|
February 5, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
Mitch was Johnny on the Spot with his Best Picture nominee predictions in last week's Crystal Ball, correctly guessing eight of the ten films that ended up getting nominated. Mitch sees it as a four film race for Best Picture, and in this week's Crystal Ball, he tells us who he thinks it's going to come down to. Mitch also breaks down this week's releases at the theaters and on DVD, which do feature a couple of the films up for the aforementioned Best Picture honors at Oscars. And in his calendar watch section, Mitch talks about what's coming down the pike, including the latest Scorcese/DiCaprio collaboration ... which hits the theaters two weeks from today.
|
February 3, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
There seems to be a consensus with the fans of "24" that Mitch has run into over the past three weeks. And that is that this season is pretty damn lame so far. The biggest problem seems to be with the subplots, in that the entire Dana/Jen/KevinBob bit is just so unbelievable as to be painfully, laughingly embarrassing to watch. The other problem is that most seem to think that Cherry Jones just isn't believable as President. What are Mitch's thoughts on the season so far? He tells us, updates "The Bauer Body Count" and "Odds of Survival", and also recaps Monday night's episode in his latest column for us.
| ||
|
|
January 29, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
"Avatar" is now officially the highest grossing film ever. At least when you take a look at the worldwide boxoffice. For the US, it passed "The Dark Knight" last week, and Mitch thinks there is little doubt it will pass "Titanic" within two weeks. Will it get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture though? With the nominations coming out Tuesday, Mitch uses this week's Crystal Ball to give us his thoughts on Avatar's chances, and also to make his predictions on which 10 films will be up for Best Picture in 2009. And as he does every week, Mitch also gives us the lowdown on all the latest releases at the theater and on DVD.
|
|
January 27, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
Season #8 of "24" is now five hours down, nineteen hours to go. And the season has already featured one of the greatest plot lines in show history (the mental instability of the smoking hot Renee Walker) and one of the worst (the insufferable sub-plot centering around Dana's checkered past and hilbilly ex-boyfriend). As he does each Wednesday night, the Mitch Man is here to get us all caught up on both of these story lines as well as everything else that's going on in another one of his screamingly hysterical recaps of this week's most recent episode of "24". Enjoy!
|
|
January 22, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
Huge day for football on Sunday, but what about the rest of the weekend? According to Mitch, it's a good time to catch up on previously released movies you may not have seen yet, like "Avatar" and "The Book of Eli", because the new releases out today stink. Mitch also catches us up on the latest movie news, such as the Coen Brothers remake of "True Grit", looks at what's being released on DVD on Tuesday, and tells us what's coming to the Big Screen in the weeks ahead.
|
January 20, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
Yesterday Mitch ran through the first two hours of "24" that aired Sunday night. Today the Mitch Man moves on to the second two hours, which were shown Monday night on FOX. This episode featured the return of Renee Walker. Not the Renee Walker we knew and loved from season seven though. An even better version. A distant, dark, vacant, rogue version of Renee Walker. Who hacks off the hand of a Russian mobster with a saw. I'm in love! If you watch "24", and haven't been reading Mitch's recaps ... do yourself a favor and get on board.
| |
|
January 19, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
Welcome back! No 20 month break this time due to a writers' strike, so just a mere seven months after Jack was facing an almost certain death due to a bio-weapon, with only a slight chance of survival due to a completely experimental and untested procedure ... Jack. Is. Back. And so is The Mitch Man's weekly recap, which became a Google sensation last season, attracting readers from all over the world, many of whom could care less about Cleveland sports and the other 99% of the columns we run here at The Cleveland Fan. Enjoy! (Mitch's recap of the second two hours, shown Monday night on FOX, will run tomorrow)
|
January 17, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
The End of the World has been getting a lot of attention lately, which probably is directly related to the recession still going on in America and most of the rest of the world. First came the actual end of (most of) the world in "2012", then came the long delayed release of Viggo Mortensen's uber-somber "The Road". You could possibly even include last week's "Daybreakers" in this category, as in that film, humans were nearly extinct, leaving only vampires. Into that mix comes the Denzel Washington star vehicle "The Book of Eli", which Mitch saw this weekend and reviews for our readers tonight.
| |
|
January 15, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
Let's get down to it...there is only one important non-football thing to know about this weekend. Jack. Is. Back. That's right. "24" starts its eighth day...er...season Sunday night with a two hour kick-off, followed by another two hours Monday night (since we won't have football to watch that evening for the first time since July). Mitch's "24" recaps will be back as well, starting on Wednesday. Mitch hits on the return of Jack Bauer, as well as all of this week's new movie releases at the theater and on DVD in this week's "Crystal Ball".
