Peter Murmann

The sequel to Twilight is a big disappointment for the adult mind. Only teenage girls with a crush on Robert Pattison will enjoy this film. Nothing new happens. Bella’s vampire boyfriend, Edward (Robert Pattison), leaves her so she can be safe.  Bella is crushed and becomes depressed.  She spends a lot of time with Jake, [Read More]

It is difficult not to repeat myself in reviewing Pixar movies. Once again the studio has made a superb film. Unlike many sequel franchises that tend go downhill pretty quickly, Pixar’s line of films is one wonder after another. Like all the other Pixar films, UP works for young and old. This time even the [Read More]

What a stunner! Turn the clock back 200 years. Not even the photograph has been invented. Here you are minding your business, strolling into your local pub.  After your first beer with friends and family the room is magically transformed into a modern-day 3-D theatre, and you are treated to the visual beauty of James [Read More]

Zack Efron is beautiful and fun to watch. Matthew Perry is a letdown. But 17 Again has a few good lines. Bride Wars is a real chick flick. Men will not understand what the whole thing is about. Hildegard, a film about the first part of the career of post-WW II actress and singer Hildegard [Read More]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is Hollywood at its best. The film lifts a simple idea from a short story of F. Scott Fitzgerald and turns it into first-class entertainment that touches on deep emotions of the human condition:  being in love, getting older, and dying.  Hollywood works its magic by hiring great writers [Read More]

This fairy tale reminded me of children’s theatre, a visit at the circus, and a Hollywood love story and action film all mixed into one. It is fun to watch Jonny Depp play a pirate who has been deposed by his crew and now wants to regain his position as the captain of a famed [Read More]

Most people I know woke up to the full powers of the flesh sometimes in their second decade. Some experience this discovery as ‘no big deal;’ others are thrown off balance.  Trying to explore this new territory with some success often proves dauntingly difficult. Many films have been made about teenage romance.  A few of [Read More]

As far as action films go, the previous episodes of the Indiana Jones franchise left me pretty unmoved.  Archeological treasure hunts were never my cup of tea. For this reason, I could have easily done without Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But here I am on the airplane. What the [Read More]

If you are like me and wonder how Pixar can pull off one creative blockbuster after another, here is an interesting peek behind the scenes of the studio.  In an interview the writer and director of Finding Nemo and Wall E, Andrew Stanton, intimates that Finding Nemo did not work as a film until very [Read More]

When Heath Ledger died early this year, I was deeply disturbed by his death.  I surprised myself by the strength of my sadness.  What made it so difficult to accept his untimely death was my sense that this extraordinary talent could have mesmerized us for decades to come with his acting skills. The best thing [Read More]