I’m Frank Ruggiero, entertainment editor for The Mountain Times. You might remember me
from Episode 106 of “Sqrambled Scuares,” as well asfrom my various articles, like “Boone adopts
bond order for $25 milliontoward new water intake.” More ››
The premise of The Box: What if you are presented with a box that has a
button on top that, when pushed, will do two things: cause a person you
don’t know to die and give you $1,000,000 in cash. Great premise, but
The Box has a very basic flaw: it’s excruciatingly boring. More ››
Truth is stranger than fiction, and The Men Who Stare at Goats is no exception, mixing
a nearly unbelievable dose of fact with crafty fiction for a delightfully fun and fast-paced
comedy. More ››
The newly released concert film, This Is It, displays Michael Jackson’s outstanding showmanship just so. It doesn’t
delve into his troubled persona, rather presenting him as seen on stage – a perspective from which
it’s vividly clear that Jackson’s reputation as a brilliant entertainer is duly
deserved. More ››
Put “low budget” and “horror movie” together, chances are
you’ll have a laugh, maybe an “Ewww,” and most certainly an “Oh, come on.” Paranormal Activity has all of the above, but is an ambitious
step toward breaking that mold, proving that decent writing is far more effective than buckets of
gore, computer-generated monsters and Sorority Row. More ››
There’s a lot I wanted to like in Law Abiding Citizen, a
well-made film with several excellent scenes, but the film’s just too flip-floppy. It’s a film with
two personalities – one is a daring tale of blurred morality, the other a dead-fish action film full
of clichés and by-the-books “suspense.” More ››
Spike
Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, a 101-minute adaptation
of Maurice Sendek’s 1963 classic, is simply a film told from the viewpoint of a very confused
child. Much like Elliott from E.T.: The Extra
Terrestrial, Wild Things' Max has probably seen more
of his fair share of sadness and rejection in life – he’s lonely, and he’s got some anger in him,
too. More ››
If you haven’t long to live, see Couples Retreat. It makes 107 minutes seem like an eternity. But the atrocious
new romantic comedy that is neither romantic nor a comedy managed to date-night its way to No. 1
at this weekend’s box office, toppling Zombieland,
which, for a film about flesh-eating undead monsters, has considerably more life. More ››
Whenever stuck in the conversational doldrums, I’ll bait
someone to say something like, “I want the truth,” so I can indulge myself in repeating one of Jack
Nicholson’s most memorable lines, “You can’t handle the truth!”
General results are
frustration, amusement and scorn. But the quotation is not without philosophical merit, questioning
how people handle truth and, more specifically, if they even wish to do so.
The brilliant new
comedy The Invention of Lying tackles this question and others, delivering a fresh concept with
expert timing for one of the most original – and funny – films of the year.
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