The End of the World has been getting a lot of attention lately, which probably is directly related to the recession still going on in America and most of the rest of the world.  Nothing like feeding off the feelings of uncertainty and apprehension to fill the seats at the theaters.

First came the actual end of (most of) the world in "2012", then came the long delayed release of Viggo Mortensen's uber-somber "The Road", where a man and his young son travel across a United States ten years after a catastrophe wiped out almost every living thing.  You could possibly even include last week's "Daybreakers" in this category, as in that film, humans were nearly extinct, leaving only vampires.

Into that mix comes the Denzel Washington star vehicle "The Book of Eli", a wildly uneven headscratcher that is nonetheless highly watchable.

In comparing this film to the deluge of post-apocalyptic movies, I'd have to say that "The Book of Eli" is basically a cross between "The Road" and "Mad Max"...with a little "Waterworld" thrown in for good measure.

Washington's character never states his name...it is inferred from a K-Mart nametag in his backpack that says "My name is Eli".  It has been 30 years since nuclear holocaust destroyed the world, and Eli is now on a mission of faith.  He is travelling west, certain that he has something needed in starting mankind back on the path towards civilization and redemption.

Read more...

Let's get down to it...there is only one important non-football thing to know about this weekend. Jack. Is. Back. That's right. "24" starts its eighth day...er...season Sunday night with a two hour kick-off, followed by another two hours Monday night (since we won't have football to watch that evening for the first time since July). Mitch's "24" recaps will be back as well, starting on Wednesday. Mitch hits on the return of Jack Bauer, as well as all of this week's new movie releases at the theater and on DVD in this week's "Crystal Ball".

Read more...

As of Wednesday, "Avatar" is now the second highest grossing movie ever, having just passed "LOTR: Return of the King" at $1.13 Billion, and still going strong entering its fourth week. Is "Titanic's" record of $1.8 billion in jeopardy? Could be. Mitch touches on that, all this week's new releases at the theaters and on DVD, all the latest film industry news and rumors, and which interesting future projects are in the works in this Friday night's edition of The Crystal Ball.

Read more...

 

And here we are at the end of the Naughts; the Decade of the Sequel.  And the Decade of the Remake.  And the Decade of Franchise Films.

 It could be worse…it could be the 1980s again.

 One note on all of my lists:  RELAX, PEOPLE!!  This is not an Edict handed down by God…it is not the Last Word on Movie Excellence.  It is MY opinion as a movie critic, which gets me a really bitchin’ cup of coffee down at Starbucks…as long as I throw in about five bucks.

Your opinion is bound to be different.  At least I hope so, to some degree, anyway.  In fact, if there aren’t at least five movies on this list that make you shake your head in disbelief of my obvious stupidity and poor taste, then you need to get out more often. 

Even my opinion is different than it was when I last attempted this list, as I’m continually looking back and making changes as new films are viewed, and as second and third looks back at other films cause me to re-evaluate their position. 

That said….let’s get on with the countdown (thank you, Casey Kasem).  We’ll have the Top 100, the Worst 25, and the Top 10 Guilty Pleasures.

Read more...