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To start out, I’ll dispense with the obligatory introduction describing the importance of Fred Rogers and his iconic TV show, “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” to two generations of Americans. If you’re a Gen-Xer or a Millennial, you know ...

At the risk of being called a curmudgeon, let me voice a dissenting opinion about Wonder, a “family drama” that veers too far into saccharine fantasy for its messages about tolerance and anti-bullying to sound a clear and genuine note. Oh,...

Back in mid-'90s, director Curtis Hanson was known as a B-list filmmaker - someone who could cull a fair amount of tension out of workmanlike stories such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and The River Wild. All of that changed in 1997, however, ...

The underlying concepts addressed by Wonder Park are more sophisticated than the treatment they receive in this animated film (which has been developed as a pilot for a new Nickelodeon TV series). However, with plot elements that echo The Wizar...

There was a time when the opening of a Woody Allen movie was considered (at least in serious cinema circles) as an event. Over the years, however, the quality of Allen’s output has diminished. Now, it’s at the point where a good Woody Alle...

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to argue that Wonder Woman is the best straightforward comic book-inspired movie since Christopher Nolan was making his Batman films. (For clarification purposes, I consider Deadpool and Logan, with their more...

Wonderful World feels like a modern-day half-baked riff on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Despite a film festival pedigree (it was shown at a number of local festivals on the 2009 circuit), the movie is so lightweight and inconsequential that ...

There's no nudity whatsoever in James Cox's Wonderland, which is ironic, since it's about events from the life of the first big-time porn star, John Holmes (Val Kilmer). Unlike Boogie Nights, which was loosely based on the rise and fall of Holmes d...

Wonderstruck is an evocative movie with a vaguely disappointing narrative that, although it reaches a conclusion, doesn’t justify the patience viewers must exhibit to reach that point. More successful as an exercise in style and re-creation,...

Even though it is rather obviously trading on a familiar and beloved brand, Wonka is nevertheless a fun and imaginative family film – certainly better than one might expect from a production crassly viewed by some as a “cash grab.” While the...