|
January 8, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
As of Wednesday, "Avatar" is now the second highest grossing movie ever, having just passed "LOTR: Return of the King" at $1.13 Billion, and still going strong entering its fourth week. Is "Titanic's" record of $1.8 billion in jeopardy? Could be. Mitch touches on that, all this week's new releases at the theaters and on DVD, all the latest film industry news and rumors, and which interesting future projects are in the works in this Friday night's edition of The Crystal Ball.
| |
|
January 6, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
As Mitch walked into the theater to review "Up in the Air" for our readers here at The Cleveland Fan, his expectation levels couldn't have been any higher. The critics are raving about it. It's written and directed by Jason Reitman, who is becoming a major star in his own right after the wonderful films "Thank You for Smoking" and "Juno", and it's starring George Clooney, one of his favorite actors, in a role that is being said to be worthy of a sure fire Oscar nominations. Mitch mentally prepared himself for the letdown that often follows films he is looking this forward to seeing. Was he? He tells us in his review of "Up in the Air".
|
January 2, 2010 - By Mitch Cyrus
And here we are at the end of the Naughts; the Decade of the Sequel. And the Decade of the Remake. And the Decade of Franchise Films. It could be worse...it could be the 1980s again. Enter the man, the myth, the Mitch ... to give us his thoughts on the best and worst films of these last ten years. Mitch gives us his 100 best films from 2000-2009, his 25 worst films, and his top ten guilty pleasures. A great read to wrap up the decade from our talented film and entertainment scribe.
|
Successful poker players may lose many small pots and still be totally happy, for their goal is to win the occasional big ones. The same thinking comes naturally in football. When the "Browns are in a fourth down, "moving all in", in the meaning of going for it, is worthwhile only if the odds for success are good enough. In most other cases, it’s probably wiser to just "fold" the hand, as in punting the ball away. In the same way, winning or losing a single yard means nothing as long as they manage to get a first down.
December 31, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
As is tradition for The Mitch Man here at TheClevelandFan.com, he uses the last weekend of the year to look back on what we saw at the theaters in 2009. Mitch calls 2009 an interesting year for movies overall. Not as many "excellent" films as in 2008, and a lot more dogs. But he calls 2009 a very good year for original films and even if the top of the box office charts are cluttered with sequels and remakes, there were quite a few gems to be found. Mitch gives us his best and worst movies of 2009, in this, our final column of our fourth year on the web.
December 25, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
Merry Christmas to you and all your family and friends from all of us at The Cleveland Fan! With the holiday week, it's going to be a bit light on the News and Rumors. So for more substance, look toward the Upcoming Biggies, as there are lots of new trailers listed there, as well as release dates for next Spring/Summer's anticipated blockbusters. As far as new theater releases? Mitch calls it the biggest week of the year. "Sherlock Holmes", "Up In The Air", "It's Complicated", "Nine", and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel". Mitch previews them all in The Crystal Ball.
December 21, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
For those of you who have very little time to spare this week due to the last minute Christmas shopping and all, Mitch will make it simple for you and give you a one-word review of James Cameron's "Avatar": "WOW!" It's been twelve years in the making for Cameron with this film, and according to our trusty film critic ... the wait was worth it. Mitch says to say Cameron succeeded here is a complete understatement, and that what he saw on screen, in 3D, was nothing short of breathtaking. The Mitch Man reviews "Avatar" for our readers in his latest.
December 18, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
It's all about "Avatar" this weekend at the theaters, which released today amid big time buzz and super early reviews. We're dispatching The Mitch Man to the theaters this weekend to review it for us, and you'll see his thoughts on the film on our front page sometime early next week. And next week ... is a HUGE week for new theater releases. Mitch touches on Avatar, next week, the Golden Globes, the frontrunners for '09 Best Picture, and all the latest Hollywood rumors and news in this Friday's Crystal Ball.
December 17, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
That Morgan Freeman would star in a biography of Nelson Mandela is not the least bit surprising. That Clint Eastwood should direct Freeman in this role is also not the least bit surprising. But what is surprising is the story they use in showing us the man who was tasked with holding his country together after the discontinuation of oppressive racial segregation under apartheid. Rather than creating a biography of the life of Mandela, "Invictus" shows us a snapshot of a brief period of time that helps define the man, a country, and its people, and how they started the process of re-uniting with a sporting event serving as the catalyst. Mitch reviews the highly acclaimed "Invictus" for our readers in his latest movie review here at TCF.
December 12, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
Once upon a time, vampires were some of the nastiest creatures out there in movie-land. Evil bloodsuckers without an inch of remorse or compassion. But yet, there has also always been somewhat of an allure to vampires. Even with that, vampires have universally been the villains throughout the history of cinematography; no matter how charming they were. And then something changed; vampires went mainstream. Suddenly, vampires are "heroes". And it's clear ... Mitch Cyrus isn't a fan of this development. Nor is he a fan of the "Twilight" film that he reviewed for our readers in his latest trip to the theaters.
