Wednesday, December 1, 2010

SIDELINE: MORE REVIEWS FOR 11/10

Other movies I reviewed over the last month...



IN THEATRES...

* 127 Hours, Danny Boyle and James Franco bring the pain in the most tense movie of the season.

* Burlesque. I still love you Christina, but why did you make me sit through this? Cher is going to be great in the Ben Stiller threquel Night at the Wax Museum.

* Carlos, the epic biography of Carlos the Jackal from Olivier Assayas.

* Due Date is one appointment you can postpone. (Bazinga!) Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis give it a good effort, but only about half the jokes land.

* Fair Game, has no backfield play, despite good performances by Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. The story before Valerie Plame's outing as a CIA agent is interesting, though.

* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the beginning of the end, and HP ain't goin' out like that!

* Outside the Law, a familiar but overall solid story of three brothers in the fight for Algerian independence.

* Tamara Drewe, 2010 gives us another great comic book adaptation; Stephen Frears brings Posy Simmonds to life.



ON DVD/BD...

* Alien Anthology, the classic sci-fi franchise looks better than ever on Blu-Ray.

* Altitude, comics artist Kaare Andrews' debut movie is like Cthulu in the clouds. A confined-space horror movie with lots of tension.

* Frank Sinatra: Concert Collection, 14 hours of vintage television specials from the Chairman of the Board.

* Mad About You: The Complete Fifth Season, the year of the Buchman pregnancy. Another cycle of shows from one of my favorite sitcoms.

* Metalocalypse: Season Three: Somehow the cartoon series manages to overcome its thin premise (chronicling the over-the-top situational adventures of the biggest black metal band in the world) and continue to crank out the comedy. Best season yet.

* The Other Side of Paradise, an impressive indie romance that takes its heart out on the road.

* Sherlock: Season One, the clever and inventive BBC modernization of the legendary detective.

* They Came to Play, a documentary about the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs.

* The Venture Bros.: Season 4, Vol. 1, one of the best cartoons on TV has a bit of a lacklustre cycle, but still worth it for when the jokes hit their mark.

*
Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?
, an interesting documentary about the unique singer that has a lot of good stuff, but maybe not enough to answer it's own titular question.

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