Movies starring Jr

With superhero movies, it's almost axiomatic to state that the second film is the best of the series. The reason isn’t difficult to divine: having dispensed with the obligatory origin tale, the movie-makers can weave a more compelling yarn. So ...

In the wake of the massive and massively successful The Avengers, Iron Man 3 wisely doesn't attempt to outdo its immediate superhero predecessor when it comes to big-time action, pyrotechnics, and special effects. Instead, it opts for something a l...

Over the past two decades, horror movies have increasingly gravitated toward jump-scare experiences: stories more interested in delivering sudden shocks than developing suspense through mood and atmosphere. This dumbing down of horror, which h...

Every time I think Hollywood has slipped beyond redemption, someone in the system produces a film like Jerry Maguire that renews my faith. Apparently, creativity is not dead in the mainstream movie market -- not entirely, at least. This is th...

JT LeRoy, Justin Kelly’s adaptation of Savannah Knoop’s memoir, strives to be more than a run-of-the-mill biopic about two women who perpetrate a con on the literary world. It wants to address issues of gender fluidity and hypocrisy. It wa...

Two words that come to mind when considering The Judge are generic and predictable. It's also well-intentioned and earnest (perhaps to a fault). There are some good scenes and instances of strong acting but the project as a whole is so familiar tha...

Just Mercy is the kind of high-minded tale about social injustice that often opens around this time of the year. Despite the whiff of “Oscar bait” surrounding the production, it’s a well-made, affecting tale about do-gooders who do good ...

I hope Jamie Kennedy has a huge fan base because I can't see anyone else paying hard-earned money to sit through this. Perhaps my expectations are too high, but when I go to see something billed as a "comedy," I don't expect to have to wait until ...

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the breezy directorial debut of Lethal Weapon screenwriter Shane Black. Black knows film noir inside and out, because he uses the basic template here. He jazzes things up by employing an aware and self-deprecating narrator ...

When I see a romantic comedy, I’m not expecting Ozu or Bergman or Truffaut or Scorsese. All I want – and I think it’s a perfectly reasonable desire considering the genre – is to fall in love with the characters as they fall in love wit...