“Dead Poets Society” is a maturing into adulthood drama whose story and messages are as instructional as they are inspiring. The film is like an inspirational teacher, the one in high school that changed the way you thought about life and knowledge. It reflects this in Mr. Keating, the teacher who touched the lives of […]

Audiences don’t like to be lied to, but that’s all part of the fun of “The Informant!,” Steven Soderbergh’s best recent directorial effort that hasn’t been titled with a number between 11 and 13. The film sweeps us into a world of corporate crime and “espionage” and flavors it all with a thorough peppering of […]

It seems like Pixar is the only company producing outside-the-box animated adventures these days, but don’t discredit “Coraline,” Laika Entertainment’s second stop-motion feature after Tim Burton’s “The Corpse Bride.” Based on the Neil Gaiman book, “Coraline” is one of the more creative stories and executions of family entertainment to have come out in awhile and […]

We’re already into weekend No. 3 of the fall season and that means some of the movies that have been hyped up are all summer are finally going to find their way to theaters, most notably the Megan Fox horror comedy Jennifer’s Body. As it also happens we’re in Week 2 of my weekend previews […]

What exactly is The Weinstein Company doing? First, as I posted a couple weeks back, they pushed The Road to November 25 after messing around with it for a year prior to that. Then there were rumors about Rob Marshall musical Nine being moved to after January 1, which were denied. Now, it turns out we […]

The mobster flick mixes with show business in “Get Shorty,” the mob comedy from “The Addams Family” director Barry Sonnenfeld. The two (mob movies and Hollywood) have always gotten along well together from “The Godfather” to “Goodfellas,” so “Get Shorty” taking the humorous business angle is only a natural evolution. Starring John Travolta hot off […]

As a big fan of the superhero genre, it’s my responsibility to lambast movies that should not be made. “Hancock 2” is one of them.  “Hancock” director Peter Berg has been in the news a lot lately, mostly for his announcement that the sequel to his horribly mediocre superhero with a PR problem movie is […]

John Hancock is far from your average superhero, but the trailer told you that. What the trailer doesn’t tell you, is that after the rogue anti-hero drunkenly parades about as advertised, he has to develop a backstory and make the film go from a clever spin on a hot- ticket genre to an emotional action […]

Never saw the original “Predator” until today. It’s worth mentioning that Robert Rodriguez is producing a re-make that’s just started filming. “Predator” boasts a few unique claims, one being that it’s the only movie to feature two US governors. The “Jaws” and “Alien”-inspired monster attack film also gave birth to one of the most original […]

The superhero genre reached a higher echelon in 2008 with “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight,” and considering the success of 2/3 of the X-Men franchise so far, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” can certainly be held to those standards, especially a movie whose title alone suggests getting right down to its hero’s adamantium core. But “Wolverine” […]

It might not be Comic Con, but it’s getting close. I know I promised more TIFF coverage today, but I’ve lost my research, so that’s out. Anyway, Disney’s D23 convention made some big movie headlines Friday and over the weekend that I figured were worth scooping despite being a few days late. I’ve bulleted them […]

It’s hard to argue that “Apocalypse Now” is anything but one of the top three war films if not the best ever made. There’s just nothing wrong with it. Sure, there might be parts that don’t resonate as well and the film certainly doesn’t broadcast its messages in the most direct of ways, but confusion […]

After an incredibly weak box office performance last Labor Day weekend, there isn’t a whole lot of reason to be confident that this weekend’s take will be any better. There are a few new films to choose from, but if you’re smart, there’s only one clear choice of what to do with your money: keep […]

As a movie blogger, it wouldn’t be fair to keep ignoring the many esteemed film festivals that take place around this time of year, so I’ve decided to preview this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), a nine-day extravaganza that previews just about everything the fall has to offer in terms of American movies and […]

An easy way to measure how much you will or won’t enjoy “Fanboys” is how closely you fit to the titular category. The more of a Star Wars fan you are and the more your gender and maturity is on par with ‘boy,’ the more you’ll like this ode to Star Wars fans. The premise […]