Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture

Midseason 2007 – Gimmicky Gumshoes

The TV midseason is a bit scattered this year. Not only were there a bunch of winter premieres (Heroes, Lost and Jericho returned from hiatus, while 24 once again began its no-repeat season in January), but there were a handful of new series that started and will start within the first 4 months of the…

300 – Movie Review

Can a movie be too epic? Can there be too much heroic slow motion, or bombastic dialogue? If you’ve seen previews of this grand adaptation of Frank Miller’s comic book you’ll know exactly the kind of visual spectacle you’ll be getting from 300. Its the screen adaptation of a comic book retelling of the famous…

Zodiac – Movie Review

What do you expect from a movie about a serial killer? Discordant violin music? Tense chase scenes? It puts the lotion in the basket? Well, none of those things appear in Zodiac, director David Fincher’s new movie about the real-life murders that occurred in 1970s San Francisco. Focusing more on the investigators, the movie is…

Bridge To Terabithia – Movie Review

The Bridge to Terabithia is the latest big screen adaptation of a beloved children’s book from the folks at Walden Media. Their other successes have included the first Chronicles of Narnia movie, as well as Holes, Because of Winn-Dixie, and the far less successful Hoot. Following in Narnia’s footsteps, Terabithia tells the story of…

Music and Lyrics – Movie Review

I consider myself a non-fan of romantic comedies. Two attractive people meeting and eventually falling in love under incredibly contrived conditions after “overcoming” a series of coincidental obstacles is not my idea of a good movie or even a comedy. However, I have always made the exception for one Mr. Hugh Grant, who (ever since…

Oscar, Schmoscar 2007

When Oscar time comes around, movie fans get excited about the nominated films, and I’m no exception. In the past several years, I’ve done a little viewing blitz around this time, trying to catch up with some of the major nominees, but lately I’ve been a bit disappointed. Last year, I really wasn’t interested in…

Akeelah and the Bee & Bubble – Capsule movie reviews

It’s been a while since I’ve been to the movie theatre, but I’ve still been watching movies. I recently caught up with a couple of movies that were released a short while ago to great reviews. They’re both on DVD, and I highly recommend them. Akeelah and the Bee It’s amazing how spelling bees have…

Children of Men – Movie Review

Not too long ago, the movie V for Vendetta took us to a dystopian England of the not-too-distant future. In the movie Children of Men, London is again not looking too great in a few years’ time. Based on P.D. James’s novel of the same name, Children of Men depicts a world where most of…

Pan’s Labyrinth – Movie Review

Have you heard literature geeks talking about how the original fairy tales (i.e. Anderson’s, Grimm’s etc.) were actually very dark? How the queen in Snow White was forced to dance to her own death in iron shoes? We’re living in a post-Disney age when most of these stories have been sanitized for our viewing pleasure….