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Into the Storm is as straightforward a disaster film as you're likely to find. It has all the characteristics of the genre. The narrative trajectory is linear and uncomplicated. The two-dimensional characters are entrenched in their own flimsy, soa...

Into the Woods left me out in the cold. The long-gestating cinematic adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's fairy tale-infused Broadway musical, Into the Woods can claim a clever screenplay and a few enjoyable performances but little else. The generic ...

Spoiler Alert: The review discusses things that are part of the established historical record but which may be unknown to anyone not familiar with the subject matter. One could be forgiven believing that a movie about the most successful f...

Over the past two decades, horror movies have increasingly gravitated toward jump-scare experiences: stories more interested in delivering sudden shocks than developing suspense through mood and atmosphere. This dumbing down of horror, which h...

It Follows, as uncommon a horror film as you're likely to find in the wasteland of PG-13 mediocrity defining the genre today, takes its inspiration from a film that's 37 years old. By echoing John Carpenter's Halloween (not in terms of na...

Frank Capra's It Happened One Night represents one of the great romantic comedy "templates." Although the film has officially been remade a handful of times (most not in English), its opposites-attract melding of screwball comedy and the road trip...

Every year around Christmas, there are two stories guaranteed to show up somewhere, sometime on television: A Christmas Carol (of which there are several good versions) and It's a Wonderful Life (of which there is only one). After its copyrig...

Probably the best way to approach a Jack Ryan movie is to look at it like a James Bond film. The lead actor keeps changing, the supporting actors are rarely the same, and the time period varies. Bond is Bond, whether he's played by Sean Connery, Ge...

In a way, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life feels like a case of bait-and-switch. By putting the celebrated 19th century author’s name in such a prominent position, there might be an expectation that the film would be a little more Austen-centric tha...

Janet Planet explores the mother/daughter relationship between single mom Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and her strong-willed, socially awkward child, 11-year old Lacy (Zoe Ziegler). Although characterized by strong performances across-the-board, the...