Full ‘Public Enemies’ Review Tomorrow

Hey, Everyone,

Look for the review of Public Enemies right here on the Celluloid Critic tomorrow. My review will also be featured on Preview Online.

I am talking to radio personality Liz Lane of Positive Hit Radio The Current tomorrow morning all about this new gangster crime drama starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. You will hear that full radio review on Friday.

I can tell you now that I really enjoyed the film. It’s not the kind of movie I would typically go see. But Johnny Depp rules the silver screen as the sympathetic John Dillinger.

More about it tomorrow!

For now, enjoy the trailer on the Public Enemies official movie site.

Laura

‘The Proposal’: An Engaging Comedy

Beautiful but hard-nosed editor Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is about to get shipped back to Canada at the height of her career at Colden Books when she gets the brilliant idea of wedding her hardworking, faithful male assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), so she can stay in country.

But there is just one problem. Margaret’s immigration office, Mr. Gilbertson (Denis O’Hare), is bent on proving the wedding is a sham and threatens a stiff prison sentence for Andrew and instant deportation for Margaret should the engagement prove fraudulent as he suspects.

Despite the obstacles, the couple decides to continue the farce as planned by telling the engagement news at the 90^th birthday celebration of Andrew’s Grandma Annie (played by Betty White).

‘Transformers 2’: Thin on Plot, Cool on Visual Effects

Autobot Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) and the military, headed by Major Lennox (Josh Duhamel) have been successfully working side by side to defend Earth from enemy attacks from the Decepticons for years. But there are once again sinister stirrings from Decepticon forces, headed by The Fallen, who aren’t about to give up their infiltration and destruction of Earth. And now one government official is trying to rid the planet of Autobot defenses just at the time when those Autobot forces will be needed most.

Now the Decepticons are after college-bound Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), who happens to possess the remaining sliver of the cube, the ultimate object of robotic power force.  

Ryan Reynolds Featured in Entertainment Weekly

Hello, Fans of Ryan Reynolds (me included),

Just thought I would let you know that Ryan is featured in the June 26/July 3 issue of Entertainment Weekly. He is on the cover and featured in a four-page cover spread. There is an article about him, and he seems like a nice, down-to-earth guy. But don’t get your hopes up; he’s married. Sorry! Yep, his wife is Scarlett Johansson (since last September).

And here is another tidbit of interesting news: He is Canadian. Funny that in his new movie with Sandra Bullock, The Proposal, it’s Bullock that plays the Canadian. Nice reversal.

Well, carry on, Ryan. We hope to see you again in those leading man roles. 

— Laura J. Bagby

‘Transformers’ Review to Post Tomorrow

Last night I went to a screening for the new Michael Bay sci-fi action/adventure film starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. I can’t disclose my review yet. (Awww! Man!) I can’t give my official two cents until opening day, which is tomorrow, because that’s what the studios stipulate if you go to a film screening as press. My hope is to get the review up tomorrow afternoon, since I will be taping my Current FM radio review of the new romantic comedy The Proposal in the morning from the comfort of my home. 

— Laura J. Bagby

Upcoming Reviews: ‘The Proposal’ and ‘Transformers’

Just wanted to let you guys know that I just saw The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock and one of my personal favs (that would be  — and I am going to waiver just a bit from my journalistic professionalism here — Ryan “Hottie” Reynolds). I will have a complete review for you soon. This is the movie that will be featured on Friday’s Positive Hit Radio The Current movie review segment on Friday, June 26. So be listening! And I will get those audio clips up as soon as I can just in case you miss it live.

Also, I am excited that I will be seeing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at a pre-screening event next week. It opens Wednesday, June 24. I read a review with the film’s starlet, the young Megan Fox, in Entertainment Weekly recently. She is quite a beauty, but unfortunately also very mouthy if the interview is any indication. Hope that fact doesn’t spoil what I see on screen. 

— Laura J. Bagby

Dissecting Deeper Themes in ‘Pelham 123’

I really enjoyed discussing the deeper themes in the new Denzel Washington and John Travolta, about two men who face off and stand divided on what is right and wrong in one crazy train ride.

I shared my own ‘train’ of thought with Positive Hit Radio The Current. My buddy, radio personality Liz Lane, and I talked in particular about the issues of sin and redemption that are heavily prevalent in this Columbia/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release from director Tony Scott.

Audio Commentary:

The above audio clip is not the original on-air version from The Current FM. It has been edited for this blog.

— Laura J. Bagby

‘The Taking of Pelham 123’: A Train Car Called Conspire

In this Columbia Pictures/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer update to the 1974 cheesy cult classic starring Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau, director Tony Scott teams up for a fourth time with talented leading man Denzel Washington. (The pair previously worked together on suspense thrillers Déjà Vu, Man on Fire, and Crimson Tide.)

Washington plays New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, who is given exactly one hour to deliver a million-dollar ransom to a crazed subway train hijacker called Ryder (the tattoo-branded John Travolta) before the madman blows his stack and claims the lives of 17 innocent hostages trapped on train car Pelham 123.

‘Land of the Lost’ Disappoints

Take the old caveman Geico ads, mix in raunchy SNL skits, and throw in a Daisy Duke Brit and a redneck good old boy and you’ve got the new Land of the Lost that opened last Friday.

The original 1974 TV series written by Sid and Marty Krofft followed the time traveling adventures of a camping father and his two kids who inexplicably find themselves in the mysterious world of man-eating dinosaurs, sinister lizard-like Sleestaks, and a monkey boy called Chaka.

On-Air About ‘Land of the Lost’

My radio film review of Land of the Lost is coming this Friday. Sorry you can’t get it sooner!

But I can tell you that you don’t want to waste your money on this new Will Ferrell flick. It seems to draw the immature and undiscerning, if my experience at the theatre has any bearing. And that is a sad reality.

I head back to the phone lines with Current FM’s Liz Lane to talk more, so watch for that this Friday.

— Laura J. Bagby