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/26371 http://calitreview.com/26371#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 04:05:31 +0000 George Anastasia, Glen Macnow http://calitreview.com/?p=26371 Godfather III is that . . . it’s not Godfather I or Godfather II. It’s a good, not great, gangster movie and certainly deserves to be included in our Top 100. But it will always be compared with the two movies that preceded it. And in that comparison, it will always come up short.]]> http://calitreview.com/26371/feed 0 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/26336 http://calitreview.com/26336#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 04:05:43 +0000 George Anastasia, Glen Macnow http://calitreview.com/?p=26336 http://calitreview.com/26336/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/25989 http://calitreview.com/25989#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 04:05:05 +0000 George Anastasia, Glen Macnow http://calitreview.com/?p=25989 http://calitreview.com/25989/feed 0 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/26271 http://calitreview.com/26271#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 23:23:44 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=26271 The Expendables, you are meant to feel ten times over about the sequel. That is about the most substantial analysis this trailer can stand.]]> http://calitreview.com/26271/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/25702 http://calitreview.com/25702#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 04:05:35 +0000 George Anastasia, Glen Macnow http://calitreview.com/?p=25702 Charley Varrick when it came out in 1973. After all, The Godfather, that ultimate game-changing gangster film, had been released a year earlier. So who was going to fuss over this nugget about a small-time bank robber fleeing with the mob’s money?]]> http://calitreview.com/25702/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/24661 http://calitreview.com/24661#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:05:56 +0000 George Anastasia, Glen Macnow http://calitreview.com/?p=24661 http://calitreview.com/24661/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/25801 http://calitreview.com/25801#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:00:46 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=25801 http://calitreview.com/25801/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/25750 http://calitreview.com/25750#comments Sat, 21 Apr 2012 13:12:01 +0000 Matthew Newlin http://calitreview.com/?p=25750 http://calitreview.com/25750/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/24592 http://calitreview.com/24592#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:05:04 +0000 George Anastasia, Glen Macnow http://calitreview.com/?p=24592 Mafioso, director Alberto Lattuada’s dark comedy that says so much about both the criminal organization and the fascinating island of Sicily that gave birth to it. In a 2010 article in the Daily Beast, Martin Scorsese listed the film as one of the 15 gangster movies that had the most profound effect on him as a writer and director. He cited Mafioso as “one of the best films ever made about Sicily.”]]> http://calitreview.com/24592/feed 0 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/25472 http://calitreview.com/25472#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 02:03:16 +0000 Brett Harrison Davinger http://calitreview.com/?p=25472 http://calitreview.com/25472/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/24534 http://calitreview.com/24534#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:05:19 +0000 George Anastasia, Glen Macnow http://calitreview.com/?p=24534 The Hunter by Donald E. Westlake, for this stylized drama—a movie with 1960s sensibilities that doesn’t always hold up that well.]]> http://calitreview.com/24534/feed 0 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/25311 http://calitreview.com/25311#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:44:05 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=25311 http://calitreview.com/25311/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/24523 http://calitreview.com/24523#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 04:05:21 +0000 George Anastasia, Glen Macnow http://calitreview.com/?p=24523 Entertainment Weekly wrote, “The picture ricochets from random urban mob hits to horseplay in the sand that wouldn’t have looked out of place on The Monkees.”]]> http://calitreview.com/24523/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/25037 http://calitreview.com/25037#comments Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:29:59 +0000 Brett Harrison Davinger http://calitreview.com/?p=25037 http://calitreview.com/25037/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/24513 http://calitreview.com/24513#comments Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:05:55 +0000 George Anastasia, Glen Macnow http://calitreview.com/?p=24513 Dillinger is a B-movie and doesn’t attempt to be more than that. There is not a lot of back story, and not much motivation beyond the character’s oft-repeated line of, “I like to steal people’s money.” But the 107-minute string of robberies, escapes and gun fights works because of an excellent cast and because Director John Milius (Red Dawn, Conan the Barbarian) knows how to shoot a violent action film.]]> http://calitreview.com/24513/feed 1 http://calitreview.com/24960 http://calitreview.com/24960#comments Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:36:31 +0000 Brett Harrison Davinger http://calitreview.com/?p=24960 http://calitreview.com/24960/feed 0 http://calitreview.com/24822 http://calitreview.com/24822#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:00:15 +0000 Dan Fields http://calitreview.com/?p=24822 http://calitreview.com/24822/feed 3 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