Christian Bale| Bring on the Knight

Posted July 18, 2012

In a quiet restaurant in Los Angeles, Christian Bale takes a sip of carrot juice as he tries to make sense of the gigantic billboards for The Dark Knight Rises on either end of the street outside. “It’s just begun, hasn’t it?” says the English actor, 38, sporting scruff and looking gym-ready in shorts and an athletic shirt. He uses the word monster a lot when talking about Batman, both in terms of the character and the marketing machine that’s about to bring his last stint as the Caped Crusader to the world. “These movies always start as small affairs, […]

Chris Hemsworth| Hero Worship

Posted July 12, 2012

They are waiting for Thor. It’s a few days before the U.S. premiere of The Avengers, which will zoom to a staggering $200 million opening weekend, and outside a downtown New York hotel, fans cluster, hoping for an autograph, an iPhone pic, a glimpse of the brawny 28-year-old Australian actor. He is Chris Hemsworth, not yet a household name but a confident bet to be one—still new enough to movies that he’s not weary of this fuss or the global promotional haul that has shipped him and his blond ­ponytail from Los Angeles to France to Russia, then Germany and […]

The Amazing Spider-man

The Amazing Spider-man

Posted July 7, 2012

History Lesson: Spider-man was the first superhero I ever knew. Of course he had his amazing friends who I liked a lot and sometimes the X-Men who were interesting. But Spider-man was the central figure in my superhero world and even back then I knew the difference between the lead and the supporting players.

an unpopular aggravation

an unpopular aggravation

Posted July 6, 2012

I’ve wanted to post this ever since I saw The Avengers. But the reality is, it’s something I’ve fought with for quite a while. But it’s something of a delicate topic, especially on a blog all about girls and geeks and therefore by implication empowering strong female characters and kicking ass and… stuff.

But here it is.

Brave

Brave

Posted June 23, 2012

I don’t know why I bother rating animated movies, except that in some ways these reviews are my own version of collecting movie stubs.

Searching for Stardom

Searching for Stardom

Posted June 20, 2012

There have been a surprising number of articles recently discussing the art of making a movie star (if you consider Feb and March recent in June). It’s an occasionally discussed topic, especially whenever you start comparing the current slate of “movie stars” against the old guard.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The End is Near

Posted June 16, 2012

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint open up about their decade in the spotlight Of course they knew it was coming. Yet it wasn’t until the final day of filming that the three Harry Potter stars fully understood that the most significant chapter of their lives so far was ending. “Somehow, I wasn’t prepared for how emotional it was,” says Rupert Grint, who has played Ron Weasley for almost half his life. “It hit home how much it all meant to us.” After the trio finished their last scenes for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this past summer, […]

Snow White and the Huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman

Posted June 4, 2012

I’m predisposed not to like Kristen Stewart. But I really wanted to like Snow White and the Huntsman so I hoped, at the very least, she’d be good enough not to ruin it. I thought: Please let her be flat. Please let her be unemotional. I’m ok with either of those. (I ought to have just come out and said, let her be Jessica Biel but it only just occured to me). If I’d had any foresight

Battleship

Battleship

Posted May 20, 2012

It doesn’t happen often, but Battleship surprised me. I expected it to be big and dumb and flashy and loud, lots of special effects and little story and less characters. But, I was curious and thought a little bit of big and flashy might be fun. Plus Taylor Kitsch never hurts.

The Avengers

The Avengers

Posted May 5, 2012

I love Joss Whedon.

Here’s the thing, he has been loved by a small percentage of the population for over a decade. He’s an incredibly talented