Roger Qbert Reviews Disney-Pixar’s TOY STORY 3
With the winning streak that Pixar is on, seeing one of their new films is akin to watching your favorite team in the 9th inning of a no-hitter. But when that film is a sequel to Toy Story, possibly the most important animated film since Fantasia, well now it’s like watching that same no-hitter…only this […]
Roger Qbert Reviews “The Karate Kid” starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan
The first question upon entering the remake of The Karate Kid concerns the casting of Will Smith and Taraji P. Henson) has been transferred to China. When he runs afoul of a group of Kung Fu practicing schoolmates, he enlists the aid of his apartment’s superintendent; the reticent, but Kung Fu proficient, Mr. Han (Ralph […]
Roger Qbert Reviews “Get Him To The Greek”
In Get Him to the Greek, Russell Brand reprises the character of Aldous Snow from 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The film isn’t a sequel so much as it is a spin-off. Jonah Hill is also back only this time he’s playing a different character entirely in the visage of Aaron Green, a mild-mannered low-level record […]
Roger Qbert Reviews “Splice”
In the new film Splice Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley star as Clive and Elsa, rebellious young upstarts in the field of genetic engineering. They are rapidly rising rock stars in the world of biogenetics. Single-handedly creating new hybrid species; they appear to be on the cusp of revolutionizing medical science. However, when their funding […]
Roger Qbert Reviews “Shrek Forever After”
Shrek is back and this time our hero (Mike Myers) is experiencing a midlife crisis of sort. He and his bride, Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) are the parents of triplets and Shrek is bristling at the repetitious mundanity of domesticity longing for the days when he could take a mud bath in peace. Instead, he’s […]
Roger Qbert Reviews “MacGruber”
Saturday Night Live’s contribution to cinema is a spotty one. After the goldmine of the first Wayne’s World, Lorne Michaels seemingly began rushing every character that ever appeared twice into pre-production. (It’s long been rumored that Mike Myers, after seeing how much money Wayne’s World made, deliberately kept Austin Powers to himself since creating him […]
Roger Qbert Reviews “A Nightmare on Elm Street” Remake
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve never actually seen any of the original Nightmare on Elm Street films. I’ve never been much of a horror fan and I typically prefer moody (The Blair Witch Project) to hack-n-slash (Friday the 13th). But even if you’ve never seen any of the originals, you know the drill: […]
Roger Qbert Reviews “Kick-Ass”
A movie with a title like Kick-Ass is to be judged by one criterion and one criterion alone: the degree to which “ass” was “kicked”. Acting, writing, effects, cinematography? All these are secondary, merely members of a mosaic, weapons in arsenal…an arsenal that’s only purpose is to, in fact, “kick” your “ass”. So let’s just […]
Roger Qbert Reviews “The Runaways” Starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning
You know you’re in for a tale of female empowerment when the first frame of the film features menstrual blood. Such is the case with The Runaways, the story of the world’s first all girl rock band [not true, there were several in the 60s]. Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning star as Joan Jett and […]
Roger Qbert Reviews CLASH OF THE TITANS (2010)
The original Clash of the Titans is perhaps best-known as (with my apologies to Harry Hamlin’s abs) the last major work of the master of stop-motion animation Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen, though still very much alive, found his services no longer required after the advent of CGI and the rise Industrial Light & Magic. He began […]