(Blu) Haiku Review: TRON: Legacy (2010)

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner & Michael Sheen
Screenplay by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Directed by Joseph Kosinski

The son of a world famous video game designer attempts to rescue his missing father from the cyberworld into which he disappeared years ago.


Hopefully inspires
a whole new generation
of nerds. End of line.

Grade: B


c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
Tron: Legacy is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/5/11.
It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing, 2010.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104001/

(Blu) Haiku Review: Little Fockers (2010)

Starring: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Jessica Alba, Dustin Hoffman & Barbra Streisand
Written by John Hamburg and Larry Stuckey
Directed by Paul Weitz

Greg Focker is once again pitted against his ex-CIA father-in-law, who doesn’t believe Greg has what it takes to be a strong family patriarch.


You can’t milk a cat,
but you can milk a franchise
to death, so it seems.

Grade: D+


c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
Little Fockers is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/5/11.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970866/

(Blu) Haiku Review: Tangled (2010)

Starring: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor & Brad Garrett
Screenplay by Dan Fogelman
Directed by Byron Howard and Nathan Greno

A dashing thief meets a princess with magical hair in Disney’s reimagining of the story of Rapunzel.


Above average
for a non-Pixar Disney
(So princess-dependent)

Grade: B+


c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
Tangled is available on Blu-ray and DVD today.
It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, 2010.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398286/

(Blu) Haiku Review: The Resident (2011)

Starring: Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan & Christopher Lee
Written by Antti J. Jokinen & Robert Orr
Directed by Antti J. Jokinen

A woman is stalked by her landlord.


Things are bad when a
two-time Oscar winner needs
a “paycheck” movie.

Grade: C


c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Resident is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/29/11.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1334102/

(Blu) Haiku Review: All Good Things (2010)

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst & Frank Langella
Written by Marcus Hinchey and Marc Smerling
Directed by Andrew Jarecki

This film is based on the most notorious unsolved missing person’s case in New York history, the 1982 disappearance of Kathie McCormack, wife of real estate heir Robert Durst, who was suspected but never tried for killing his wife.


An eccentric case
Stuffy dramatization
A misused Gosling

Grade: C


c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
All Good Things is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/29/11.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1175709/

(Blu) Haiku Review: Fair Game (2010)

Starring: Naomi Watts & Sean Penn
Screenplay by Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth
Directed by Doug Liman

Based on the true story of CIA operative Valerie Plame, whose life and career were left in shambles when her undercover status was leaked by the White House after her husband, a retired ambassador, wrote a newspaper article challenging the basis for the U.S. war on Iraq.


Burning your own spy:
Just one more of Team Bush’s
war atrocities.

Grade: B+


c2010
By Daniel J. Hoag
Fair Game is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/29/11.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0977855/

Haiku Review: Sucker Punch (2011)

Starring: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm & Scott Glenn
Screenplay by Zack Snyder & Steve Shibuya
Directed by Zack Snyder

After being forcibly institutionalized by her stepfather, a young woman escapes into a fantasy world to help her cope with the cruelty of her surroundings.


Part video game.
Part music video. Part
anime. Part thigh.

Grade: B-


c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
Sucker Punch is now playing in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/

(Blu) Haiku Review: Black Swan (2010)

Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey & Winona Ryder
Screenplay by Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin
Directed by Darren Aronofsky

A ballerina obsessed with perfection begins to break down psychologically as she rehearses the lead role in Swan Lake.


Another haunting
Aronofsky masterpiece,
intense, beautiful.

Grade: A


c2010
By Daniel J. Hoag
Black Swan is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/29/11.
It was the winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress (Natalie Portman), 2010. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Darren Aronofsky), Best Editing, and Best Cinematography.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/

Haiku Review: Paul (2011)

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman & Sigourney Weaver
Written by Nick Frost & Simon Pegg
Directed by Greg Mottola

A pair of British comic book geeks vacationing in the United States go on the lam with a foul-mouthed alien who’s being pursued by goverment agents.


E.T. with d*ck jokes
Close encounters with laughter
But Edgar Wright’s missed

Grade: B


c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
Paul is now showing in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1092026/

(Blu) Haiku Review: Yogi Bear (2010)

Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake, Anna Faris & Tom Cavanagh
Written by Jeffrey Ventimilia & Joshua Sternin and Brad Copeland
Directed by Eric Brevig

The classic cartoon character Yogi Bear and his friends try to stop a fiscally-incompetent mayor from selling Jellystone Park for deforestation.


Answers the question:
“Does a bear sh*t in the woods?”
Yes. It looks like this.

Grade: F


c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
Yogi Bear is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/22/11.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1302067/