http://calitreview.com An arts and culture magazine. Thu, 24 May 2012 17:23:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://calitreview.com/26779 http://calitreview.com/26779#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 13:30:35 +0000 Brett Harrison Davinger http://calitreview.com/?p=26779 http://calitreview.com/26779/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/26502 http://calitreview.com/26502#comments Sat, 12 May 2012 17:50:44 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=26502 http://calitreview.com/26502/feed 2 http://calitreview.com/26288 http://calitreview.com/26288#comments Sat, 05 May 2012 17:56:01 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=26288 http://calitreview.com/26288/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/26015 http://calitreview.com/26015#comments Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:06:27 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=26015 http://calitreview.com/26015/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/26007 http://calitreview.com/26007#comments Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:48:21 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=26007 Beagle, would provide the opportunity?]]> http://calitreview.com/26007/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/26024 http://calitreview.com/26024#comments Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:37:57 +0000 Brett Harrison Davinger http://calitreview.com/?p=26024 The Raven is a piece of historical fiction about what happened during Edgar Allan Poe's (John Cusack) mysterious last days. The film theorizes that he spent his final week, give or take, working as a consultant to the Baltimore Police Department who were trying to capture an unstoppable madman whose kills were inspired by Poe's works.]]> http://calitreview.com/26024/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/25821 http://calitreview.com/25821#comments Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:15:31 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=25821 http://calitreview.com/25821/feed 5 http://calitreview.com/25558 http://calitreview.com/25558#comments Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:40:21 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=25558 http://calitreview.com/25558/feed 3 http://calitreview.com/25354 http://calitreview.com/25354#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:41:39 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=25354 American Reunion, though, the franchise has redeemed itself with a hilariously vulgar fourth installment, making us almost forget the second and third films ever happened.]]> http://calitreview.com/25354/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/25091 http://calitreview.com/25091#comments Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:01:01 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=25091 Mirror Mirror, Singh makes a drastic departure from the dark, brooding territory covered in his previous films and instead sets his talents to work on a family-friendly, PG-rated adaptation of the classic Snow White fairytale. While it is admirable (and refreshing) to see an auteur like Singh challenge himself by choosing material markedly different from what he is used to, in the end Mirror Mirror fails to cohere into a satisfying experience, despite wonderful acting performances and Singh’s signature visual richness.]]> http://calitreview.com/25091/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/25100 http://calitreview.com/25100#comments Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:15:42 +0000 Brett Harrison Davinger http://calitreview.com/?p=25100 Wrath begs comparison to this year's earlier John Carter. While Wrath will almost certainly do better, because it would be practically impossible to do worse than one of the biggest bombs of all time, it is not the better film. For all of Carter's flaws, and there were many including blandness, beigeness, and the lead, it had greater substance, scope, and creativity than Wrath.]]> http://calitreview.com/25100/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/24864 http://calitreview.com/24864#comments Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:34:20 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=24864 Twilight – there’s giggling at every kiss, every meaningful glance. Bella Swan, though, wouldn’t last two seconds in the Hunger Games without her shimmering savior.]]> http://calitreview.com/24864/feed 5 http://calitreview.com/24855 http://calitreview.com/24855#comments Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:04:41 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=24855 The Raid: Redemption is without question one of the most thrilling action movies ever made. Similar to how Nicholas Winding Refn withholds and then unleashes violence in films like Pusher and Drive, Evans also orchestrates his nonstop martial arts spectacular with the precision of a much more veteran filmmaker.]]> http://calitreview.com/24855/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/24634 http://calitreview.com/24634#comments Sat, 17 Mar 2012 17:18:49 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=24634 Casa de Mi Padre have meticulously assembled the elements of a crummy telenovela, including blatant product placement, stilted dialogue, poor continuity, back-projected driving scenes, illogical character shifts, mannequin extras, animal puppets, and shoddy sets sandwiched between stock footage of sunny Mexican valleys.]]