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One of the most unfortunate aspects of a courtroom thriller is the tendency to degenerate into preposterous melodrama. It's as if the basic situation of having a person on trial for their life isn't inherently powerful enough. As a result, cheap...

It would be possible to write pages and pages comparing and contrasting the reality of Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential campaign with the fictional one of Jack Stanton, the candidate in Primary Colors. Likewise, it would be equally possible to dev...

What a croc! Unsolicited advice to filmmakers: When making a monster movie, do not attempt to sell said film as a picture about a serial killer. Second piece of unsolicited advice to filmmakers: When making a monster movie, keep the focus on the...

Will the real Howard Stern please stand up? For, in truth, the man who haunts the airwaves of nearly three-dozen radio stations each morning seems vastly different from the kinder, milder version who graces the screen in Betty Thomas' sweet, often...

Underwritten yet nevertheless enjoyable on a visceral level, Project Power is the latest Netflix film to use a familiar template: start with an intriguing premise, sign a bankable star (or two), employ an exotic (or at least non-standard) locat...

The moral of this story is: No matter how trustworthy he may be, never leave a teenager home alone while you go away for the weekend. Project X purports to offer a new twist on a very old tale: the out-of-control house party. Variations of this ...

There's something almost old-fashioned about Michael Mann's Public Enemies, a mostly factual re-telling of the descent and death of John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), one of the 1930s most infamous bank robbers. More drama than thriller, the movie does...

Pumping Iron is a puff piece. From its partly-scripted elements to its decision to focus on the most relatable aspects of bodybuilding, the movie is as far from a hard-hitting documentary as one can find. (For example, the rampant use of steroids ...

Jonathan Hensleigh's directorial debut is the second movie to be based on the Marvel Comics character of The Punisher. The first film, released in 1989, stars Dolph Lundgren in the role essayed here by Thomas Jane. The earlier picture is rarely ci...

Marvel Comics must really like The Punisher. This is their third attempt to bring him to the big screen. There's a saying that "the third time's a charm," but it doesn't apply here. More appropriate is this baseball-related statement: "Three str...