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Sometimes it's hard to recognize the importance of seemingly inconsequential element like "tone" when it comes to a romantic comedy. This Means War is a case study in what happens when the filmmakers mess this up. The movie is being marketed as an ...

Note: Thor is available in both 2-D and 3-D formats. I chose to see it in the former because of my growing dislike for the latter. I'm satisfied with the decision. Thor is not a native 3-D production; it was converted after the fact. By all accoun...

Boiled down to its essence, Thor: Love and Thunder is just another comic book movie – a celebration of the tropes that have made each new MCU entry an opportunity for Disney to fatten its coffers. Nevertheless, “it” director Taika Waitit...

It appears that Marvel has given up trying to broaden the tent. Although Thor: Ragnarok, the third film to focus on the exploits of the titular Norse God, boasts a lighter tone, when the flippancy is stripped away, it’s the same-ole-same-ole...

Thor: The Dark World offers the kind of straightforward action/adventure yarn that adherents of the genre will appreciate. It's an example of superhero filmmaking 101 at work with high octane fights and special effects-fueled eye candy trumping nar...

Thoroughbreds is a dark comedy/thriller that calls to mind a couple of films from the 1990s: the somewhat obscure Fun and Heavenly Creatures, a title that became a calling card for both director Peter Jackson and actress Kate Winslet. This new...

Those Who Wish Me Dead is the kind of straightforward thriller that was popular during the 1990s – the sort of thing that, had it come out 25 years ago, might have featured someone like Mel Gibson in the lead role. It’s a story of survival...

When viewing a melodrama like A Thousand Acres, it's easy to label it as a "chick flick" or a "tearjerker." However, such a facile categorization would do the movie a disservice, since it possesses a layer of depth that most films of this sort...

“Raped While Dying”, “And Still No Arrests”, “How Come, Chief Willoughby?” The text of those three billboards establishes a narrative but, although that’s the starting point for Martin McDonagh’s stellar Three Billboards Outside...

Courage Under Fire was the first American movie about the Gulf War. Since then, there haven't been many others. David O. Russell's Three Kings becomes one of only a few mainstream efforts to venture into this underpopulated cinematic territory. ...