> http://calitreview.com/24634/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/24642 http://calitreview.com/24642#comments Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:36:28 +0000 Brett Harrison Davinger http://calitreview.com/?p=24642 http://calitreview.com/24642/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/24468 http://calitreview.com/24468#comments Sat, 10 Mar 2012 18:26:09 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=24468 Silent House goes in the remake department, those responsible have managed to pull the original film apart gently, sand off some rough corners, grease a few rusty plot twists, and present the humble horror tale in a more palatable form. Writer and co-director Laura Lau apparently realized that while La Casa Muda had several important scares worth preserving, the audience might appreciate a little more to digest.]]> http://calitreview.com/24468/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/24475 http://calitreview.com/24475#comments Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:52:06 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=24475 http://calitreview.com/24475/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/24352 http://calitreview.com/24352#comments Sat, 03 Mar 2012 18:41:00 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=24352 http://calitreview.com/24352/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/24343 http://calitreview.com/24343#comments Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:40:46 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=24343 Project X is a preposterous, implausible celebration of excess that contributes nothing to cinema or filmmaking. More importantly, though, it is incredibly awesome and an opportunity to vicariously participate in the greatest party of all time. Though the movie’s simplicity makes The Hangover look like The Usual Suspects, Project X is probably the most fun you’ll ever have without getting thrown in jail.]]> http://calitreview.com/24343/feed 3 http://calitreview.com/24179 http://calitreview.com/24179#comments Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:35:50 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=24179 http://calitreview.com/24179/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/23968 http://calitreview.com/23968#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:15:29 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=23968 Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away, has done it again. It’s just sort of a different “it.” Ghibli’s The Secret World of Arrietty is based on Mary Norton’s 1952 children’s book The Borrowers. The combination of a British children’s story and Japanese setting make the movie a very odd combination of cultural artifacts and wrinkles in time.]]> http://calitreview.com/23968/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/23959 http://calitreview.com/23959#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:40:19 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=23959 http://calitreview.com/23959/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/23824 http://calitreview.com/23824#comments Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:12:32 +0000 Brett Harrison Davinger http://calitreview.com/?p=23824 The Vow primarily through Leo's eyes is probably the film's biggest problem. Paige just had the last five years of her life wiped out and that is inherently more fascinating than a man who wants to win back his wife. The fear, the confusion, the distrust that Paige experiences on a daily basis is a superior story to one man's quest to prove his love.]]> http://calitreview.com/23824/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/23820 http://calitreview.com/23820#comments Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:35:43 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=23820 Safe House is the latest CIA shoot ‘em up to come out of Hollywood and although it falls back on very generic action pic conventions, it still manages to fit in a few exciting moments in an overall decent movie. ]]> http://calitreview.com/23820/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/23630 http://calitreview.com/23630#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:14:42 +0000 Adam Robert Thomas http://calitreview.com/?p=23630 Chronicle. It may be a bit predictable and a bit clichéd, but so is Oedipus, that doesn’t make either any less engaging or heart rending by the end. ]]> http://calitreview.com/23630/feed 4 http://calitreview.com/23641 http://calitreview.com/23641#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:35:57 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=23641 http://calitreview.com/23641/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/23447 http://calitreview.com/23447#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:08:11 +0000 Julia Rhodes http://calitreview.com/?p=23447 http://calitreview.com/23447/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/23439 http://calitreview.com/23439#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:35:12 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=23439 Man on a Ledge.]]> http://calitreview.com/23439/feed 7 http://calitreview.com/23225 http://calitreview.com/23225#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 18:10:48 +0000 Brett Harrison Davinger http://calitreview.com/?p=23225 Loud goes so far in the wrong direction that it almost becomes a comedy. By the halfway point, you're no longer watching the magic act, you're enjoying the magician fumbling with the deck of cards.]]> http://calitreview.com/23225/feed 7 http://calitreview.com/23215 http://calitreview.com/23215#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:39:48 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=23215 http://calitreview.com/23215/feed 0