As I left “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” a woman probably in her 40s or 50s exclaimed into her cell phone how it was the worst movie she’s ever seen. I rather liked it, though I’m definitely 20-30 years younger than she. That kind of split is evident of only a few films in cinema […]

The buddy cop comedy sub-genre has been limping about Hollywood as if shot in the leg from an awry 9mm bullet. Now it’s been found by the duo of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, the pair behind “Anchorman,” “Talladega Nights” and “Step Brothers,” whose brand of contemporary idiot humor has been steadily met with compounding […]

As strange as the title “Hot Tub Time Machine” might seem, it oddly fits this movie. You can only expect so much from a flick that has two nouns in the title that are as seemingly opposite as “hot tub” and “time machine.” It’s the kind of title that says “I’m not going to make […]

According to his friends and himself, Kirk (Jay Baruchel) is a five out of ten on a scale of general sex appeal. Funny, because that’s the exact score I give this film. Kirk’s a decent enough guy. A bit scrawny, has some self-esteem issues, but he’s funny at times, genuine and often charming. I don’t […]

With “Black Dynamite,” it’s pretty simple: what you see is what you get. Blaxploitation at its finest, the film attempts to rediscover, through means of both tribute and satire, an oft-forgotten genre of the 1970s. Drug-dealing, flashy clothes, afros, kung fu and a soundtrack layered with wah-wah pedal all contribute to flawless period re-creation. Quite […]

“Marley & Me” does not prey entirely on our soft side for dogs, nor does it aim for laughs caused by animal hi-jinx. It’s a touching film with a warm spirit that manages to shake off any tearjerker stereotypes that most people would be quick to slap it with. That’s better than at least 75 […]

If the cliché “sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll” has seemed obscured or irrelevant the last thirty years, it is no longer. “Get Him to the Greek” serves this unholy trinity buffet style. The latest Judd Apatow-produced laugh fest is a spin-off on the character Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) from 2008’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” the […]

Rock ‘n roll embodies what we want out of our movies from time to time: letting loose and having fun: throwing aside order and morality for a time, however brief. In the ’60s, rock music was the essence of such “rebellion” and “Love, Actually” filmmaker Richard Curtis and his latest film, “Pirate Radio,” capture the […]

No man is an island — but no film is either. The proverbial happy bachelor who is set in his ways is bound to succumb to the temptations of togetherness and love as he does in every film. “About a Boy” does not defy this classic character profile, but neither does it slosh around in […]

Adam Sandler’s movies have almost always had a family element if they weren’t a major part of the story (parental responsibility in 1999’s “Big Daddy,” father-son relationship in “Billy Madison” and “Little Nicky”). But lately, especially since the birth of his first daughter in 2006, it’s begun to drastically shape his film choices. It started […]

“The Promotion” is not a great or memorable comedy, but it’s a brave one. Brave in that it doesn’t give you what you expect from a comedy about Sean William Scott and John C. Reilly vying for the same promotion in a supermarket chain. The expectation is physical humor, gross-out shenanigans and general mayhem. What […]

Everything about “Whip It” screams sports movie clichés. Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) lives in small-town Texas and lies to her parents, namely her mother who has stuck her in beauty pageants her whole life, and sneaks off at night to Austin where she’s becoming a roller derby phenom. She even meets a cute boy during […]

Every comic-book fan has a fantasy lodged in the back of his or her head about what it would be like to be a superhero. “Kick-Ass” is the story of said average person and plays out that fantasy scenario under the most realistic conditions possible. How would being a superhero actually work in modern day? […]

Terrific, campy movie musicals don’t come around very often. How many films have been able to emulate the success of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show?” How many have even tried? “Reefer Madness” is about the closest any film has come to capturing the bizarre spirit of that cult classic. A film version of the Off-Broadway […]

The plight of the nerd has taken many forms in film and television over the years, but none so genuine as “Revenge of the Nerds.” Amidst all the sex and party-obsessed college stereotyping and seemingly unrealistic projection of the high school nerds vs. jocks concept onto the college scene, these nerds are pretty likable characters […]