The hype, the fan base, the skeptics—the skeptics created by the hype and the fan base—all of these make adapting an insanely popular novel anything but easy. Given the breadth of the age and gender demographics that Suzanne Collins’ young adult science-fiction story “The Hunger Games” has reached, there are so many niches to please. […]

  Although the hugeness of “The Hunger Games” is bound to make up the box-office story again this weekend, a couple noteworthy films getting big releases enter the fold to close up March (and Spring Break) for most folks. The first is the Greek mythology sequel “Wrath of the Titans” and the second is a […]

What was the point of making a “21 Jump Street” movie? No, really, why bother remaking or rebooting re-imagining a short-lived cop series from the ‘80s, especially when you’ve targeted your movie at people born long after it went off the air? The way writer Michael Bacall along with Jonah Hill, directors Phil Lord and […]

It’s here. One of the most anticipated non-sequels in movie history, “The Hunger Games” plays its way into theaters to kick off spring break. Just how high will it soar? 

It’s been ages since we had a weekend with only one new wide release, so I coupled it with an appealing limited one. This St. Patrick’s Day and March Madness weekend we get the comedy “21 Jump Street” based on the ’80s TV show. Stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum look to flex their box-office […]

When we think of science fiction, we so often think about the future. We expect it to stretch our imaginations in ways we never thought possible with groundbreaking concepts beyond our current understanding. “John Carter” appears to aspire to that level. Yet in spite of the film’s hefty price tag, use of latest in motion-capture […]

No risk, no reward — you can’t exactly picture Hollywood execs saying that one too often. The movie industry is almost always about sure bets, especially when studios spend more than $100 million on most of their major films. Sequels, book adaptations — anything familiar with a built-in fan base to justify a high price […]

There aren’t many wide releases in March, so this weekend’s three films will be the most released at any one time. First, it’s Disney’s big-budget blockbuster “John Carter,” which boasts the widest release, followed by horror film “Silent House” and a small-ish roll-out for Eddie Murphy’s “A Thousand Words,” but will any of them compete […]

This spring’s action movie slate deals mostly in science fiction. Two of 2012’s first blockbusters come out this month including “John Carter” and the highly anticipated adaptation of “The Hunger Games,” and dare I forget “Wrath of the Titans” at month’s end. There’s also a sci-fi prison escape film as well as Jason Statham’s latest.

The independent horror/thriller scene delivers a number of options in smaller theaters these next couple months, but there are a few mainstream films to note, namely Joss Whedon’s much-delayed “The Cabin in the Woods” and John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe in “The Raven.”

Animated sequels have yet to disprove that timeless adage about movie sequels, but they’re giving it a real go. DreamWorks Animation hasn’t always gotten the formula right (the “Shrek” movies got worse and worse), but even “Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa” had entertainment to offer. “Kung Fu Panda 2” marks the studio’s third try at […]

March begins with a pair of “X” films—sort of. “The Lorax” will finally appease families who waited all winter for a new animated effort with mainstream appeal and “Project X” will try to unleash the epic party animal in us all. But who has the “X” factor to make it to the top of the […]

For the first time since last fall, contemporary comedies are finally ratcheting it up. If this is your genre, you should have a busy spring. March features a few, with “21 Jump Street” the most notable, but April has a different comedy (and truthfully a different style of comedy) opening every weekend.