The Rabbi’s Cat, an animated adaptation of Joann Sfar’s graphic novel about a talking feline and Jewish life in 1930s Algeria, is being pitched for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. It’s now screening in NY, opens next week in LA, and launches nationwide (with subtitles) in January. Sfar co-wrote and co-directed the film. Here’s the description: Algeria in the 1930s is an intersection of Jewish, Arab, and French culture. A cat belonging to a widowed rabbi eats the family parrot […]

As I said when the DVD was announced, I wanted to see The Dark Knight Rises mainly because of Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman, um, Selina Kyle. I didn’t catch it in theaters, because I find these spectaculars too dark for my taste. I don’t even recall if I ever saw The Dark Knight (because I was upset by Heath Ledger’s passing), and I was three years late on Batman Begins. So this is something of a naive writeup. Plus, at 2 […]

The marketing for Iron Man 3, opening in theaters May 3, 2013, is ramping up with today’s release of the trailer, as shown here: The movie, directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce and Shane Black, features Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) fighting the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). As shown in various promotional photos, different suits of the Iron Man armor play a role, including what I’m assuming is a more patriotic version for War Machine (Don Cheadle […]

Disney has finalized plans and dates for some upcoming Marvel movies. Iron Man 3, opening May 3, 2013, will now be available in 3-D. So will Thor 2, which is now called Thor: The Dark World, opening November 8, 2013. I don’t watch 3-D films any more, because they give me a headache and I don’t care for the increased prices, but this should mean more seats in the 2-D showings for me to choose from. Captain America 2, starting […]

The Dark Knight Rises, the third in the most recent cinematic Batman trilogy (the one directed by Christopher Nolan), comes to Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on December 4. Here’s a trailer: I look forward to seeing Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman, and I find the extras promoting the Batmobile (as opposed to any of the human characters) amusing. On home video, you can also turn on the subtitles to check what Bane’s really saying. The sync-able tablet app should be fun, […]