http://calitreview.com Book reviews, essays, and author interviews. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:55:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 http://calitreview.com/7283 http://calitreview.com/7283#comments Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:03:58 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=7283 Alice in Wonderland is a fun reinterpretation of the stories so many of us grew up reading and watching. It is easily the most visually impressive release since Avatar, and though it’s by no means Burton’s best movie, it is among his better ones.]]> http://calitreview.com/7283/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/7109 http://calitreview.com/7109#comments Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:03:42 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=7109 The Crazies is based on a 1973 George Romero film of the same name. This version, directed by Breck Eisner, shares basic plot points and characters, but it outdoes the mediocre-to-awful original by far.]]> http://calitreview.com/7109/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/6820 http://calitreview.com/6820#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:04:36 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=6820 Shutter Island is a creepy cinematic passage into paranoia, guilt, and insanity—a classic thriller with undertones of gothic romance and the failed American dream. The trailers, which anyone who’s taken in a movie in the last year has seen, reveal little but hint at a lot. Fortunately, the movie is a great watch even if the conclusion may leave some audiences grumbling. ]]> http://calitreview.com/6820/feed 4 http://calitreview.com/6526 http://calitreview.com/6526#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:01:30 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=6526 The Wolf Man. The unforgettable image of a monstrously deformed Lon Chaney, Jr. thrusting out his chest, baring his claws, and baying at the full moon is one of Hollywood’s most lasting. Director Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman, also a Universal production, is a pitch-perfect reboot of the classic horror movie. ]]> http://calitreview.com/6526/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/6337 http://calitreview.com/6337#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:00:59 +0000 William Bibbiani http://calitreview.com/?p=6337 From Paris with Love also has a noticeably sexist undercurrent to its detriment, giving what would normally have simply been a bland meal a genuinely unpleasant aftertaste.]]> http://calitreview.com/6337/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/6224 http://calitreview.com/6224#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:03:55 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=6224 http://calitreview.com/6224/feed 6 http://calitreview.com/6163 http://calitreview.com/6163#comments Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:06:18 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=6163 http://calitreview.com/6163/feed 18 http://calitreview.com/5991 http://calitreview.com/5991#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:51:33 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5991 http://calitreview.com/5991/feed 7 http://calitreview.com/5951 http://calitreview.com/5951#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:09:03 +0000 Zorianna Kit http://calitreview.com/?p=5951 http://calitreview.com/5951/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/5905 http://calitreview.com/5905#comments Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:34:52 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5905 http://calitreview.com/5905/feed 17 http://calitreview.com/5917 http://calitreview.com/5917#comments Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:57:45 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5917 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch are cult favorites, brings a violent and adventuresome sensibility to the often sedate Holmes. Conan Doyle’s legend left behind a mental image, compounded by pop culture, of a rather mellow English gentleman in a deerstalker hat, puffing on a pipe and wandering about a crime scene with avidly shining eyes. Ritchie’s version of Holmes, played impeccably by Robert Downey, Jr., is these things but also much more: a bare-knuckle boxer, a martial artist, a loyal friend, and an occasional lover of women. ]]> http://calitreview.com/5917/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/5867 http://calitreview.com/5867#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:19:34 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5867 http://calitreview.com/5867/feed 10 http://calitreview.com/5808 http://calitreview.com/5808#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:25:53 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5808 http://calitreview.com/5808/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/5778 http://calitreview.com/5778#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:27:17 +0000 Zorianna Kit http://calitreview.com/?p=5778 http://calitreview.com/5778/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/5589 http://calitreview.com/5589#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:27:39 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5589 Fantastic Mr. Fox is a pleasant return to classic stop-motion animation, a technique little used anymore. The film went through a long and rigorous production beginning five years ago, and the result is well, fantastic. The sets are beautifully detailed, the puppets’ every hair defined, and each movement is choreographed lovingly.]]