They’re movies made with Granny’s taste in mind, the ones that won’t upset the in-laws during a Sunday matinee at the multiplex. This week, I binge on old geezer cinema before purging myself with a misfire from Tim Burton. Geriatric counterprogramming is a time-honored tradition, rarely more prevalent than during Mother’s Day weekend, and this [...]
Never mind Facebook or Microsoft. The ultimate proof that geeks have conquered the world will take place this weekend, when The Avengers takes the U.S. box office by storm. This former comic book collector couldn’t be more pleased, particularly because this jam-packed Marvel superhero mashup’s a whole lot of fun. Even better, it’s character-driven fun. [...]
Why don’t they just burst into song? The characters in Damsels in Distress and The Pirates! Band of Misfits were born to belt out show tunes, but with one notable exception, they stop shy of going the full Rodgers and Hammerstein. These featherweight treats might only be musicals in spirit, but they still gave your [...]
My first exposure to The Three Stooges happened in the eighties, when I caught several of their shorts on TBS. I quickly learned to change the channel anytime they aired. Why would I waste my time with their sadistic brand of numbskull slapstick? (What can I say? I was more of a Little Rascals fan.) [...]
They’re the doormats of moviedom. Throwaway characters created for the primary purpose of eliciting our scorn or pity. Kids who are the targets of bullying frequently fade into the background, all too often limited to playing second fiddle in their better adjusted peers’ narratives. Who would pay to see an entire movie made up of [...]
American Pie was that rare mainstream anomaly: a teen sex romp with a big heart. It may have been perceived by many as Porky’s for Generation Y, but the film’s raunch factor was anchored by a genuine affection for its insatiable characters that transcended its overeager need to please its impressionable target audience. Even when [...]
Every movie franchise deserves a second chance. Unless, of course, you wind up with even more inept people behind the camera. Scanning the credits for Wrath of the Titans, the brain-dead sequel to 2010’s Clash of the Titans, I cringed when I read the name of the guy calling the shots. Jonathan Liebesman is the [...]
Katniss Everdeen took over my life. Deadlines were looming, errands needed to be run, but I could not stop reading. Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games” is a grabber. Once the author lays out the foundations of her grim post-apocalyptic society, I found it imperative to discover what happened next to her plucky, stubbornly resolute heroine. [...]
It seemed like the most cynical of endeavors: repackaging a hit TV series from the eighties as a feature film for the YouTube generation. But what’s most surprising about the big screen version of 21 Jump Street is how it relentlessly deconstructs the same high schoolers it seeks to entertain. The action comedy, one of [...]
They don’t call it the dumping ground for nothing. In terms of new movie releases, the first two months of 2012 were one long, seemingly endless wallow in mediocrity. Now that this year’s edition of the Miami International Film Festival comes to a close this weekend, the release of Disney’s John Carter might make moviegoers [...]
What the hell was he thinking? “Oh, I think I’ll follow up the Harry Potter franchise with a B horror movie. Not your run-of-the-mill B horror movie, mind you, but an elegant ghost story that will captivate my fan base.” Yeah, that sounds about right. The only effect The Woman in Black is going to [...]
Here’s one of international cinema’s most intriguing ironies: the more culturally specific the story is, the higher its chances of resonating with a global audience. No other current release proves this apparent contradiction more effectively than the riveting domestic drama A Separation. The Foreign Language Oscar nominee, one of two new releases I’m reviewing this [...]
