Movies starring Elizabeth Banks

The 40 Year Old Virgin is proof that motion picture comedies can still be funny. Sadly, the kind of consistent humor delivered by this film happens too rarely. This is the movie Wedding Crashers should have been: rude, raunchy, uproarious, yet wi...

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...

Legos. They seem to have been around forever (actually, since 1949). As a kid, some 40 years ago, I can remember playing with them: colored plastic bricks that snapped together. Since then, the Lego empire has expanded, venturing into arenas previ...

The Hunger Games comes charging out of the gate with a daunting task: fill the chasm in the fangirl cinematic franchise machine created by the completion of the Harry Potter saga and the impending end to all things Twilight. The Hunger Games cycle ...

In spite of an awkward title and an uninspired choice for the leading man, Definitely, Maybe nevertheless manages to charm with its bittersweet story of love and loss that ends on an upbeat and romantic note. The movie starts out as one thing but,...

An interesting synergy exists between Judd Apatow and Kevin Smith. With films like Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy, Smith opened a door that, about 10 years later, Apatow walked through. Now, with Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Smith has fully and ...

The temptation is to think this: Just what we need - another PG-13 remake of an Asian horror film. These come along so frequently that they have become more like punch lines to bad jokes than serious cinematic endeavors. Not so fast, though. The U...

Seabiscuit is the great hope of the adult movie-going audience: a summer motion picture that is not designed to appeal to teenage boys. Ordinarily, one might think it would be a risk on Universal's part to release the movie in late July, but the a...

The Next Three Days, Paul Haggis' adaptation of the 2008 French film, Anything for Her, uses an interesting concept as a cornerstone of the foundation. Instead of employing a seasoned professional as the lead character of this heist thriller, the ...

Apologists will no doubt argue that bifurcating Suzanne Collins' final novel in The Hunger Games cycle, Mockingjay, is the right way to go. There's no doubt that stretching it over 4+ hours allows for a more complete adaptation, but movies are diff...