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It is the 800-pound gorilla in the room, the behemoth before which every other would-be blockbuster during the summer of 2015 must bow. Yet, perhaps because the filmmakers subconsciously recognized this and didn't feel the pressure to excel, the ...

Loosely based on the graphic novel of the same name, Gotham by Gaslight takes the venerable Batman franchise and dumps it into the Victorian era. While many of the characters retain their names and some of the basic building blocks of their ch...

Those whose only exposure to the Marvel and DC superheroes has come through the various live-action films that have been made over the last 40+ years may be unaware that a second, entirely separate series of animated productions have thrived (...

Perhaps it's a backhanded compliment to acknowledge that, as would-be "event" films about alien invasions go, Battle Los Angeles is superior to both Independence Day and Skyline. Nevertheless, the movie is likely to miss the mark for anyone in sear...

Beginners comes as close to presenting a first person perspective as a movie can without employing distracting gimmicks. Told from the point-of-view of the protagonist, Oliver (Ewan McGregor), the narrative follows not only his activities in the pr...

The Big Sick is a Judd Apatow special. Although Apatow is accorded only a producer credit on the Michael Showalter-directed film, the movie contains the hallmarks of Apatow’s romantic comedies: a ribald, edgy sense of humor; more “real” ...

Taking its clue from recent British imports like Brassed Off! and The Full Monty, Billy Elliot combines whimsy, comedy, and socially-conscious drama into a crowd-pleasing whole. Although neither revolutionary in its approach or subject matter nor ...

If all that mattered in movie-making was that the end result was pretty to look at, I would be giving Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia a rave review. There's no denying the film's visual virtues: the cinematography, the set design, the costumes, ...

Watching Black Narcissus without an awareness of the year in which it was made might result in one concluding that it was the product of the 1960s. Many aspects of the production – from the storyline’s sexual undertones to the lush technic...

Watching The Bling Ring, Sofia Coppola's exploration of today's "celebrity culture," is an uncomfortable - bordering on unpleasant - experience. The problem isn't the depiction of the underside of America's celebrity obsession but the manner in whi...