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Money Monster wants to be more than just another mindless thriller. By building its foundation on a message about the dangers of playing the stock market roulette wheel, it seeks to inject substance into a genre overrun by action-driven popcorn films...

When it comes to fantasy and soft science fiction, the concept of “world building” is at least as important as narrative and character development. “World building” refers to the ability of an author or filmmaker to craft a new and ama...

"[Dorothy Parker] was a groundbreaker in a lot of ways. In her day, to write captions and fashion stories was about all that a woman writer could aspire to. Dorothy had the respect of her peers. But she was also a critic, and I think she worked ...

The 1999 remake of the horror classic The Mummy surprised Universal Pictures with its box office success. The studio had expected it to be profitable, but not that profitable. However, long before the worldwide gross crept close to $400 million,...

Consider this possibility: a romantic comedy with no nudity, no sex, and no kissing. In fact, there aren't even any declarations of love. The closest the female character comes to admitting her feelings is saying that she could have danced all n...

In 1992, Walt Disney Pictures, riding a wave of euphoria generated by its recent animated successes, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, tried to do something that was met by critics with skepticism: revive the live-action musical. Filmm...

With a cast featuring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Ricky Gervais, one has a right to expect something amusing from Night at the Museum. Oddly, not only is the movie unfunny, but it rarely tries for laughs. The only jokes in the pr...

The best thing that can be said about the second Night at the Museum (which bears the unnecessarily long full title of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian) is that it's harmless. And pointless. And dumb. This is a perfect example of a ...

Rob Reiner has had an amazing string of hits. His resume dotted with such critical and popular successes as This is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, and A Few Good Men, Reiner has transformed his Meathead image into that o...

It's probably just a coincidence, but the two Bond films that Maud Adams appeared in -- The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy -- are easily the silliest entries in the long-running series (not counting the intentional spoof Casino Royale). In...