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This review contains (oblique) spoilers.When Disney released Maleficent in 2014, it was a fresh approach to the Sleeping Beauty story – a live-action re-interpretation of the fairy tale with the supposed villain recast as a sympathetic figur...

Malena, the latest film from Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore, is a curious mix of whimsy and tragedy. Tornatore's blending of the divergent tones is not entirely successful - there are several jarring moments - but, on the whole, Malena works ...

As promised, Jay and Silent Bob are back. The quirky duo who hung around in the background of Kevin Smith's 1994 debut feature, Clerks, have returned to the screen for the followup, Mallrats, the middle picture of the so-called "New Jersey Trilogy...

The Maltese Falcon is among the most important and influential movies to emerge from the Hollywood system - as significant in some ways as its contemporary, Citizen Kane. In addition to providing the cinema with a new kind of private investigator ...

Mamma Mia! delivers exactly what one can reasonably expect from it. It's a faithful adaptation of the stage play of the same name but, more importantly, it's a repository for ABBA songs - nearly two dozen in total. Considering that the average ru...

Even recognizing that it’s among the most unnecessary sequels ever made and that it exists purely because of how much money the original Mamma Mia made ($144M domestic, $610M worldwide), it’s difficult to hate Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. I...

I’ve long since given up asking the question “Why?” when it comes to filmmakers turning to foreign language films for the storylines of new English-language films. Sometimes, in fact, the results can be quite satisfactory – take the 2022 r...

Director Patrick Hughes doesn’t have an impressive resume. His comfort zone lies in the realm of action-comedies that aren’t as exciting or as funny as they should be (to wit: The Hitman’s Bodyguard and its lamentable sequel). The Man from To...

17 years ago, the film industry dusted off a popular 1960s spy show, created a bloated, big-screen iteration with stars like Ralph Fiennes, Sean Connery, and Uma Thurman, and watched it implode at the box office. Terrible reviews and public indiffere...

Note: There is a "spoiler" in passing for Star Trek into Darkness. Not a big thing if you've seen the movie (or even if you haven't) but don't say you haven't been warned. I also refer in vague terms to the ending of this film. Khan has returne...