Category: Reviews

I am going to sit on a soapbox for a second so sit tight and strap it. The controversial move of shooting the Hobbit trilogy in 48 frames per second seems to have eclipsed what should have been the larger topic of online debate: why the need to create three Hobbit films in the first place. The 48… Continue reading Review: ‘The Hobbit’: An Unexpectedly Boring Journey

Movies exist for many reasons, but one of them must be to create something as magical as “Life of Pi.” I don’t invoke the M word very often, but “Life of Pi” is magical and mesmerizing. I’m even enthusiastic about its use of 3-D, which seems organic and genuinely enhances the film, something that doesn’t… Continue reading Review: ‘Life of Pi’ mesmerizes viewers

We may have found it, folks; the closest thing to a male version of Twilight that Hollywood can muster. Pretty-faced actors looking older than they are running around in the Pacific Northwest woods with too much hair product and abilities they shouldn’t realistically have, facing down absurd threats and the most preposterously exaggerated villains you can imagine.… Continue reading Review: Red Dawn, subject to be forgotten

Bored college students on holiday break could do worse than seeing Rise of the Guardians, the new DreamWorks animated feature. Based on William Joyce’s The Guardians of Childhood book series, Peter Ramsey’s film takes Joyce’s high concept—a super heroic team-up of kid-myth characters—and runs with it, allowing surly teen Jack Frost to discover himself and… Continue reading Review: ‘Rise of the Guardians’ doesn’t rise to the occasion

The College of Humanities and Fine Arts Department of Music, along with Sigma Alpha Iota, hosted an American Musicale on Tuesday, Nov 13, at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Martin.  The musicale had a variety of instruments including trombone, clarinet, English horn, bassoons and many more.  There was also a variety of songs from different American… Continue reading Review: Sigma Alpha Iota Musicale

On Nov. 15 and 16, the UTM Dance Ensemble presented “Dance Until the World Ends.” Themed around the supposed end of the world due to take place in December, the performance included 16 dances and one special performance from Stepz Dance Studios, located in Union City. In the interest of full disclosure, I am the… Continue reading Review: Dance Ensemble succeeds in ‘Dance Until the World Ends’

Expectations of the Vanguard Theatre’s production of “Almost, Maine” were blown out of the water. While I expected the play to be wonderful, the actors played the parts of their characters exceptionally well. I did not see the actors playing the characters; rather, I saw the characters for who they truly were supposed to be. This is… Continue reading Review: ‘Almost, Maine’ far exceeds all expectations

This past Thursday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m., the UTM Department of Music presented the community with a Student Chamber Music Program. Music majors, as well as a few other majors, ranging from freshman to senior level status, performed. The program was comprised of eight various ensembles presented within the entire hour. The first performance… Continue reading Review: Student Chamber Music Program

Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” is everything a film about that towering figure ought to be: majestic, yet intimate, respectful, but not worshipful. It manages to humanize a historical figure without diminishing him in any way, thanks to the director’s sure hand, a superior screenplay by playwright Tony Kushner (based on the work of historian Doris Kearns… Continue reading Review: ‘Lincoln’ depicts 16th president in positive light

The moment that Daniel Craig steps out of the shadows in the twenty-third James Bond film, you can tell that it will be something special. Skyfall opens – much like many of the others – with a thrilling chase, this time involving a stolen computer drive, with Bond and another agent (Naomie Harris) hot on the culprits… Continue reading Review: ‘Skyfall’ brings Bond back with a vengeance