It seems to have taken until the eleventh hour, but Disney has finally found a way to make its classic fairytale stories work in the 21st Century. Thanks to longtime Disney animator Glen Keane (serving as producer) and directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard (“Bolt”), the film stays true to Disney’s long line of rich […]

The superhero film craze has led to a lot of ordinary main characters taking justice into their own hands. In that sense, nothing will strike you as original about “Super,” the latest film from James Gunn (“Slither”) and one made on a shoestring budget. Rainn Wilson stars as Frank, a man who loses his cool […]

Easter weekend is family time, so the movie theaters don’t exactly get a lot of love. One film hopes to be the year’s first good romance, one hopes to capitalize on that family spirit and the last is celebrating Earth Day. If none of these tickle your fancy, don’t worry, because summer movie season is […]

During parts of “Network,” you have to wonder if it’s a joke. The exploitation of a lunatic news anchor/prophet for financial gain with society just buying right in? Nuts. “Network” can definitely be viewed as an extreme and an unlikelihood, but that’s not to negate its powerful message and frightening ideas about media, consumerism and […]

Kids and nostalgic adults get attention at the box office this mid-April weekend with the release of Fox’s “Rio” from the creator of “Ice Age” and the long-awaited “Scream 4,” which takes us back to Woodsboro after more than a decade for some horror movie fun. In a somewhat limited capacity comes a political thriller […]

When “The Hobbit” first experienced production woes and Guillermo Del Toro left the project and MGM seemingly went up in flames, talk about “The Hobbit” became perfunctory and in my opinion, the project lost a bit of its grandeur. Now, Peter Jackson has released the first video blog from New Zealand, continuing what at the […]

Sidney Lumet was one of my favorite directors, so this week I have been prepping for an appropriate tribute to the actor, who passed just last weekend. This film is an absolute classic that I reviewed in August 2008. Look for more archive reviews of Lumet’s films throughout the rest of the week and the […]

Nope, this is not one movie about regretted one-night stands with people you don’t know; it’s two: one about Shakespeare’s possible identity and another about Steve Carell re-learning how to date from a ripped Ryan Gosling after his wife leaves him. — Anonymous A thriller about who might have actually written Shakespeare’s work sounds intriguing, […]

If Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl from “Kick-Ass” were a slightly more real person, I suppose she’d be Hanna. Saoirse Ronan might not utter the C-word, but her character provides the same level of entertainment plus a bit more, well, depth. Either way, the trend of ass-kicking children continues in Joe Wright’s latest film, which succeeds […]

Kneel before Michael Shannon: the oscar-nominated actor (“Revolutionary Road”) has been cast as General Zod, the role originated by Terrence Stamp in “Superman 2,” in the Zack Snyder-directed film newly titled “Man of Steel.” Warner Bros. released the information this weekend and you can find the exact wording after the jump. Shannon joins the cast […]

Spring break is over, but four new films arrive in theaters this weekend to help bolster the April line-up. The widest release goes to Russel Brand’s comedy remake “Arthur” while the second comedy offering, “Your Highness,” comes from the “Pineapple Express” team and stars James Franco and Danny McBride. The whip-smart action offering of this […]

Trains, brains and alternate realities comprise “Source Code,” the sophomore feature from Duncan Jones, director of 2009’s intellectual sci-fi dish “Moon” starring Sam Rockwell. Jones coaches a similarly terrific actor in Jake Gyllenhaal to another commanding yet heart-filled leading performance. The difference is that “Moon” was contemplative and brooding; “Source Code” moves at thrill-a-minute pace. […]

April showers bring May summer movies. That’s what I always say … as of five seconds ago. There’s some truth to that: April is a sneaky dumping ground for bad films, much more discreet than say, January. These are the films that have big appeal but the studios would not feel comfortable saving for the […]

We’ve finally reached in age when science fiction doesn’t have to mean action films and where low-budget genre films have become “of interest” to producers and distributors. Although you could hardly call “District 9” a cheap film compared to Gareth Edwards’ debut feature “Monsters,” Neil Blomkamp’s film was much cheaper than the alien movies that […]