One might argue that anyone who spends a significant amount of time obsessing over movies like Point Break and Bad Boys needs to reexamine his or her priorities. After all, those two films have less cinematic influence than something along the lines of Gone With the Wind. But somehow, knowing that the two movies were seminal to the makers of Hot Fuzz does little to discredit the film or its auteurs, Shaun of the Dead scribes Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg; in fact, the idea that Point Break and Bad Boys could influence anyone at all serves as a lift to the shrewd send-up of the action-comedy genre.

Continue Reading »

So, remember that promise that I made that I’d be back up and blogging once the curtain finally fell on “Beauty and the Beast,” and that I’d be blogging from an exotic locale to boot? Well, add a week of almost nonstop action in the Windy City together with a forgotten cable to link my digital camera to my computer and you get a week without posts. I know you all missed me.

As I gather my thoughts on my vacation, I’ll be more than happy to post them here in some sort of recap. But that’s a few days off. Luckily for you, I have two distractions for you. The first is a review of Hot Fuzz, which I saw tonight and should be properly reviewed by midday Monday. Secondly, click on the linked phrase or the picture to your right to visit my set of Chicago pictures, posted to Flickr. I’m certainly not as great a photographer as some people on my blogroll, or even in my own family, but I think they’re decent.

Make no bones about it: Will Ferrell is big business. Especially of late, Ferrell’s oft-subtitled portrayals of dunderheaded, chauvinistic alpha males have turned to gold as soon as his name has been attached. Add in Jon Heder, who has cashed in several times over on his Napoleon Dynamite personality but still brings in the younger crowd, and it seems that Blades of Glory is destined for success. But it seems that where Ferrell’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy has reached classic status and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby was a solid offering, Blades slips as often as it sticks its landings.

Continue Reading »

When it comes to posts bemoaning the fact that one no longer has the time or energy to devote to blogging - a past time entirely devoted to filling one’s time when they don’t have the energy to do real work - I usually side with the majority of the world who despise excuses. But since I can wrap in a nice shameless plug, I’m going to write such a post.

You may have noticed my dip in productivity in this space, and you should be warned that it will continue for another week or two. You may also remember that I was cast as the Beast in the St. Bernadette Players’ production of Beauty and the Beast. There’s your reason. The past few weeks have been devoted to nailing down my part and trying to remember the words to my songs. This week, I’ll be going straight from work to tech rehearsals and won’t have the time to pre-write any posts. Save for a review of Blades of Glory set to go live tomorrow, don’t expect to hear from me.

But worry not. I’m still here, and I still appreciate you, oh tens of readers. Once the show is over, I’ll be back to a decent posting regularity, and am happy to announce that Movie Hawk will be hitting the road and giving you posts from exotic locales. In the meantime, continue reading for the show dates.

Continue Reading »

I’ve come to the realization that I’m probably the only person who has a relationship with this site who watches Friday Night Lights. At some point during this television season, people got pulled away by their American Idols and 30 Rocks and decided it was either better to watch a different show on Wednesdays at 8 or not watch anything in that slot. But I still feel compelled to write about the show, because, like my oft-lauded Studio 60, I feel that Lights hasn’t gotten a fair shake, and that its slow growth trend may send it scurrying off the air.

There has never been a show that, week after week, has left me saying “God damn, that show is fantastic” the way Lights does. Maybe if I had watched The West Wing on TV instead of DVD, I’d have had that experience in my life, but Lights is the first show over which I can recall being blown away each week (Note: The Office does this most weeks). This show is a class in advanced television. The actors are brilliant, the camerawork is inspired, and the writing is smart. At this point, I’d rather save Friday Night Lights than Studio 60. Will this obligatory hot girl picture (She’s the coach’s daughter! She dates the socially awkward quarterback! It’s so CUTE!) make you watch the show? Pretty please?