Skip to Content

Mousterpiece Cinema Calendar

This is the Mousterpiece Cinema schedule for the end of 2013 and the first six months of 2014: November 23, 2013: The Jungle Book 2 (2003) November 30, 2013: Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) December 7, 2013: Frozen (2013) December 14, 2013: The Santa Clause 3 (2006) December 21, 2013: Babes in Toyland (1961) December 28, 2013: Saving Mr. Banks (2013) January 4, 2014: Toy Story (1995) January 11, 2014: Sleeping …

Read More about Mousterpiece Cinema Calendar

Extended Thoughts on ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Alice in Wonderland Directed by Tim Burton Written by Linda Woolverton Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Stephen Fry, Helena Bonham Carter Alice in Wonderland is a truly inexplicable, baffling, painful film to watch. I don’t know what anyone involved in the film was thinking in making it. Did they want to honor the vision from …

Read More about Extended Thoughts on ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Extended Thoughts on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Directed by Gore Verbinski Written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Bill Nighy When I think of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, somehow my mind first jumps to Paul Thomas Anderson. (Bear with me as I give …

Read More about Extended Thoughts on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’

Extended Thoughts on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Directed by Gore Verbinski Written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, and Jay Wolpert Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush Captain Jack Sparrow is the worst thing that ever happened to Johnny Depp’s career. The prevailing wisdom is that the constantly …

Read More about Extended Thoughts on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’

Extended Thoughts on ‘One Magic Christmas’

One Magic Christmas Directed by Phillip Borsos Written by Phillip Borsos, Barry Healey, Thomas Meehan Starring Mary Steenburgen, Harry Dean Stanton, Elisabeth Harnois, Gary Basaraba I suppose it’s perfectly fitting that religion became a topic of discussion on our most recent episode, seeing as the movie we were discussing was set at Christmas, one of …

Read More about Extended Thoughts on ‘One Magic Christmas’

Extended Thoughts on ‘Enchanted’

I have rarely seen a movie as undeserving of its lead performance as I have with Enchanted and Amy Adams. And I want to reiterate, in this column, what I said on the podcast: I think Adams’ work in this film is one of the best lead performances in any American film in a long time. It is a monumentally difficult, brave, and daring role to play. Whatever opinion people have of Enchanted is first informed by their opinion of Adams’ performance as Giselle. If she’s not so sparkling and lively and entertaining in this film, we would not be thinking of it fondly in any form. It’s not just that this is a character-driven film, it’s that it’s so singularly performance-driven, to the overall film’s detriment.

Read More about Extended Thoughts on ‘Enchanted’

‘The Great Mouse Detective’ and ‘Pete’s Dragon’ arrive on Blu-ray with sparkling transfers, while lacking features

On one hand, it’s hard not to applaud the Walt Disney Company for its recent and seemingly tireless efforts to release as many of its older films that aren’t considered categorically huge successes onto Blu-ray. (Later this year, we’ll see everything from the Santa Clause trilogy to Babes in Toyland get a high-definition release from …

Read More about ‘The Great Mouse Detective’ and ‘Pete’s Dragon’ arrive on Blu-ray with sparkling transfers, while lacking features

Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 64: ‘The Apple Dumpling Gang’

Don Knotts is well-known and beloved for his role as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, but was he really just a pervy old uncle in disguise? Well, if you listen to Mike talk about him, you might think so too! Somehow–yes, really–this is a point of discussion in the brand-new episode of Mousterpiece …

Read More about Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 64: ‘The Apple Dumpling Gang’

Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 60: ‘The Parent Trap’

Has it only been 14 years since Lindsay Lohan was a respectable child actor? Yes, friends, this week on Mousterpiece Cinema, Josh and Gabe move past the 1961 version of The Parent Trap all the way to its 1998 remake, directed by Nancy Meyers and featuring the first major role from Ms. Lohan. In this …

Read More about Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 60: ‘The Parent Trap’

Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 58: ‘National Treasure’ and ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’

On this week’s Mousterpiece Cinema, Josh and Mike are joined by special guest Casey Ryan to tackle not one, but two movies. Yes, they shoved a discussion of the 2004 adventure film National Treasure along with its 2007 sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets into one jam-packed episode. The double-movie package may be a blessing …

Read More about Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 58: ‘National Treasure’ and ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’

Extended Thoughts on ‘National Treasure’ and ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’

National Treasure Directed by Jon Turteltaub Written by Jim Kouf, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley Starring Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight National Treasure: Book of Secrets Directed by Jon Turteltaub Written by Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley Starring Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Ed Harris, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren …

Read More about Extended Thoughts on ‘National Treasure’ and ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’