At The Movies

By John Ackermann.

Full disclosure:  I am not a baseball fan.  The game is deathly boring, unless it’s viewed in person, then it’s made tolerable only by consuming beer and lots of it.  But Moneyball is a film for baseball fans and non-fans alike, much like how you don’t have to be a computer science major to appreciate the Social Network.

The film stars Brad Pitt as Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane, an ex-ball player who never achieved his full [...]

 By News1130 Movie Addict Treena Wood

 The history of taking a best-selling novel and converting it into a box-office smash is fraught with spectacular hits and colossal failures. I generally favour the book over the movie, and after seeing “One Day,” I wish I’d read the book first. It’s a cool idea for a story – following two friends on the same day of the year over 20 years, demonstrating how those key [...]

By News1130 Movie Addict Treena Wood

One Day

Adapted from the David Nicholls novel of the same name, we follow a working class girl and a wealthy guy over 20 years after they spend one day together in 1988. The catch – we only ever see them on [...]

By John Ackermann.

Movies can be like food in a way. Some are nutritious, like a well-balanced meal. Others are pure junk, like having a bag of Doritos for dinner. Final Destination 5 is one of those movies, pure empty calories and nothing more.  Five films into the franchise, this Final Destination is more gross than any of its predecessors. Unfortunately, this time the story is probably the weakest of the bunch, with almost zero suspense. We’ll get back to that in a [...]

By News1130 Glee Addict Treena Wood

Hi, my name is Treena W. and I’m a Glee addict. I am not ashamed to admit it. I am a 41 year old career-driven, well-educated, upstanding member of society who is hooked on a ridiculously campy TV show that features kids being drenched by slurpees on a regular basis. So how can you trust my assessment of the movie cut from the touring concert that’s [...]

By News1130 Movie Addict Treena Wood

It’s a cool coincidence that the night after seeing “Rise,” my husband was randomly flipping channels (much like a gorilla would, I imagine) and came across “Beneath the Planet of the Apes,” one of the original films in the 1970′s series. The differences between the Charlton Heston version and the new one 41 years later can come down to one word: computers. In the old film, [...]

By News1130 Movie Addict Treena Wood

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

It’s a sequel/prequel/reboot of the original six-picture series, paying homage to it with the storyline and updating the hairy co-stars with slick CGI and motion-capture technology.  A scientist (James Franco) looking for a cure for Alzheimer’s finds his primate test subjects get a little smarter – and meaner – than he bargained for.  Andy [...]

By News1130 Movie Addict Treena Wood

When you stuff as many stars into a movie as this one has, you run the risk of having a bloated, overdone story with way too much going on, or underutilized talent with not enough going on. “Crazy, Stupid, Love” manages to walk that tightrope in a quirky, sensitive, and laugh-out-loud-funny way that will have you believing in the idea of soul mates, ranking it among [...]

By News1130 Movie Addict Treena Wood

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

The stellar cast for this romantic comedy is getting good buzz. Steve Carrell and Julianne Moore are a married couple quickly heading to un-married, while Ryan Gosling and Emily Stone are singles running smack into love. Will happy endings abound? Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon also pop [...]

By News1130 Movie Addict Treena Wood

It’s a cliche that nice guys finish last and bad boys get the girl – but it’s a cliche for a reason. If I had to pick between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark as the guy I’d bring home to mom and dad, Steve would win hands down. However, if I’m picking the guy I’d want to whisk me away for a weekend in Vegas, Steve [...]