Tagged with scarlett johansson

Review: Hail, Caesar!, 2016, dir. Joel & Ethan Coen

Review: Hail, Caesar!, 2016, dir. Joel & Ethan Coen

Let’s get one thing outta the way: Hail, Caesar! is minor Coen brothers. It is not No Country For Old Men, though if we are using that as the yardstick separate “minor” Coens from “major” Coens, then nearly every film they have made since 2007 falls into the former category. You can instead lump Hail, Caesar! in with A Serious … Continue reading

Review: The Avengers, 2012, dir. Joss Whedon

Review: The Avengers, 2012, dir. Joss Whedon

The Avengers didn’t have to do much to impress me. Being as honest as possible, Joss Whedon’s attempt at making a respectable entrance into the 2012 summer season with the capstone picture of Marvel Studios’ long-gestating superhero bonanza just needed to be tolerable to get a pass from me. Put bluntly, C-level material alone would … Continue reading

Review: We Bought a Zoo, 2011, dir. Cameron Crowe

Review: We Bought a Zoo, 2011, dir. Cameron Crowe

(Cross-posted over at GoSeeTalk.) In an early scene in Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo, Scarlet Johansson’s beleaguered zookeeper whirls around on Matt Damon’s optimistic single father turned zoo owner and demonstrates the film’s greatest hindrance in one ham-handed chunk of dialogue. Neither Crowe nor the film has any faith in its audience to pick up … Continue reading

Review: Iron Man 2, 2010, dir. Jon Favreau

The sequel in a superhero franchise is generally highly anticipated for all the promise it holds. With all of the origin work out of the way thanks to the first film, the second entry in the series naturally possesses more room to maneuver and wow audiences without being stymied by a need to portray the … Continue reading