Wednesday, November 23, 2011 Cinema Siren had settled in to write the “Dysfunctional Family Holiday Movie Guide”, tucking into the first mulled wine of the season, only to discover all the great holiday movies, like all great families, show some dysfunction. It’s a Wonderful Life has a drunken and enabled uncle. The whole premise of …
Friday, November 18, 2011 Let’s be honest here…Cinema Siren loves sparkle as much as the next diva, but on the best of days the Twilight saga has to be reviewed on a curve. It was never meant to be Shakespeare, or even “True Blood.” Those of you who are on Team “Eric” will never find …
Friday, November 11, 2011 Cinema Siren spent a delightful afternoon some months ago watching the filming of “J. Edgar” from the window of Iron Bridge Wine Company in Warrenton. They were filming the scene of the Lindbergh kidnapping trial in Old Town, and while a crowd of curious onlookers stood in the cold, Siren and …
Saturday, October 8, 2011 When those bad boys of ancient Rome decided to bring the big man down on that famed day of betrayal on 44 BC, they weren’t kidding around. Caesar was stabbed no less than 23 times. Clearly they committed fully to the task and succeeded. A bunch of senators in togas then …
Saturday, September 10, 2011 Some would say Steven Soderbergh’s latest directorial offering is his version of the disaster films of the 1970s. That may be partly true, albeit an updated version for the new millennium. In this 2011 take on the plague-pic, it’s more like CSI: Contagion Source Investigation. There’s a decidedly dispassionate air to …
Saturday, August 13, 2011 Tate Taylor, who told his close friend, New York Times Bestselling “The Help”‘s writer Kathryn Stockett not to give up as he read the manuscript on an airplane, started writing the screenplay for the film before the book was even finished. In this screenplay he used his best friend as inspiration …
Sunday, July 31, 2011 Dear “Cowboys and Aliens” and “The Smurfs”: If this town “ain’t smurfin’ big enough for the three of ya”, the romantic dramedy “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” gets my vote for charming its way to the top at the box office. I have so been lulled into expecting romcoms to be written badly, …
Saturday, July 16, 2011 I am at the Leakycon Harry Potter convention, sitting in a crowded theatre filled with conventioneers. This convention has coincided with the opening of the “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows -Part 2.” The movie has just ended, and it’s the second time i’ve seen it in the last five days. …
Friday, March 4, 2011 I’m an eternal optimist. When i go see a new movie I always hope for the best, hope for the hundreds of people it takes to create a film, including the actors, editors, writers, producers, and production crew who partnered on the journey to make cinematic history or even just a …
Thursday, November 18, 2010 For fans of the books, the movies, and lovers of all things Harry Potter, muggles and wizards alike, the prospect of this beginning of the end, this first of two Deathly Hallows movies, is at once an exciting and bittersweet affair. They have grown to love the characters fiercely and want …
