Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture

Movie #6: Taken

I put off seeing Taken because I find kidnapping stories a bit too tense with the emotional stakes involved. Plus, there’s always some weepy mother who won’t let the hero take the risks needed to get the victim back. Anyway, that’s what I expected, so I was in no rush to see Liam Neeson play…

Movie #5: Ninja Assassin

One of the problems with so many martial arts films like Ninja Assassin is that the characters are often the strong, silent type who don’t go into detail about their motivations or why they’re doing something, so I often get very confused. Add to that the kind of gutteral whispers that they all speak in,…

Despicable Me – Movie Review

As I’ve said before, computer animation has always done its best at making cute things that normally aren’t, including ogres, monsters, fish, rats, robots, and aliens. It wasn’t going to be long before the same cuddlification was applied to the type of character whose entire purpose is not to be loved: the supervillain. Gru…

Movie #4: The Men Who Stare At Goats

This did not turn out to be the movie that I thought it would be. I knew that The Men Who Stare At Goats featured George Clooney as part of a secret team of real-life psychic soldiers. However, I also knew that it was not actually the kind of sci-fi storyline that the premise suggested…

Movie #3: It’s Complicated

I don’t want to seem like a movie snob, but I’ve never been a fan of romantic comedies. I think it’s mostly because of their contrived, simplistic formulas and trite takes on human relationships. However, once in a while one of them catches my attention (and having Meryl Streep in the lead doesn’t hurt one…

Twilight: Eclipse – Movie Review

I enjoy vampire stuff, but it’s ironic that the teen romance elements drawing so many fans to the Twilight “saga” is the thing that turns me off the series (I guess it’s not that ironic, since I’m not a tween girl). After watching New Moon, I wasn’t eager to catch up with the human-vampire-werewolf love…

Movie #2: Legion

I know Legion didn’t really look that good, but it had Paul Bettany as Michael the (de-winged) archangel coming to earth to kick butt and protect a pregnant waitress from Nowheresville, USA. Her baby was going to save humankind from extinction at the hands of angels carrying out the wrath of God. Somewhere in that…

Movie #1: Shutter Island

A lot of movies catch my eye, but with all the mediocre reviews and bad word-of-mouth these days, I don’t end up seeing a lot of them in the theatre. However, they do make it on to my mental list for some future date to screen at home from the comfort of my living room….

The Last Airbender – Movie Review

M. Night Shyamalan used to be one of my favourite directors. He knew just how to captivate the imagination with his storytelling; to bring a bit of wonder and fantasy to the ordinary world (even his American Express commercial capitalized on that specialty). However, his recent efforts have shown that he doesn’t really understand what…