James Sanford

"The Great Gatsby" aka 'The Great Glitzy'

James Sanford — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:36:01 +0000

If the old saying that nothing succeeds like excess were true, director Baz Luhrmann’s movies would have out-grossed Avatar, Titanic and everything in the Star Wars catalog. Over the past 20 years, the Australian filmmaker has built a reputation as a filmmaker who always buys in bulk when it comes to sets, costumes, music and emotions.

Amour: A film about true devotion

James Sanford — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:39:14 +0000

You can see Amour at Western Michigan University’s Little Theatre. The first showing is Friday night at 7.

There’s a good reason why so many love stories end with the couple heading for the altar or happily running off together. That’s because falling in love is easy and staying in love can be very hard work -- especially if you spend 30 or 40 or 50 years with the same partner.

The Host: An unbelievable alien invasion, but not a dull one

James Sanford — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:02:39 +0000

“I always liked science-fiction stories: I never dreamed I’d be living in one,” says one character in director Andrew Niccol’s “The Host.” But that’s the situation faced by everyone on Earth in the eerie future that writer Stephenie Meyer has envisioned. An alien race known as the Souls has seized control of the planet, taken over the bodies of nearly every person and created a world in which poverty, misery and violence have been wiped out.

Tina Fey carries 'Admission'

James Sanford — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:22:32 +0000

Tina Fey’s work on Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock demonstrated she’s a world-class wit. But, like so many comics before her, Fey apparently wants to be known as more than simply a purveyor of punch lines or a jovial jokester.

Oz the Great and Powerful: Disney finally made it over the rainbow

James Sanford — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:57:43 +0000

Dorothy had it easy: It only took one cyclone ride to whisk her away to the land of Oz. By comparison, Walt Disney Studios has had a much tougher time getting its act on the yellow brick road.