by Nick Leshi Entertainment Weekly had a cool little article about movies that were produced full of potential to become huge franchises, but plans for sequels fizzled with their miniscule box-office performance. It lists Dune, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Eragon, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Green Lantern, Godzilla, The Golden Compass, etc. My rambling mind started thinking about movies [...]
by William Belle If somebody says “spy movie” the first thing which comes to mind is James Bond. Yep, car chases, million dollar gambling in Monte Carlo and gadgets that do all sorts of nifty things. But did the movie producers of the Bond films or even Ian Fleming for that matter actually capture the [...]
by William Belle I’m repeating myself. (Repeating yourself is a sign of senility. If I’ve said that once, I’ve said it a thousand times.) The best films I’ve seen do not necessarily involve a car chase scene. The special effects are minimal and the focus is on the story and the characters. Clocking in at [...]
by Nick Leshi Even though they are often fraught with stereotypes, gangster movies are still one of my all-time guilty pleasures. Some of my favorite films are in that genre: The Godfather, Carlito’s Way, Goodfellas, Donnie Brasco, TV’s The Sopranos, and countless others. Hollywood is a slave to trends, and it looks like a swarm of mob movies are coming [...]
by Nick Leshi The new science fiction movie “In Time” opened and I had high hopes. It was written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the guy responsible for “Gattaca,” one of my favorites, and it stars the multi-talented Justin Timberlake who continues to surprise me, the stunning Amanda Seyfried, and the never-disappointing Cillian Murphy. The [...]
by Nelle Engoron Now that the final film (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2) has unspooled in Muggle theaters, there are no real surprises for the fans, who know full well how the saga ends from having read the books (to pieces, in many cases). But even after watching that final scene at [...]
Zagat’s has come out with its list of top spots where diners are sure to enjoy a great meal in Detroit. The list, however, includes only one restaurant that is actually in Detroit, and the top honors went to The Lark, a restaurant that focuses on continental dining and is located in West Bloomfield, Michigan. [...]
by William Belle This is a great film and I’m no sports nut. In fact, you don’t really have to know much about baseball to get into the story as this is more of your classic underdog trying to win by beating the system by going against the grain. “Moneyball” is based on Michael Lewis’s [...]
Restaurant Review: ** (good, reliable) Broadway Cafe & Jumbo Steak Hoagie 1139 Broadway St., Ann Arbor, MI 48105 Hours: Mon-Fri: 11am – 6pm, Sat: 11am – 2:30pm Ph: 734-769-8900 Run by a Korean opera-singing coach and his wife, the Broadway Cafe in Ann Arbor serves up two kinds of food: Korean and cheesesteaks. The right side of [...]
by William Belle A drama about politics is nothing new if one thinks of similar movies like “Nixon” (1995) or “Primary Colors” (1998). But what is this movie telling us, if anything? As a run-up to the 2012 elections in the United States, it is a reminder that while politics is supposed to be about [...]
