The Big Wedding
A big embarassment When a tagline for a film begins with the line “featuring an all-star cast,” you can bet the studio has something to hide. Rarely is an all-star cast a worthwhile reason to see a...
View ArticleIron Man 3
Stark raving neurotic When Marvel studios made the bold and potentially risky decision to have Shane Black write and direct “Iron Man 3” it was obvious they didn’t want a cookie-cutter superhero movie....
View ArticleThe Great Gatsby
Great in glitz only Generally film critics love directors like Baz Luhrmann, who pours his heart and soul into every frame of his films (“Moulin Rouge,” “Australia,” “Romeo + Juliet”). There’s nothing...
View ArticleStar Trek: Into Darkness
Thrilling if not exactly groundbreaking fun “Star Trek: Into Darkness is a terrific, action packed space adventure, surely the kind of film for which the term “summer blockbuster” was meant. Like many...
View ArticleThe Company You Keep
Steady Redford in good company It is an old-fashioned (or maybe just “old”) notion to hope for a quiet, thought provoking, quasi-political thriller during the summer season of high-budget, mega-hyped,...
View ArticleEpic
Undemanding forest fantasy While below the always original and creative benchmark of a Pixar film, the creators of “Ice Age” deliver a beautifully animated, occasionally well-voiced and fast-paced...
View ArticleNow You See Me
Hints at memorable illusion Last weekend brought a welcome respite from the typical summer blockbuster fare. Not just one, but two original films arrived that were neither a sequel nor involved...
View ArticleMan of Steel
Seriously thrills and exhausts Loud and long, the new Superman re-boot “Man of Steel” is ambitious and tries hard to distance itself from the lighthearted and beloved 1979 classic “Superman” that...
View ArticleWorld War Z
Zombie thriller family fun Proving there is more than a little life left in the burgeoning undead genre, “World War Z” is a well-crafted, action-packed, and most impressively, not overly gory horror...
View ArticleMud
Escalating southern drama Terrific storytelling pervades this simple, taut, but ever-escalating Southern drama about two boys (including Oscar worthy Tye Sheridan) who help a mysterious drifter...
View ArticleWhite House Down
Chaos over chemistry For the second time this year a film uses the Prez’s domicile and a “Die Hard”-influenced script, and while Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx offer considerable fun chemistry, the film...
View ArticleDespicable Me 2
More inspired lunacy From this point on we might has well count on every animated movie that does over $100 million in box office to spawn a sequel. But the majority of sequels fail to live up to the...
View ArticleThe Lone Ranger
Blockbuster identity crisis Sure to become known as “The LONG Ranger,” resulting from its two-and-a-half hour length, Disney’s latest blockbuster is not the train wreck (though it contains plenty of...
View ArticlePacific Rim
Monster action, minor smarts It’s one thing for a big, dumb, loud and action-loaded summer blockbuster to appeal to the nine-year-old in all of us, which “Pacific Rim” on some levels certainly does. It...
View ArticleRed 2
As a sequel, it kills The first installment of the graphic novel adaptation of “Red” was one of the surprise hits of 2010, and one of the few films whose sequel could legitimately be eagerly...
View ArticleThe Way Way Back
Pool pouter finds himself More charm and original laughs than most recent coming-of-age films, with a terrific performance by Sam Rockwell. It overcomes its contrived formula (dysfunctional adults,...
View ArticleWolverine
High drama, less bite In case you haven’t heard, superhero films are big business. From here on out, count on at least three (or more) comic-book based tentpole blockbusters every summer. And in the...
View ArticleElysium
Prosthetics & propaganda Four years ago, director Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9” was seen by many as surprise sci-fi triumph. In truth, while original on many levels, the film only hinted at social...
View ArticleParanoia
2 big stars can’t rescue 2 star script The answer: “Paranoia.” The question: Provide an example of a recent film that proves two legendary actors can’t compensate for a lousy script. With back to...
View ArticleJobs
The real genius gets jobbed The new biopic “Jobs,” about the late Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs, features some of the best acting of Ashton Kutcher’s career. Unfortunately, the script, like...
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