Monday, June 10, 2013

'Frances Ha' Explores a Clever Comedic Approach to Late Millennial Maturity

Best friends Frances (Greta Gerwig) and Sophie (Mickey Summer) have their ups and down in Frances Ha.



















For any twenty-something millennial wavering between clinging to the freedoms of adolescence and assuming the duties of being a responsible adult, Noah Baumbach's (The Squid and the Whale) Frances Ha paves a modern-day odyssey that rides the fine line of being too close for comfort.

Frances (Greta Gerwig) is a 27-year-old dance apprentice, who like many her age haven't accomplished much in her life, let alone catapulted her career as a professional choreographer and dancer. Bouncing from one house to another, Frances is heavily dependent on her friends' charity, but still desires to prove her worth as an independent adult.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Sixth 'Fast & Furious' Installment Adds High-Octane Fuel to Summer Movie Season

Fast rides and battle tanks duke it out on a European highway in Fast & Furious 6.


















Change can do wonders. For a brief time, "The Fast and the Furious" franchise was in complete disarray courtesy of its third installment, Tokyo Drift, a film that stayed true to the high-octane racing niche, but failed to maintain the integrity of the initial 2001 Vin Diesel and Paul Walker action vehicle.

Much like the previous two installments, Fast and Furious and Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6 breathes new life into a once-dying franchise, concentrating on unrealistic complex heists plus international vehicular warfare now added to the equation. Fast & Furious 6 picks up where the 2011 film left off. Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) are living large overseas, putting a life of crime in the rear-view mirror.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Disney's "Wreck-It Ralph" Levels Up on Blu-Ray

Tired of being the bad guy, Ralph (John C. Reilly) tells other arcade baddies his concerns.




















If you're one of the millions out there logged into XBOX Live or World of Warcraft hours and hours at a time, or perhaps spent your childhood battling side-scrolling adventures with Mario or Link, Disney's latest animated release, Wreck-It Ralph speaks to gamers regardless of age.

Wreck-It Ralph begins in the 8-bit world of Fix-It Felix Jr., reminiscent of a classic 1980s arcade game that borrows heavily on Mario and Donkey Kong. For 30 years, Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) has been programmed to be the bad guy, whose only job is to demolish a solitary penthouse before his cheery hammer-wielding adversary, Felix fixes the wreckage. For once, Ralph just wants to be adored as the good guy and decides to venture off to other games in the arcade to win a medal. After battling bugs in a sci-fi first-person shooter, Ralph lands himself in a candy-coated go-kart game where everything isn't as sweet as it seems.