Sunday, May 17, 2009

How to write a movie review

This NYT review of the new Dan Brown book-movie Angels and Demons, which stars Tom Hanks as nerdy adventurer Robert Langdon and is directed by Ron Howard, made me laugh out loud not once but several times and is worth reading even if you have a zero probability of actually watching the movie.

My favorite paragraph:
This movie, without being particularly good, is nonetheless far less hysterical than “Da Vinci.” Its preposterous narrative, efficiently rendered by the blue-chip screenwriting team of Akiva Goldsman and David Koepp, unfolds with the locomotive elegance of a Tintin comic or an episode of “Murder, She Wrote.” Mr. Howard’s direction combines the visual charm of mass-produced postcards with the mental stimulation of an easy Monday crossword puzzle. It could be worse.
We have not seen Angels and Demons yet, but probably will in the next week or two. I'll post my own thoughts then.

Hat tip: Grant McCracken