Search for 20th

Let me start with a disclosure: I have not read the Alex Garland novel upon which The Beach is based, so I'm not in a position to discuss firsthand whether or not it butchers its source text (according to some reports, it does). The film represen...

Big came out of nowhere during the summer of 1988 and captured universal raves. More than two decades later, despite indications of dating, it remains a popular motion picture, in large part because it's one the few "body swap" movies - a popular ...

Big Trouble in Little China was released at a time when John Carpenter’s white-hot career had begun a downward trajectory. His third feature starring Kurt Russell, Big Trouble matched the action-adventure elements of Escape from New York wit...

For more than 65 years, Michael Caine was among the most prolific and respected working British actors (he retired in 2023). From The Ipcress File and Alfie to The Dark Knight and Kingsman, he was capable of working in almost any genre and bringin...

The most compelling thing about Queen has always been the music. The story behind the band, like the stories behind many bands, is a combination of the banal, the tragic, and the clichéd. For this “based on a true story” movie, the filmma...

For many years, the narrative existed that Hollywood didn’t understand how to make a good Stephen King movie. Oh, there were counterexamples and The Shining has its supporters (the author is not among them) but the prevailing mantra went somethi...

The Book of Life represents Guillermo del Toro's most hands-on foray (to date) into the realm of family friendly entertainment; this is closer in tone and sensibility to one of Tim Burton's offbeat animated films than one of Pixar's more "vanilla" ...

I don't know whether Markus Zusak's young adult bestelling novel The Book Thief should be considered "unfilmable" but the adaptation, written by Michael Petroni and directed by Brian Percival, makes a compelling case that it shouldn't have been fil...

Overwhelmingly positive word of mouth can be a double-edged sword for a filmmaker. Although effusive praise builds anticipation, it can also elevate expectations to levels that cannot possibly be met. This is why some viewers who see a movie after...

This movie gave me a headache. Okay, maybe that's an unfair charge to lay at its feet but the fact is that when I walked into the theater, I was fine and when I walked out I had a throbbing pain between my temples. And Bride Wars is the kind of m...