Candyman: The David Klein Story (Botes, 2010)

Last updated on: May 25, 2015 at 7:46 pm By Kenneth R. Morefield

Klein came up for the idea of Jelly Belly, the gourmet jelly bean that comes in a myriad of different flavors, and, as related in the documentary Candyman, he ended up selling his stake in the company for a tidy profit that turned out to be a small percentage of its eventual worth. Read more

Swordfish (Sena, 2001)

Last updated on: July 26, 2014 at 8:55 pm By Kenneth R. Morefield

I did not ultimately select Dominca Sena's film as my least favorite viewing experience of the year--more on the film that got that designation later in this series--but both in revisiting the film and my review of it, I wonder that I did not. Read more

Monsters, Inc. (Docter, Silverman, Unkrich, 2001)

Last updated on: January 31, 2015 at 9:25 pm By Kenneth R. Morefield

You know the biggest shock about revisiting Monsters, Inc. ten years later? It was the "Coming Soon" preview for Disney's Treasure Planet. Read more

No Strings Attached (Reitman, 2011)

Last updated on: July 26, 2014 at 2:22 pm By Kenneth R. Morefield

I don't feel too grinch-like in saying I didn't believe the film since the film doesn't really believe itself. Read more

Black Swan (Aronofsky, 2010)

Last updated on: January 31, 2015 at 9:27 pm By Dan Mohr

Were he still alive today, I can't help thinking that Black Swan would've been the late Japanese playwright, melodramatist and exhibitionist Yukio Mishima's all-time favorite movie...and I also recall how the costume designer Eiko Ishioka once mentioned Mishima's aesthetics were "in very poor taste." Read more

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Jackson, 2001)

Last updated on: January 31, 2015 at 9:30 pm By Kenneth R. Morefield

I tried hard to view the film afresh, to convince myself that my negative (and, hence, admittedly minority) view of the franchise had more to do with a knee-jerk reaction against its spectacular popularity than it did to any great failure on the film's part. Read more

Country Strong (Feste, 2010)

Last updated on: January 31, 2015 at 9:32 pm By Kenneth R. Morefield

The religion stuff is a red herring, though, I know. It wouldn't bother me if I was focused on the story or if I could see these characters as realistic people with actual human flaws. Read more

10 Years Later…

Last updated on: January 31, 2015 at 9:35 pm By Kenneth R. Morefield

I have long held that film writing reveals as much about the author as the subject. How have my tastes changed? How much can changing the context change the experience of the film? Do some films hold up better to second (or in some cases third, fourth, or twentieth) viewings, and, if so, is that an important descriptor of quality? Where was I right? Were there places where I was wrong? And if I now think I was wrong, do I understand what caused me to be wrong? Read more

2010 Favorite Discoveries

Last updated on: July 26, 2014 at 3:04 pm By Kenneth R. Morefield

So here it is--a list of my ten favorite "new to me" films. These are films that I first screened in 2010 even though they have been previously released. Read more