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These days, critics (and non-critics, for that matter) are fond of complaining about how multiplexes are populated by cookie-cutter motion pictures that follow safe, formula-derived patterns designed to please audiences who want a different version...

Being There, Hal Ashby’s 1979 adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’s novel, is a delightfully dark comedy that, despite a cynical bent, offers viewers a good time. At the heart of Being There’s popularity is a recognition that even the most simp...

Beirut is, without a doubt, an imperfect thriller. The narrative is at times too dense, some aspects of the ending are too pat, and there are some internal inconsistencies the movie never explains. But, damn, is it good to watch a movie that e...

If one thing is certain, it’s that director Timur Bekmambetov’s remake of Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur isn’t going to make anyone forget the 1959 Charlton Heston classic. An amateurish effort that boasts direct-to-video characteristi...

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is one of those pleasant, inoffensive British movies that offers a passably entertaining two hours without providing material that could be construed as edgy or stimulating. The problem may be that it's a little too p...

Warning: vicious personal-sounding attacks to follow. I want revenge on those who stole 100 minutes of my life. The motion picture version of Bewitched is a travesty of monumental proportions that belongs in the "What the hell were they thinkin...

E.T. There, I’ve gotten it out of the way - the obligatory mention of the classic 1982 collaboration between director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Melissa Mathison that every critic will make when reviewing The BFG. The truth is, howev...

Big Trouble in Little China was released at a time when John Carpenter’s white-hot career had begun a downward trajectory. His third feature starring Kurt Russell, Big Trouble matched the action-adventure elements of Escape from New York wit...

Bill & Ted Face the Music is a love letter for fans of the cult classic films Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. Designed with die-hards in mind, the concluding chapter of the trilogy brings back a few friendl...