Tool of the Trade – “My Week with Marilyn” Review

I’m starting to feel sorry for actresses. So many times over the last decade, I’ve seen movies where they give a great performance, yet I always have to qualify it with “great performance, bad movie.” My Week with Marilyn is no different.

Where Is the Love? – Review: Blue Valentine

Director Derek Cianfrance and his leading dynamic duo, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, ring in the new year with a stunning examination of the bittersweet highs and lows of modern love. Blue Valentine offers a palpable sort of neo-realistic look at love, both in bloom and beyond “happily ever after,” an anti-romantic comedy, if you will.

Top 10 Trailers – 2010

Think of this as a companion piece to my previous poster list. My top ten movies list is still forthcoming, so in the meantime I’ve compiled the ten previews that stood out this year. I watch a lot of trailers, and wouldn’t you know it, my day job is writing and creating trailers. So, you might say I know what I’m talking about (wow, can’t say that too often). The best trailers stand out from the pack, don’t spoil the movie, and most of all, make you want to see the picture. A few of these have some wonderful copy and structure, but really most of these trailers work so well because of their music selection, wonderful editing, and usually some decent source material.

One note, these are trailers for films released in 2010, so no Tree of Life or Cowboys and Aliens. And just like with the posters, I’ll keep comments to a minimum and let the clips do the talking.

What Seems to be Your Boggle?

[Editor’s note: It’s the turn of the century… “gay” is a four-letter word… the naked human form is more disturbing than torture porn… and in the world of fictionalized biopics, sexism that is, in fact, very real should be omitted… all for the sake of our sensitive moral sensibilities. It seems that the 21st Century is a time for walking on eggshells… a time for self-censorship in fear of offending someone… a time to avoid conflict. People don’t want to rock the boat. In other words, the 21st century is when we all become big pussies…