This is a repost (with some grammatical edits and few deletions) of my review from Aug. 24, 2009. Like every movie thus far in the Harry Potter series based on J.K Rowling’s novels, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (book no. 6) cuts a lot of corners. Those who regard Rowling’s tome as a bible […]

I load up on two things come the holiday season: turkey, award-contending dramas and brisket. Okay … three things. 3/4 of the year I devote my time almost exclusively to films I hope will merely entertain me. From end of November through part of February, I try and make sure I’m getting in my regular […]

Despite its fourth director in five tries and even a new screenwriter, the Harry Potter franchise takes a huge step forward in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” based off the fifth book in the young adult fantasy series by J.K Rowling. Whereas Harry’s character growth took a backseat in the Mike Newell-directed […]

The good news (or bad depending on your tastes) is no romance this holiday season is coming with a hard Christmas angle. My list of five films (no. five is debatably in this category) contains a Shakespearean fantasy, a musical/dance film, an off-beat gay romance mixed with a conman comedy, a rom-com set during the […]

In brightest day and darkest night, we have the first trailer for “The Green Lantern” starring Ryan Reynolds. This pre-“Potter” day present is worth twice of any regular Trailer Wednesday. In other words, the trailer is coming attached to Warner Bros.’ biggest holiday film,”Harry Potter,” on Friday, but Apple has the sneak peek which I’ve […]

As a huge fan of the intelligence and beauty that Alfonso Cuarón brought to the third Harry Potter film based on J.K Rowling’s fantasy book series, I was saddened to hear that he backed out of the fourth, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” because of the quick year-and-a-half turnaround. Though director Mike Newell […]

Films with a tight premise tend to be reliable; so is the combination of director Tony Scott and Denzel Washington. The two have never struck gold, but they’ve produced solid, dependable box-office results and audience approval. “Unstoppable” has and will continue to achieve both. 90 minutes of entertainment can certainly be as good as gold […]

The action slate for the Holidays this year has only one sequel (“Harry Potter”) unless you could a sequel to a film made 28 years ago. That would be “Tron: Legacy,” perhaps the most intriguing film on this list (and the most daring). The other films are all originals in some way or another, but […]

Producer Chris Columbus, who directed the first two films made of the Harry Potter series of fantasy books by J.K. Rowling, couldn’t have made a better choice than stepping away from the camera and giving the reigns to a seasoned director with a fresh perspective. It’s what makes “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” […]

As expected, DreamWorks animated film “Megamind” stayed pat at No.1 this past weekend with nearly $30 million. All three new wide releases, however, landed in the top five, the most notable of which was the critically acclaimed Denzel Washington movie “Unstoppable,” which took the actor’s usual $20-million pull and landed in second.

The Holiday season is known for awards contenders, but why so serious? There are five family films/comedies that will offer a nice alternative to all the dramatic fare these next six weeks with a nice balance of familiar material and new (but not necessarily fresh) ideas.

The first Harry Potter movie was kind of like a freak-out test for its creators: how much material do we use from the book? How loyal do we stay to it? How do we make this all come to life? “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” the film version of the second book in […]

Hey, Harry Potter fans! Look for an archive review for every Harry Potter film, one each day until the release of “Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1”! When a beloved book is given the big-screen treatment, there’s always the excitement factor of getting to see what was once only in your head come to life right before […]

A second week into November and we have another three new releases and the expansion of another. Last week we had a road comedy, animated supervillain movie and an African-American women’s drama all earn $20 million or more. This week we have a train thriller, alien invasion flick and romantic comedy. Needless to say, there’s […]

Yes, you read that right. Over the past week, we’ve been bombarded with romantic comedy trailers, all of which center around the quest for or involving f*&%ing. There are a whopping four trailers for rom-coms to feature today on Trailer Wednesday.