Thank You For Smoking (2005)

This movie is not about smoking. If you find you learned something new about smoking from this movie, you have been living under a rock for the past 7 years. Why seven? Because back in 1999 a little movie called The Insider came out. If you missed it, do yourself a favor, rent it, and …

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

NOTE: I have seen this movie just before the Oscars, after a long string of award wins. I’m posting this review late on purpose – waiting for the Oscar craze to die down, as well as all the hype surrounding the movie in the first place. Too much has been said about Brokeback’s loss to …

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Memoirs of a Geisha wants so hard to be a poignant, serene observation of human nature in the Far East that it gets lost in its own narrative, frequently prefers style over substance, and offers a gorgeous film, with wonderfully misguided casting, and a lot of build-up with little payoff. Which is a shame, because …

King Kong (2005) – revisiting a reimagined remake

King Kong has been playing in theaters for about a month now, and prior to that it’s been promoted on say, every possible medium – newspapers, television, radio, internet, and bus stops. Too much spin for my liking. Now that it’s out of the top ten box office films, I decided to go check it …

The Weather Man (2005)

Thanks to J.D. Salinger we know everything there is to know about teenage angst. The book (Catcher in the Rye, for those who don’t read much) was about a boy growing up and dealing with becoming a mature individual. Dealing with rejection, lust, trust, friendship, loss. Basically, becoming an adult without a reliable, constant authority …

RIP John Spencer (1946-2005)

It’s a little late, I know, but honestly, when I first heard about this on Saturday morning, I thought it was an elaborate joke. Perhaps The West Wing writers are trying to get some publicity for the show, or maybe some joker announced it on the radio somewhere, and the story spread out of control. …

Commander-in-Chief (ABC)

West Wing is limping towards the inevitable cancellation (well, everyone’s going to call it an official end of the show – after all eight seasons for a drama is very, very good – but we know that the show has suffered a lot since Aaron Sorkin and Rob Lowe left). There are hardly any other …