The actors are decent, but there’s too many special effects, not enough enchantment, and definitely not enough Venice. Longer review

I was a little leery about paying theater prices for this, given that I found the fifth book a bit of a slog, but was pleasantly surprised. Good storytelling and solid acting made this a good HP debut for director Yates. Longer review

A superlative sci-fi story turned into a 90-minute E.T. wannabe, with so-so results. The generally competent acting is overshadowed by subplots that are melodramatic or outright ridiculous.

Longer review on Movie Help Web

This book was very entertaining, thanks mostly to Wilder’s wit and willingness to talk very directly about certain subjects. I was a little disappointed, though, that Wilder proved elusive when asked other questions. That’s probably what kept the book from being a true conversation about filmmaking. I always felt like Cameron Crowe was just sitting at Wilder’s feet, asking his idol whatever questions popped into his head, and scribbling down little nuggets of wisdom as Wilder scattered them around.

Not a classic by any means, but diverting enough, with good performances by Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke, Robin Williams, and Mickey Rooney. And hey, who wouldn’t want to hang out in a museum where the exhibits come alive at night?

... and not for the reason you’d think. Yes, it was painful to slog through page after page about the Red Sox snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but it would’ve been much better if the copyediting team hadn’t dropped the figurative ball so many times. After a while I stopped being able to trust the statistics, just because there were so many math errors, misspellings, etc. Keith Foulke fared especially poorly—he was referred to as Kevin Foulke four times in the span of seven pages!

We’ve been reading this aloud at bedtime, and it’s quite fun. I have to keep stopping because I’m cracking up over one of his perfectly straight-faced yet hilarious statements about his eating habits (or his wife’s response to them).

The critic in me had a couple of caveats:

—there were a couple of overly sentimental scenes, and the ending scene could’ve handled one particular moment more subtly (if something’s supposed to be a surprise, let me be surprised)

—some people might take issue with the “art is better than commerce” and “love conquers all” themes.

On the whole, though, this was a quite good adaptation of the stage musical, with wonderful performances and good use of film techniques.

... as “Behind the Seen” is a clearly written and fascinating read that does a good job explaining the challenges of editing a feature film with a program designed for smaller projects. Also provides insights into the process used by Murch, which are valuable to any aspiring editor.

Well-written, extremely sobering, and at times frightening account of the mountain lion situation in Boulder. Does a particularly good job of explaining the human politics involved in the response (and, for a while, the non-response) of authorities in Boulder, Colorado.