Author: AJ

Chris Pine| A List Redefined

Posted November 10, 2010

Very few actors find themselves standing on the edge of major stardom. Chris Pine is now in that enviable, if precarious, position, and he’s trying to take the native uncertainty in stride. With a huge hit last year in Star Trek, in which he made the iconic role of Capt. James T. Kirk his own, and the imminent release of the action flick Unstoppable, in which he stars opposite veteran A-lister Denzel Washington, Pine is determinedly realistic about it all. “It’s definitely a balance between having a concrete plan about where you want to go and a certain amount of […]

Chris Pine Hits Hollywood at Warp Speed

Chris Pine Hits Hollywood at Warp Speed

Posted November 1, 2010

Big action stars and leading men aren’t born they’re made. For Chris Pine, who broke out in last summer’s Star Trek and returns in November’s Unstoppable, that meant careful preparation, physical toil, and constant psychoanalysis. Now comes the payoff. Chris Pine is covered in blood, waving a pistol, locking lips with a teenage girl in Ani DiFranco groupie gear: cargo pants, tank top, boyish haircut. He and his young accomplice have just killed some bumbling Irish terrorists together, and now they’re celebrating, kissing madly as Pine rubs a cat’s oozing corpse all over her writhing back. This is how Pine […]

Can geekdom be conditioned?

Can geekdom be conditioned?

Posted October 19, 2010

I’m sure that it can be, just as most anything can be conditioned into a human being given the time, intention and opportunity. But some people are just wired certain ways. I didn’t have an

EW Reunion: The Lord of the Rings

Posted October 19, 2010

What do you think about when you think about The Lord of the Rings?Moments of self-sacrifice and unexpected heroism, which are the twin strands of the trilogy’s DNA. When the people who actually made The Lord of the Rings think about The Lord of the Rings — and we asked a dozen of them, as they hugged and caught up for the first time in years at photo shoots in Los Angeles, London, and Sydney — they remember New Zealand, and the most exhausting, exhilarating years of their lives. To be specific: They remember shooting the very first scene in […]

The Social Network

The Social Network

Posted October 2, 2010

Sorkin and Fincher took a premise that should be anti-cinematic, turned it into a movie full of almost entirely dialog and still managed to keep it engaging and have great energy. It’s an

You Again

You Again

Posted September 25, 2010

This is a great concept full of great actors. Here’s my problem with this movie: it was really awkward and embarrassing. And I don’t like awkward and embarrassing at all. It isn’t any fun.

The Perils of Twilight

The Perils of Twilight

Posted September 18, 2010

An Open Letter to Guys,
(especially the I’m-a-good-guy guys)

Please don’t watch Twilight. Because it’s not real.

And I’m not talking about werewolves and vampires. I’m talking about love.

Easy A

Easy A

Posted September 18, 2010

I’m a little bit torn with Easy A, so this review might ramble a little bit. But I think there are two divisive factors that determine whether it’s a good movie or a bad movie.

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go

Posted September 14, 2010

As much as I like to see science fiction movies outside the expected tropes of the genre I wouldn’t recommend this one.

There was an interesting mystery that initially drew me in. I wanted to

The Scott Pilgrim conundrum

The Scott Pilgrim conundrum

Posted August 28, 2010

Vanity Fair had an article this week about why you should go see Scott Pilgrim. I agree with it, even if they weren’t quite blunt enough for my taste. So, here’s