What is about dysfunctional families that are so attractive to us? For me, as I am certain for many of you, it’s because we relate, because we are at times mired in it. I think most of us are the products of, or participants in, familial dysfunction. And not that that’s always a bad thing. [...]
Author Archives: Debbie Lynn Elias
MOVIE REVIEW: DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL
November 6, 2009 – 12:23 pm
Originally published in 1843, Charles Dickens’ “ A Christmas Carol” is believed to be one of the greatest Christmas stories ever told. And I have to agree. Next to “Oliver Twist”, “A Christmas Carol” is my favorite Charles Dickens novel. I still remember on reading it back in my elementary school days, how I was [...]
MOVIE REVIEW: BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY
October 30, 2009 – 1:50 pm
Ten years ago a cult phenomena was borne from the fertile imagination of Troy Duffy. Essentially an ode to vigilante justice, a topic on which Duffy speaks quite passionately (as he does about filmmaking) harkening back to the Bible and certain circumstances which warrant “an eye for an eye”, the stories of Duffy and the [...]
MOVIE REVIEW: ASTRO BOY
October 24, 2009 – 3:03 pm
In addition to my love and mesmerization with movies from small on, a key visual element in my youth was cartoons – and not just your standard Bugs, Tweety, Taz or Tom & Jerry. No I went full bore along with my brothers for the early Japanese anime complete with dubbed voices. Part and parcel [...]
An Education – Movie Review
October 8, 2009 – 9:46 am
As the school bell rings the start of another day, let me say this – AN EDUCATION is some kind of education! Jenny is your average 16 year old schoolgirl. Attending a private school in the London suburb of Twickenham, her father pushes her to be the best, get those straight “A’s”, study, study, study, [...]
MOVIE REVIEW: WHIP IT
September 30, 2009 – 11:07 am
How many of you out there remember the Golden Ages of roller derby in the 50′s, the 70′s or even during the depression in the 30′s. For me, coming from Philly, roller derby in the 70′s was a staple of entertainment – particularly for viewing on UHF television. And while roller derby and the Philadelphia [...]
MOVIE REVIEW: THE BOYS ARE BACK
September 25, 2009 – 2:20 pm
We are so used to seeing films with a predictable plot line of mother wrangling unruly child or lonely miserable single mother trying to befriend her single child that we forget there are single dads out there, too. However, when we do see them, they are generally divorced, a part-time only dad, and a girlfriend [...]
MOVIE REVIEW: THE BURNING PLAIN
September 18, 2009 – 12:08 am
Charlize Theron: Oscar Winner. Kim Basinger: Oscar Winner. Guillermo Arriaga: Golden Globe Winner and Oscar Nominee. Robert Elswit: Oscar Winner. John Toll: Double Oscar Winner. It is the collaborative effort of these great talents and more, that bring emotion, depth, intrigue and life to Guillermo Arriaga’s latest story of love and redemption. Probably best known [...]
MOVIE REVIEW: I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF
September 14, 2009 – 6:39 pm
I have long enjoyed much of Tyler Perry’s work. Generally one of the token Caucasian press at screenings or press junkets, I have often felt Perry’s work has elevated beyond that of a stereotypical caricature African-American and successfully crossed over into every demographic with character traits relatable to every ethnicity, demographic and religion. More than [...]
MOVIE REVIEW: EXTRACT
September 4, 2009 – 9:58 am
What man writes a script – a comedy no less – that has a character who gets his testicles blown off? A woman writing it, I would believe. But a guy? Well, leave it to Mike Judge, the brains behind “Beavis & Butthead”, “Office Space” and “Idiocracy”, to do just that. A man who you [...]
