03/31/09

Three Rules for Turning Kids' Books into Movies

Since I'm a sucker for anything in 3D, this weekend I ducked into an afternoon showing of Monsters vs. Aliens. Before the movie, I was met with a couple trailers for films adapted from books I've loved since childhood: Where the Wild Things Are and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Take a look:

Posted at 01:01 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

03/26/09

Contest! Free Stuff! And a Little Spring Cleaning.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a March movie preview that included the film Sunshine Cleaning. If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth a trip to the theater, since Emily Blunt and Amy Adams have great chemistry together as sisters and turn in terrific performances. My only complaint is that the movie isn't as lighthearted as the trailer makes it seem—bring tissues. The movie opens wide on the 27th, but it's already playing at the Jacob Burns Film Center.

My...

Posted at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

03/17/09

St. Patrick's Day Films?

I love holiday-themed movies. I'll sit down to watch any Christmas film out there, no matter how cheesy, and, every Halloween, I'm first in line for whatever scary dreck any studio managed to push into theaters. (In recent years, this has mostly been the Saw movies. Gross!) So, when I sat down to compose a list of St. Patrick's Day films, I was surprised to find that I couldn't think of any. Sure, there are some great scenes in movies that take place on St. Patrick's Day (remember The Fugitive?), but I couldn't recall anything that was about the holiday specifically. This surprises me because even Groundhog Day gets its own movie. At the very least, where's the Rankin & Bass special? No "It's St. Patrick's Day, Charlie Brown?"

So here's a call...

Posted at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2

03/10/09

Westchester Tweets

If brevity is the soul of wit, then Twitter must be the wittiest thing on the Internet.

For the uninitiated, Twitter is a platform for "micro-blogging," a made-up word meaning writing entries that are very, very short. Twitter posts—which stupidly are called "tweets"—are limited to 140 characters each. The result is perfect for someone without the time or attention span to read a whole blog—it's the Internet equivalent of scanning the headlines. Tweets allow only enough room for the most important information, and then they usually include links at which you can find out more.

Though Twitter only has around 6 million users (compared with 150 million Facebook users), it's quickly gaining in popularity. Chances are, your favorite...

Posted at 05:22 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

03/03/09

March Movie Madness

Usually, the best movies of the year are crowded into two short windows: May through July (for big, summer blockbusters), and October through December (for smart, worthy awards movies). This month is an exception. Somehow, a lot of great-looking movies have crept into this March. (Not counting the Jonas Brothers 3D concert movie, of course. Did anyone catch their surprise performance this past weekend at the Palisades mall?) Let's take a look at some of the films that might make "spring" the new season for great movies.

Watchmen (3/6)

Based on what's arguably the greatest graphic novel of all time and directed by 300's effects-crazy Zack Snyder, this movie has a chance of being this year's The Dark...