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Front Row at 5 Movie BlogJames Owen is the on-air film critic for KY3 and writes for the Front Row at Five blog at ky3.com. He brings a unique and quasi-academic approach to talking about movies. Prior to that, he was the film columnist for Springfield Go! and a freelance writer for 417 Magazine. Until recently, James was co-editor and writer for www.filmsnobs.com. The site, which he co-created, was subject to profile in the Lawrence (KS) Journal-World and the Kansas City Star. Additionally, the Star named James one of the Top 30 Artists Under the Age of 30 in the KC Metro area in 2004. While on Filmsnobs, he was a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Association and the Online Film Critics Circle and was featured at www.rottentomatoes.com. In his spare time, James is an associate attorney with Hosmer, King, & Royce, LLC in Springfield.
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It's a huge weekend for movies. We've got light and shadows in the new movies this weekend, starting with The Dark Knight, the new Batman film that could turn out to be one of the best films of the year. On the softer side, there's also Mamma Mia!, an adaptation of the Broadway musical that will satisfy fans of ABBA and all other Swedish disco bands. Read more »
A whole lot of movies are coming out for the kids this week, including Journey to the Center of the Earth. But, if you want something a little more engaging, I would recommend the sports documentary Bigger, Stronger, and Faster, playing at the Moxie in Springfield starting next Wednesday. Read more »
Who needs fireworks and barbecues this weekend when Hollywood has rolled out the new Will Smith flick, Hancock? But, since that film is surprisingly dark, you might want to consider taking the kids - or at least the girls - to Kit Kittridge: An American Girl. Read more »
We've got a little bit of nice and naughty this weekend with the
family-friendly Pixar flick Wall-E and the adult shoot-em-up Wanted. I just make sure you know which one to take the kids to.
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Hollywood is hoping this weekend will prove to be that moment when audiences are tired of the blockbuster action and will be looking for laughs. But, with Get Smart and The Love Guru opening Friday, are they going to be looking for yuks in all the wrong places? Read more »
For all the sci-fi geeks out there, we have two movies opening this weekend that should keep them happy. First up, we have a remake of The Incredible Hulk a scant five years after the last version. Then we have The Happening, a look at a mysterious eco-disaster that puts a confused look on Marky Mark Walhberg 's face. Read more »
You Don't Mess with the Zohan is another unfunny disaster from Adam Sandler, but not one lacking ambition or drive. Usually, Sandler simply puts on some funny voices and acts like a emotionally-stunted man-child as he acts out against father figures who only slightly resembles a college of patriarchal resentment. (Why else would watching Sandler beat up Bob Barker resonate so fully within his work?) With Zohan, there is something larger at play in the story of a Mossad agent (That's Israel's version of the CIA) who dreams of moving to America away from the constant conflict of his country in order to pursue his dream as a hair stylist. No one can slam the movie for un-originality: This is probably the first big summer movie that uses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a starting point. But the script - as done by Sandler, former SNL Robert Smigel, and comic mastermind Judd Apatow (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up) - suggests that it started out as a parody of every conceivable stereotype conceived by modern society but ended up embracing those same stereotypes for cheap laughs. Read more »
We get rather two rather cartoonish flicks this week. Read more »
I didn't hate the HBO series "Sex and the City" because I am a guy. I hated that very popular show because it sought to promote tired sitcom clichés about woman (materialism over substance, being focused on career in sacrifice of personal lives) and attempted to make those clichés “fresh” by adding a layer of profanity and sexual material. Some would call this "provocative and daring" but such aspiration would require some sort of intellectual curiosity on the part of the writing staff. Not to mention performances whose shallowness matches the level of the characters they were playing. Just because I am of the less fair gender doesn't mean I can't appreciate bad writing and faux trend-i-ness for what it really is. Read more »
The Strangers, by first-time writer/director Brian Bertino, is a film that starts out with massive potential; a rare horror film that builds up dread and suspense not with blood and guts but with silence and atmosphere. A film that ratchets up the audience for a good hour in a way that hasn’t been seen since the silent movie era and certainly not seen in “victim porn” decade of Saw and Hostel . What’s so frustrating is that the last half-hour of the film completely wastes everything that came before and devolves into an ending that is as tired and well-worn as it is squirm-inducing and unpleasant. How can The Strangers be so bad after starting so good? Read more »
It's time for the kids to head back out of the multiplexes as Hollywood decides to offer some adult fare after a May of blockbusters. Up first is the Sex and the City film and, for everyone else who already know they don't want to see that, we have the spooky flick The Strangers.
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While doing an interview for 1993’s Schindler’s List, director Steven Spielberg said he sometimes felt guilty that his earlier films had been too mainstream, too “silly” and lacking substance. As someone who was raised on the likes of E.T., Jaws, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, I felt like I had been kicked in the gut. The man, who created so many of the films that made me fall in love with films, was bemoaning his own work. Who did he think he was? He didn’t make any of those movies for himself. He made them for me and everyone else in the audience. For me, it was worse than finding out Santa Claus didn’t exist. It was more like finding out my parents had killed Santa Claus. Read more »
The first showings of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hit movie screens in Springfield on Wednesday night. I was one of those in the audience. Read more »
This weekend, Hollywood studios signal that they expect you to go see The Chronicles of Narnia sequel because it is the only major flick being released. Read more »
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