And so concludes our quartet of films in limited release, but unlike Melancholia, A Dangerous Method, or Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I would strongly recommend this movie with no hesitations. This is a lock for my “Ten Best of the Year List.” Young Adult stars Charlize Theron as a young adult book author (or ghost…
Author: Alabama Liberal
TV Review: Boardwalk Empire’s Season Finale and the First Episode of Luck
Last night, HBO served up a special one-two punch of dramas you were either excited by or bored with depending on who you are. It was the second season finale of Boardwalk Empire followed immediately by a special sneak preview of the first episode of their new drama Luck. Let’s start with Boardwalk Empire. I’ve…
Movie Reviews: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Another movie playing in only a handful of theaters now but primed to expand soon. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is based on the excellent John Le Carre book (and also the BBC miniseries based on the book) of the same name about a retired master spy named George Smiley getting asked to ferret out a…
Movie Reviews: A Dangerous Method
Another movie playing in very limited release. This one based on the true story of the father of psycho-therapy, Sigmund Freud, his protege turned rival Carl Jung, and the Russian patient of Jung’s that came in between them when Jung began an affair with her. What Works: The movie nails the disappoints and resentments that…
Movie Reviews: Melancholia
This review kicks off a day of true quality, as I’ll be reviewing four independent movies (this, A Dangerous Method, Young Adult, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) only in limited release. So for once I’ll be ahead of the curve in seeing movies before most of America does…but, then again, I doubt most of America…
Perry’s “War On Religion” Campaign Ad, More False “Christians Are Persecuted” Rhetoric
Most of you have already seen Rick Perry’s by-now infamous campaign ad where he blasts Obama for his “War on Religion.” You probably haven’t seen it on TV–its intended place to be viewed, especially if you live in Iowa where Perry is pining his last ditch hopes to win the nomination–but it’s been steadily making…
How Obama Can Turn a Shitty Economy to His Advantage
If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times (just depending on how much I watch Chris Matthews’s show): “The economy is Obama’s achilles heal.” “Unless Obama gets this economy under control, he’s toast.” “Republicans will hammer Obama on jobs and think that will be their ticket to a win in 2012.” “No…
Petty Issues
Nothing happened this week…nothing. Oh okay, that’s not true, but it feels like it is. This week felt a bit like groundhog day as there was a shooting at Virginia Tech, Sons of Anarchy had a disappointing season finale where nobody important died, and Rick Perry did something stupid. Obama gave a speech asking the…
Entertainment Editorial: Who’s Your Favorite MSNBC Host?
It’s pretty rare I get to combine politics with entertainment but I’m hoping today will inspire some discussion. MSNBC is known as the “liberal Faux News” for its brand of liberal commentators, and today I’d like to know who your favorite is? If I had to pick a favorite among the “five core commentators” (Chris…
TV Review: Hell On Wheels
Today’s TV review is AMC’s Hell on Wheels, a show that a couple of people asked me to review weeks ago on the day after its premiere. I would have been happy to oblige then (and welcome any requests for future shows) but I like to give a show a couple weeks to marinate. I…
Monday Morning Movie Reviews: Take Shelter
Unlike all of the other movies I’m reviewing today, this one is still in (very few) theaters. It will be a couple months before anyone can rent it but I would really recommend that. I think this is the kind-of movie that plays best at home for four or five bucks instead of in a…
Movie Reviews: Bellflower
Another one for the scrap heap. And by that I mean that Bellflower technically came out months ago (I believe it first went into very limited release in early August) but I only now caught up with it On Demand. Bellflower is a bit different than The Dilemma or Super or Last Night in that…
Movie Reviews: The Dilemma
A straight turd from January of this year that I never actually saw until it showed up on HBO last week. So I killed two hours and held my nose to watch it. What Works: Some of Vince Vaughn’s fantasy sequences as he’s lying really work. They snap the movie out of its formulaic rhythms…