Inquirer Movie Critic - Steven Rea http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea RSS Feed for Inq Col Steven Rea en-us Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:28:28 GMT Grappling with his past, winning out in 'The Wrestler' http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20090104_Grappling_with_his_past__winning_out_in__The_Wrestler_.html For a few days at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, where Mickey Rourke's The Wrestler stunned audiences and started a bidding war, the onetime pretty boy/movie tough guy could be seen shambling around swanky Yorkville, his 17-year-old miniature Chihuahua, Loki, snuggled in his arms. Physical and spiritual refugees http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20081226_In_a_word__.html In a word, displacement. Looking back over the list of the year's most satisfying films, it isn't hard finding the thread running through just about every one. Forrest Gump stuck in reverse http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20081226_Forrest_Gump_stuck_in_reverse.html This review originally appeared Thursday. Question: Is life still like a box of chocolates if you're going in reverse? The answer, in the case of the curiously Gumpian The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is a gooey yes. Affably goofball work from - who else? - Adam Sandler http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20081226_Affably_goofball_work_from_-_who_else__-_Adam_Sandler.html A version of this review originally appeared Thursday. Great works of literature have often begun life as stories told to kids. Alice in Wonderland comes to mind, and Peter Pan. It's hard to imagine the tales of Bedtime Stories - fantasies set in ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, the Old West and outer space - becoming classics, although they serve the goofball purposes of Adam Sandler well enough in this antic family vehicle. An adaptation lacking 'Spirit' http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20081226_An_adaptation_lacking__Spirit_.html Hard-boiled and half-baked, The Spirit mashes vintage comic strips with new-fangled CGI, sucking the very life out of a mid-century pop icon in the process. A tangled, bungled plot to kill Hitler http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20081226_A_tangled__bungled_plot_to_kill_Hitler.html "I'm engaged in treason," snaps the guy with the eye patch and the Nazi uniform. "Can I count you in?" A most 'Curious' epic http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20081223_Question__Is_life_still_like_a_box_of_chocolates.html Question: Is life still like a box of chocolates if you're going in reverse? The answer, in the case of the curiously Gumpian "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," is a gooey yes. Adaptation is devoid of 'Spirit' http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20081223_Hard-boiled_and_half-baked__The_Spirit.html Hard-boiled and half-baked, The Spirit mashes vintage comic strips with new-fangled CGI, sucking the very life out of a mid-century pop icon in the process. Affably goofball work from — who else? — Adam Sandler http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20081223_Affably_goofball_work_from__who_else___Adam_Sandler.html Great works of literature have often begun life as stories told to kids. Alice in Wonderland comes to mind, and Peter Pan. It's hard to imagine the tales of Bedtime Stories - fantasies set in ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, the Old West and outer space - becoming classics, although they serve the goofball purposes of Adam Sandler well enough in this antic family vehicle. A tangled, bungled plot to kill Hitler http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20081223_A_tangled__bungled_plot_to_kill_Hitler.html "I'm engaged in treason," snaps the guy with the eye patch and the Nazi uniform. "Can I count you in?"