> http://calitreview.com/5589/feed 4 http://calitreview.com/5559 http://calitreview.com/5559#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:51:03 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5559 http://calitreview.com/5559/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/5552 http://calitreview.com/5552#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:20:26 +0000 Zorianna Kit http://calitreview.com/?p=5552 Welles stars Efron as Richard Samuels, a student and budding actor who gets swept up in the world of theater when he is cast in a small role in Orson Welles’ 1937 production of Caesar. Young and naïve, Richard tries hard to navigate through Welles’ tantrums, mind-games and mood-swings that range from charming to tyrannical.]]> http://calitreview.com/5552/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/5527 http://calitreview.com/5527#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:54:44 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5527 http://calitreview.com/5527/feed 21 http://calitreview.com/5483 http://calitreview.com/5483#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:25:51 +0000 Zorianna Kit http://calitreview.com/?p=5483 Phat Girlz and Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins, gives such a frightening performance as Mary Jones, the Academy should just hand over the Oscar statuette to her now. Her scene towards the end when she is confronted by both Precious and Weiss for all her wicked deeds is enough to make your stomach churn.]]> http://calitreview.com/5483/feed 3 http://calitreview.com/5426 http://calitreview.com/5426#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:22:50 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5426 http://calitreview.com/5426/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/5318 http://calitreview.com/5318#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:16:37 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5318 The Men Who Stare at Goats plops the audience into this seemingly alternate universe with the admonition that “more of this is true than you would believe.”]]> http://calitreview.com/5318/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/5225 http://calitreview.com/5225#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:19:29 +0000 Germein Linares http://calitreview.com/?p=5225 http://calitreview.com/5225/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/5136 http://calitreview.com/5136#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:02:36 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5136 http://calitreview.com/5136/feed 13 http://calitreview.com/5108 http://calitreview.com/5108#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:59:05 +0000 Zorianna Kit http://calitreview.com/?p=5108 http://calitreview.com/5108/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/5033 http://calitreview.com/5033#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:38:45 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=5033 Where the Wild Things Are to ignite the minds of generations to come; spending 90 minutes inside a child’s mind has never felt so cathartic and enchanting. ]]> http://calitreview.com/5033/feed 2 http://calitreview.com/4897 http://calitreview.com/4897#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:29:07 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=4897 Zombieland elicits comparison to both the Brit “romzomcom” (romantic zombie comedy) and Dawn of the Dead (1978). But though it’s alternately a comedy, a romance, a gorefest, and a buddy road-trip movie, Zombieland unravels many of the threads that make up the zombie genre. A good ensemble cast (three up-and-comers and the always-humorous Harrelson), great makeup effects, and fantastic writing create a lighthearted, fun homage to the classic undead movies of yore.]]> http://calitreview.com/4897/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/4807 http://calitreview.com/4807#comments Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:43:39 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=4807 http://calitreview.com/4807/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/4721 http://calitreview.com/4721#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:09:51 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=4721 The Matrix—a glowing, glaring red eye centered in a mass of metallic tentacles. Though the voice actors are talented, the dialogue is few, far between, and unimportant to the film’s plot. This movie is eye candy.]]> http://calitreview.com/4721/feed 4 http://calitreview.com/4684 http://calitreview.com/4684#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:39:18 +0000 Brenna E. Fitzgerald http://calitreview.com/?p=4684 The War Room) lets us peep behind the veil of Vogue and glimpse into both the goblins and the glory of glamour. Following the magazine’s steadfast fury to produce its largest page-count ever in 2007 (a whopping 840), we see what it takes to work for a high-end fashion publication, but more importantly we get a portrait of the ice-queen in charge.]]> http://calitreview.com/4684/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/4617 http://calitreview.com/4617#comments Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:32:38 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=4617 Taking Woodstock is based firmly in reality, but the film isn’t about one character’s journey: it’s a coming-of-age story about America.]]> http://calitreview.com/4617/feed 0