My Family Reviews 'Into the Woods'

The holidays mean many things to me: present opening, family outings (and innings) that are mandatory and often welcome, hot chocolate drinking that makes me sick for hours after the last sip has been sipped, and forcefully making my family watch movies with me and then reviewing them. This year, the first of the movies we watched together was the delightful Into the Woods, and the family members present were me, my parents, my sister, and my brother-in-law. Here is our review.

Into the Woods, the film version of the Stephen Sondheim musical, tells the story of The Baker and The Baker's Wife, who find out that their fertility issues (there are buns in their

Quick Reviews: Best Picture Nominees, Part 3 of 3

Where did we leave off? We've looked at the films nominated for Best Picture about LOVE, and we've looked at the films nominated for Best Picture about AMERICAN HISTORY.  So, we guess it's time to look at the straggler films, the films that don't really fall into any category. We were thinking of calling them ‘Magical Realist’ films, because most of them employ magical elements within a realistic framework. One has pig-monsters as big as a house, the other has a house for two that's no bigger than a boat, and a third has truly terrible singing from Russell Crowe. The third is probably the most magical, because, as someone once said, nothing is more magical than singing! (Just because that person was Hitler doesn't mean that it isn't true)

Now that we think of it, though, the thing all these films might have in common is that they all feature water and boats in a big way. Boats that are massively important in these movies, whether people are living, pulling, or adventuring in them. So here we go, looking at Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, and Les Miserables. Let's climb aboard the review boat! Raise the anchor, full speed ahead!

Skyfall Wins Outstanding British Film at BAFTAs

I was a little upset that Skyfall wasn't nominated for Best Film at the Oscars. It's not a ground-breaking film by any means, but it is remarkably good: swiftly told, well directed, and expertly acted. So, I was very happy to see it win Outstanding British Film at the BAFTAs last night. The big award of the night, Best Picture, went to Argo (with a Best Director award going to the Academy-jilted Ben Garner née Affleck), but the real news was that Skyfall beat fellow British film Les Miserables, which I pretty much hated.

So, YAY!

2013 Golden Globes Wrap-Up

Well, the Golden Globes happened, and it was about as unruly and bonkers as a controlled night of self-flattery can be. Hayden Panettiere showed up and looked old, Daniel Day Lewis won and also did the E.T. finger, Anne Hathaway thanked someone for ‘the best string of yesterdays’ she has ever had, and Dog President stars Darcy St. Fudge and Damian Francisco were robbed. Tableau Your Mind is currently in India, so we enlisted the help of guest blogger Bro-sie the Riveter, who is in Seattle, so that we can represent the most easterly and westerly people watching the Golden Globes:

Film Review: Les Miserables

The best thing that can be said of Les Miserables, the movie directed by Tom Hooper based on the musical of the same name (which itself is based on a novel by Victor Hugo), is that it doesn't fail for lack of trying. Sure, some of the performances are a little lazy, but at least it feels like work was put into the staging and execution. The film tells the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), a man who commits himself to God and goodly works after his release from jail and his fleeing from parole. He inadvertently wrongs the angelic and