by David Minkus
Score:  4/4

I have to admit I was a bit nervous going into my screening of Inception. There was a similar buzz going into The Dark Knight and the trailers were just as exciting this time around. Unfortunately, I found myself a bit disappointed by the latest Batman flick and I was scared that the same thing would happen with Inception. Good news everyone! Inception is a masterpiece in every sense of the word and is frankly going to be tough to beat this year in my mind as a better film.

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by David Minkus
Score: 2.5/4

Like was the case with Prince of Persia, I had extremely low expectations for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The trailers looked mediocre at best and it seemed that expanding a short sequence from the legendary Fantasia into an almost two hour long movie would be a miserable failure. While it won’t set your world ablaze cinematically speaking, I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun the film was.

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by Dave Minkus
Score:  9.5/10

Toy Story 3 is what should be the final chapter in the Toy Story series.  It follows what’s left of our toy friends as they get donated to a daycare and how they try to get home and bond.  I know, that sounds dry and boring.  To me, I thought that was exactly what I was in for, too.  The trailers did absolutely nothing for me and I went into this movie prepared to be let down for the first time.  I tried to work up excitement to see the new Pixar flick and it just didn’t happen.  The only reason I say all this is so you get the full meaning of what I have to say when I tell you that Toy Story 3 is the kind of movie I point to when I want to argue that film is an art form.  It is the essence of film at its most beautiful.  Yeah, that surprised me too.  This might be a long review, so buckle up and get ready for the ride.

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by Dave Minkus
Film Rating:  7.5/10

I don’t know what it was about the trailers, but what I saw of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time just didn’t excite me. Quite frankly, I went into the screening last night thinking about all the other fun things I could be doing with my evening. I had a hard time believing that Jake Gyllenhaal could pull off being an action star and Ben Kingsley has been in some stinkers. This looked like another one. You can never go into a movie without preconceived notions about a film. The important thing is that you have to be open to letting a film happen and take it for what it is. I can’t express how glad I am that I was able to do this because Prince of Persia is an incredibly fun movie.

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by Dave Minkus
Dave’s Score: 7.5/10

It’s really nice when I get the chance to see a movie that lets me take off my critic’s hat and just enjoy it for what it is. For me, that kind of movie is a true story that’s well made. It isn’t about the “film”, it’s the story that’s important. Extraordinary Measures is exactly that kind of film. I understand people’s trepidation at the commercials that have been airing on CBS seemingly non-stop for the past few months.

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Even with cold weather, guaranteed snowfall and the temptation to blow $10.00 to see Roland Emmerich destroy the world, audiences still flocked to this year’s Starz Denver Film Festival, and with a line-up of films this great, who could blame them? This is still the best way for movie buffs to get a fix of films they’ve never heard of before but will be raving about for months. You also get a chance to be up close with some excellent filmmakers on the rise and actors and actresses like Rachel Leigh Cook, J.K. Simmons, Hal Holbrook and the fest’s Achievement Award winner, Ed Harris. It also gives film fest junkies a chance to see an acclaimed Oscar hopeful, like Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, which was this year’s SDFF opener.

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By Dave Minkus 
Score:  7/10

It’s been over a week since I saw Precious, and I’ve been dreading writing this review, frankly.  I honestly don’t know what I think about it.  The film definitely has a lot going for it, but it also has a bit working against it.

Precious follows the excruciating life of Clarice Precious Jones.  She’s dark skinned, obese and just got pregnant with her second child by her father.  That’s just the first 5 minutes of the movie.  Her mom abuses her as well, she’s miserable and only remotely happy when escaping into fantasies when real life is just too much.  Actually, too much might just be the perfect description of Precious.

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by Dave Minkus
Score: 8.5/10

I’m going to say it right here and now:  Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is going to BOMB at the box office.  This isn’t because it’s a bad movie.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The fact is that Bad Lieutenant is TOO good a movie.  The American movie audience doesn’t derserve this surreal masterpiece, and they’re going to turn their backs on it because it’s too wierd.  I had not idea what to expect going into this film, but I was open to whatever ride it was going to take me on.  Nothing could have prepared me for the glory I was in for.

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By Dave Minkus 
Score:  8/10

If you’re anything like me, the name Bill Withers doesn’t mean anything to you.  At least, it didn’t before seeing Damani Baker and Alex Vlack’s film, Still Bill.  It was shocking and I’ll admit that I was ashamed for not knowing the name of the man who brought us musical greats like Ain’t No Sunshine and Lean on Me.  Still Bill sets out to change the fact that Bill Withers is an unknown name to most of the country.

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By Dave Minkus

Dave’s Score:  8/10 

Whether you like or dislike a film made by Joel and Ethan Coen, you have to admit that every film they make is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.  If you’ve listened to our podcast very long, you know that I have a theory that a Coen Brothers film is going to fit into one of two genres:  we have their gritty noir films like Fargo, Miller’s Crossing and No Country for Old Men, and then we have their absurd films like The Hudsucker Proxy and O Brother, Where Art Thou?  Yes, Barton Fink crosses both quite sublimely, but most of their films fit into one of the two categories.  A Serious Man is gloriously absurd.  As with the crossing of downhome southern Christianity with Homer’s The Odyssey in O Brother, A Serious Man crosses 50’s suburban Jewish culture with the Biblical story of Job.  I know, it’s abstract, but it works!

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