Teenagedom and early adolescence is many things, but it’s perhaps chiefly characterized by a crazy hormonal swirl and the feeling that everything matters so deeply and acutely, and hasn’t been experienced by anyone else before. That’s why there will always exist movies like “The Roommate”, which released earlier this year, and turned a tidy profit to the tune of a $37 million domestic gross. And that’s why the bulk of these movies will almost always be terrible, or at least extremely unimaginative — because their target demographic is captive to the embrace of merely goosed feelings as much as anything else, so why try harder. A notably terrible young adult…

With just a day left to go until the big show, I’d like to bet you’ve had enough Oscar predictions – especially considering quite a handful of the biggest honors are considered locks. Well, I offer you something a little different; not who I think will win, but who I think should win. Best Picture: The King’s Speech Every Best Picture nominee achieves some degree of filmmaking prowess, otherwise, they wouldn’t be nominated in the first place. Rather than pick apart the elements and compare the contenders by the writing, directing acting, etc., this category comes down to something far simpler, yet something tougher to achieve – poignancy. Which of…

Title: The Illusionist (2011) Director: Sylvain Chomet Starring: Jean-Claude Donda (voice), Eilidh Rankin (voice) Oscar nominee, “The Illusionist,” is a delightfully somber 80 minutes. It may be the saddest story seen in the last six months. And FYI, this guy has seen “Blue Valentine,” “Biutiful” and “Another Year.” The old-school hand drawn animation was the perfect platform for this tale. Using modern CGI and/or live performers would have completely missed the intended tone this flick was shooting for. Our story is simple. Set in the time of the late ‘50 and early 60′s in Europe, a traveling stage performer – a magician – is always on the move looking for…

Title: The Illusionist Directed By: Sylvain Chomet Voice Cast: Jean-Claude Donda, Eilidh Rankin It’s nice to find a filmmaker with good intentions, but there’s just so far the intent alone can get you. Writer-director Sylvain Chomet aims to conjure up quite a degree of emotion in his nearly dialogue-less, animated 80 minute film, and while he comes close to making a powerful impact, winds up falling flat thanks to a key facet missing from his movie – entertainment. Life is rough for The Illusionist in Paris in 1956. Nothing he pulls out of his sleeve or his hat can draw a crowd quite like the rising rock bands. The theater…

Lionsgate recently released this brand new movie trailer for the upcoming comedy “The Lucky Ones” by director Neil Burger (The Illusionist) and starring Tim Robbins (City of Ember, The Shawshank Redemption), Rachel McAdams (Ness) and Michael Pena (Shooter, Lions for Lambs). Synopsis: After recovering from their wounds in the Iraq War, three soldiers are sent back to the United States. Sgt. T.K. Poole (Michael Pena) and Pvt. Colee Dunn (Rachel McAdams) are given a 30-day leave, and Sgt. Fred Cheever (Tim Robbins) is retiring. The three soldiers now have a new mission. T.K is going home to visit his fiancée, Colee is going to return her boyfriend’s guitar to his…

Lionsgate just sent us the latest DVD artwork for the upcoming comedy “The Lucky Ones” by director Neil Burger (The Illusionist) and starring Tim Robbins (City of Ember, The Shawshank Redemption), Rachel McAdams (Ness) and Michael Pena (Shooter, Lions for Lambs). Synopsis: After recovering from their wounds in the Iraq War, three soldiers are sent back to the United States. Sgt. T.K. Poole (Michael Pena) and Pvt. Colee Dunn (Rachel McAdams) are given a 30-day leave, and Sgt. Fred Cheever (Tim Robbins) is retiring. The three soldiers now have a new mission. T.K is going home to visit his fiancée, Colee is going to return her boyfriend’s guitar to his…