December 11, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
A big week for movie releases as we head towards the holidays. The animated "The Princess and the Frog" and "Invictus" (directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon both hit the theaters today amidst very positive buzz. And on DVD? Three biggies. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", "The Hangover", and "Inglorius Basterds". As he does each Friday, The Mitch Man gives our readers the 411 on all the latest films out at the theaters and on DVD.
November 30, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
Being a sports website, we dispatch our trusty film critic Mitch Cyrus out to review every sports themed movie that hits the theaters. And unlike most, "The Blind Side" got good advanced reviews and even a little Oscar buzz. It is the story of Michael Oher, an homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman (played by Sandra Bullock) and her family. Mitch reviews the film for our readers in his latest.
November 27, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
An uncharacteristicly weak holiday weekend for theater releases this weekend, with "Old Dogs" (starring Robin Williams and John Travolta) as the most notable release. The coming weeks have some biggies though, with the latest from Clint Eastwood ("Invictus") and James Cameron ("Avatar") highlighting the coming slate of releases. Further down the pike? A collaboration between Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg, "Shrek 4", "Scream 4" ... and some other projects Mitch updates us on in this week's Crystal Ball.
November 24, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs and proposals, which posit that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on or around December 21 in the year 2012, which is said to be the end-date of a 5,125-year-long Mayan Long Count calendar. In English? Some believe the end of the world is coming three years from now. And you just knew someone was going to make a CGI-heavy film about it. We dispatched Mitch to the theaters to see 2012 for us, and he has some pretty strong thoughts on this one.
November 20, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
Three pretty notable theater releases as we get into the holiday season, which always features a slew of big films being released. Tonight, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon", "The Blind Side", and "Planet 51"all hit the cinemas, and Mitch has thoughts on all of them in this regular Friday night piece he does for us. Mitch also tells us about the week's big DVD releases, and some big projects being worked on ... including "Spider Man 4", the latest "Star Trek" film, and a movie based on the insanely popular video games "Call of Duty".
November 13, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
Mitch is getting back into the swing of things with his weekly Crystal Ball column, in which he cringes this week at just how bad the reviews for Roland Emmerich's "2012" have been. It's this week's most notable theater release with "Pirate Radio" being the other one. We also get the release of "Star Trek" on DVD. Mitch hits on all three of these films as well as all the latest Hollywood news and rumors in this week's version of The Crystal Ball.
November 11, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
Sometimes you watch a movie, and you enjoy it for no apparent reason. "The Men Who Stare at Goats" is one such movie. It's satire, but not great satire. It has very good, but not great performances from two of the lead actors, along with semi-disappointing performances from the other two. It has a plot that meanders about all over the place, without ever making much sense. And it has an ending that leaves you a bit befuddled, but not totally confused or upset at the conclusion. So why did Mitch enjoy it? He tells us in his latest movie review.
November 6, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
After taking a break from writing for the past few months, I am elated to announce that The Mitch Man is back. Mitch has been with us from day one, penning movie reviews, writing about the Browns, doing his popular "Sopranos" and "24" recaps, and contributing on a slew of other topics as well. In his return to the front page of the site, Mitch brings back the weekly version of his "Crystal Ball" column, and also explains why he has been away. Welcome back Mitch!
October 4, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
Another fall, another Bruce Willis Sci-Fi action film, this one called "Surrogates". The plot line takes us to the "not so distant future", where robotic technology has evolved so much that humans can now stay indoors 100% of the time, using their "surrogate" robot to interact for them. We sent The Mitch Man out to the theater to check this one out for our readers, and he ended up handing out a rating to it that he rarely doles out. Mitch reviews "Surrogates" for our readers.
October 2, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
And we bid a not-so-found adieu to the month of September. And Mitch isn't sure which side of him is happier to see this month end; the Sports Fan wanting to forget about the horrible start to the Browns season, and the end of the disastrous Indians year, or the Movie Fan who saw nothing but crud released this month. So as we go into October, for Movie Fans, there are some things to look forward to. While the big ticket movies won't come out until next month, there are some potential gems starting this week. Mitch tells us about them.
September 4, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
It's baaaaaaaccckkk! Sorta. Simply put, the movies and videos that come out during September and October are 99% crap. So rather than putting himself and our readers through a Chinese Water Torture routine of discussing the banality of it all in a weekly drip, drip, drip fashion (or is it flop, flop, flop?), Mitch is going to slowly ease back into this by giving a high level oversight of the month all in One Swell Foop. Luckily...we now have FOOTBALL to watch, so who cares how much this tripe stinks?
August 25, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
Always great to see The Mitch Man on the front page of The Cleveland Fan. We sent our trusty film critic out to go see Quentin Tarantino's heavily hyped new film, "Inglorious Basterds". Mitch had high expectations of the film, based on Tarantino's reputation and the advanced buzz generated about the project. And while it wasn't quite what he was expecting, Mitch felt it lived up to the hype, calling it Quentin's best film since "Pulp Fiction". He reviews it for our readers in his latest.