris Sarandon) and a masked pirate (Cary Elwes) who just may be her true love. Updating fairy tales is a task fraught … Continue reading The Princess Bride
NEW YORK’S MOST POWERFUL GANGSTER IS ABOUT TO GET IN TOUCH WITH HIS FEELINGS. After an attempt on his life, Mafia boss Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) experiences anxiety attacks and forces a terrified psychiatrist (Billy Crystal) to take him on as patient. The Sopranos, which also featured a gangster in therapy, was a hit … Continue reading Analyze This
YOU WON’T BELIEVE YOUR EYE. Another well-made, good-looking film from Pixar, this time about a community of monsters in a city whose power supply consists of screams from children who have encountered the monsters in their bedrooms. When a human girl accidentally winds up in the city, two of the monsters try to bring her … Continue reading Monsters, Inc.
BACK IN THERAPY. Mob boss Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) has gone completely nuts in prison and is released into dr. Ben Sobel’s (Billy Crystal) care – it’s all a hoax of course, but the mobster does try to go straight… Few must have thought that this sequel would be just as good, or even better, … Continue reading Analyze That
A COMEDY ABOUT CELEBRITY, FAMILY AND OTHER FORMS OF INSANITY. A Hollywood publicist (Billy Crystal) tries to bring two separated movie stars (John Cusack, Catherine Zeta-Jones) together for a press junket. The cast of this comedy is filled with actual stars and it’s interesting to see the most famous of them, Julia Roberts, play a … Continue reading America’s Sweethearts
