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In Shazam!, the positives outweigh the negatives. The film’s fresh aspects are strong enough to keep the stale ones at bay. With this 2019 feature, one tiny corner of the DC Extended Universe has finally embraced the concept of “humor,” ...

See if this sounds familiar... A hot, young hunk bets his friends that he can turn any girl into a prom queen, and the friends pick out the geekiest girl in the school. The boy contrives a story to meet her, then starts to hang out with her, but,...

There are a variety of ways one can evaluate the effectiveness of standard-order romantic comedies. Mine is to ask three questions: (1) Do I like the characters? (2) Do I sense chemistry between them? (3) Am I rooting for them to be together at t...

It can be argued that few things embolden a filmmaker more than success. When Guy Ritchie re-invented the world's best-known detective for his 2009 Sherlock Holmes, no one knew how the movie would be received. Ritchie's vision was validated by a s...

Shine is a deceptively simple title for an amazingly powerful motion picture. Based on the life story of Australian pianist David Helfgott, director Scott Hicks' (Sebastian and the Sparrow) film touches on themes as diverse as the nature of genius...

The Shining is a curious motion picture. On the one hand, as a ghost story and adaptation of the Stephen King novel, it's largely a failure. On the other hand, as an example of directorial bravura and as a study of madness and the unreliable narr...

Employing his usual delicate touch to craft a uniquely compelling drama, Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda has provided a splash of freshness to a stale 2018 movie slate. By turns uplifting and poignant, Shoplifters explores one of Kore-eda�...

Helicopters thunder through the air over Los Angeles, raining malathion on the city in an attempt to end the dreaded Medfly invasion. Below, in each house and apartment, an individual drama is being played out. As in any human settlement at...

Commandment Five: "Thou shalt not kill." A Short Film About Killing, Krzysztof Kieslowski's powerful examination of the nature of murder, was a stunning success at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, taking home the Jury prize. In the same year, t...

Commandment Six: "Thou shalt not commit adultery." A Short Film About Love, the second of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Decalogue episodes to be transformed into a feature film (the other being A Short Film about Killing), takes a unique look at the ...