Leonard Maltin

Contact Leonard at moviecrazymail@pacbell.net

movie review: Unknown

By Leonard Maltin
|
February 18, 2011 7:00 AM
|
7 Comments

In the French-made, English-language sleeper Taken, Liam Neeson was a former CIA operative who was (outlandishly) able to thwart a sex-trafficking ring. Audiences responded vociferously to his take-charge character. His latest film, Unknown, was also made in Europe—this time, Berlin—by Spanish-born director Jaume Collet-Serra, and it casts the reliable actor in a role that couldn’t be more different. In this yarn, he loses control of his life, or to be more specific, his identity.

By Leonard Maltin
|
February 17, 2011 5:00 AM
|
7 Comments

When a documentary makes you interested in a subject you know nothing about, to the point of generating enthusiasm, I’d call that a successful film. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Deborah Morales have a lot to be proud of with their maiden effort in the documentary field, On the Shoulders of Giants, which is now available exclusively on Video On Demand through Comcast, Cox Cable, and Time Warner through the end of March.

By Leonard Maltin
|
February 10, 2011 5:00 AM
|
3 Comments

One of the things I admire most about director Miguel Arteta’s films (including Chuck & Buck and The Good Girl) is that he shows such compassion for his characters. That’s why I was thrown off by Cedar Rapids, at first. The screenplay, by newcomer Phil Johnston, seems to be making fun of its naïve, almost childlike small-town hero, Tim Lippe, a dedicated insurance salesman played by Ed Helms.

By Leonard Maltin
|
February 4, 2011 5:30 AM
|
2 Comments

James Cameron is the only box-office name associated with this film, so he's been promoted more than anyone else. While he didn’t write or direct the picture, he clearly had some input, and the film plays to two of his strengths: underwater photography and 3-D. Alas, it also underscores one of his weaknesses: painting his characters in strokes so broad the result is almost ridiculous at times.

By Leonard Maltin
|
January 28, 2011 5:30 AM
|
4 Comments

Entertainment Tonight asked me to provide some thoughts about all of this year's Best Picture nominees. Here are the results at ETOnline.

By Leonard Maltin
|
January 27, 2011 8:24 AM
|
3 Comments

Can you admire and respect a film without actually liking it? The answer is yes, and Biutiful is a perfect, personal example. I saw it at the Telluride Film Festival last fall, and appreciated director and co-writer Alejandro González Iñárritu’s comments before the screening. He explained that he deliberately set out to make a tragedy, and since he relates each of his previous three films (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel) to a musical style he would choose a requiem as the equivalent of this downbeat drama.

By Leonard Maltin
|
January 25, 2011 6:49 AM
|
9 Comments

Considering that the membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is comprised of people who work in the mainstream movie industry, it’s encouraging to see that they refuse to follow the company line and repeatedly honor good work from the independent film world and foreign countries. Some major players lobbied hard, and spent untold thousands of dollars, to attract Academy interest this year, but the voting members opted for actors like Javier Bardem, Jennifer Lawrence, and Michelle Williams and films like Winter’s Bone, Blue Valentine, and Rabbit Hole instead.

By Leonard Maltin
|
January 21, 2011 5:00 AM
|
0 Comments

Given my low expectations for any major-studio release in January, I was pleasantly surprised by No Strings Attached. Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher are pleasant to watch, and the supporting cast is peppered with interesting and colorful characters,

By Leonard Maltin
|
January 17, 2011 2:25 AM
|
7 Comments

It’s difficult to describe The Green Hornet because even it doesn’t know what it wants to be. The result is a noisy, overlong attention-deficit jumble of semi-serious story threads undermined by an anarchic sense of humor, with the most pointless (and ineffectual) use of 3-D in recent memory.

By Leonard Maltin
|
January 14, 2011 12:26 AM
|
5 Comments

Paul Giamatti is one of those actors whose presence in a movie generally validates it, and Barney’s Version is no exception. He manages to make a central character with few—if any—admirable traits not only bearable but downright compelling. And if this Barney strays from the way Mordecai Richler painted him in his first-person novel, he still justifies his existence in this entertaining film.

start
previous
311 - 320 of 439
next
end

Email Updates

Get the latest headlines from Leonard Maltin delivered to your inbox every day.

Categories

movie review: Unknown

On the Shoulders of Giants

movie review: CEDAR RAPIDS

movie review: Sanctum

My Oscar Best Picture Breakdown

film review: BIUTIFUL

Oscar Looks Beyond Hollywood

film review: No Strings Attached

film review: The Green Hornet

film review: Barney's Version

Around The Network

the network

indiewire

categories

Popular Posts