Search for 2013

The Hangover Part III is an obvious example of how wrong things can go when the almighty dollar is allowed to rule what comes out of Hollywood. When the first Hangover stunned analysts by becoming not just successful but a massive hit, director Tod...

Never accuse Spike Jonze of lacking ambition. His latest cinematic endeavor, Her, could be considered "meditative science fiction" or perhaps an iRomance. Regardless of how it's designated, Her uses a familiar idea to sci-fi fans - machine sentienc...

Special effects have always played an important role in Peter Jackson's adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's books but, with The Desolation of Smaug, the middle chapter of The Hobbit movie trilogy, they take center stage. This isn't necessarily a positi...

There's something almost refreshing about a movie that delivers exactly what's expected of it. With a script developed by Sylvester Stallone and a cast led by Jason Statham, it wouldn't be hard to put together a checklist of obligatory scenes/momen...

Sometimes with a movie like The Host, it's tough to determine whether the fatal flaws lie in the source material or the adaptation. Considering that the author of the source material is Stephenie Meyer, who singlehandedly defanged vampires and decl...

Have we reached a point where the term "young adult literature" has become pejorative? Have books like Twilight and its ilk promulgated a negative connotation? If Stephenie Meyer's scribblings represent an exhibition for the prosecution, perhaps Su...

A lot of movies released into theaters deserve the label of "bad." Only a few cross the line into "reprehensible." Say hello to Identity Thief. The big problem with this overlong, tedious would-be comedy has nothing to do with the quality (or lack ...

In Secret, an adaptation of Emile Zola’s Therese Raquin, is an effective period piece thriller that incorporates love, lust, desperation, and madness into a stew thickened by a gothic atmosphere. The film’s shortcomings - the most notable of wh...

When I watch a comedy like The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, I find myself wondering whether plot and character development should be considered in an evaluation of the production. After all, the movie has been made with the intention of making peop...

A perusal of the Coen Brothers' filmography reveals a penchant for the offbeat and absurd. They almost never do anything conventional, which makes Inside Llewyn Davis surprising. A Valentine to late-'50s and early-'60s folk music (pre-Dylan), the m...