Search for 2016

There are no tumbleweeds in Hell or High Water, but there might as well be. The Texas terrain, as bleak and barren as any landscape this side of Tombstone, is a constant presence, as forceful a character as any played by a human actor. It speaks of p...

Hidden Figures is an old-fashioned inspirational tale about the undertrodden overcoming. Based on real people, real times, and real events, the film uses the never-say-die attitudes of three women to provide a window into the racism and sexism that p...

The only holiday Hollywood is better at screwing up than Christmas is Valentine’s Day. Every year it seems that the movie industry is intent on making the Day of Love about as enjoyable as a root canal. 2016’s contribution is How to Be Si...

When Snow White and the Huntsman was released four years ago, it successfully transformed one of movie-dom’s beloved fairy tales (known primarily through the Disney animated classic) into a fantasy adventure. The Huntsman: Winter’s War, a part-pr...

Ice Age: Collision Course, the fifth installment in this lamentably long-lived animated franchise, is the last Ice Age movie I intend to see. In a way, this review is superfluous. That’s because Ice Age: Collision Course isn’t a movie. Oh...

In This Corner of the World is as atypical an animated feature as one is likely to find washing ashore in the United States. Although fare of this sort – hand-drawn, serious-minded, narrative-based – is common in Japan, where Studio Ghibli...

The temptation is there to say that Independence Day: Resurgence tarnishes the image of its predecessor but the original Independence Day wasn’t all that good to begin with. It’s probably better in our memories than it ever was on cellulo...

One of the biggest mysteries about the Robert Langdon movies is why they don’t work. Dan Brown has a large, built-in fan base. There’s no lack of talent in the productions. The director is Oscar winner Ron Howard (who was near the zenith ...

The story told by The Infiltrator - an undercover cop begins to confuse his true identity with that of the “character” he plays - may be familiar but the film’s tone is not. As directed by Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer), this movi...

“I wouldn't bet the mortgage on there being a Jack Reacher 2.” - James Berardinelli, December 2012 Shows how much I know. Even though Tom Cruise’s tarnished star is burning up in the atmosphere and it would be an exaggeration...