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Eventually, it had to happen: a computer-animated dud. It's surprising it has taken this long, and we have been spoiled by the high quality of the product, with such winning titles as Toy Story, Shrek, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and others. B...

Late in his career, as he has transitioned from the dual role of “actor/director” to primarily remaining behind the camera, Clint Eastwood has become increasingly fascinated with real-life subjects. He has also long been interested in diss...

In the 1940s and '50s, star power drove movies. Staples of cinema like plot, character, and photography were often of secondary importance to who topped the marquee. Well-known actors could draw large crowds to a bad movie, while obscure name...

These days, Hollywood seems to be almost entirely bankrupt of new ideas. For bursts of inspiration or innovation, the movie-goer increasingly has to seek out independent motion pictures. What we are getting more and more from the big studios is a...

In high school, teachers spend a great deal of time guiding students through the rigors of Shakespeare's tragedies and histories, but what about the comedies? Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth... Yes, ...

Sling Blade, the directorial debut of actor/writer Billy Bob Thornton (who scripted One False Move and A Family Thing), is a fascinating examination of a damaged man's quest to make restitution for his past crimes. To a lesser extent, it also offe...

There was a time when it was considered "daring" or "risky" to make a comedy-tinged war movie. In the early 1950s, with the scabs from World War II still in evidence and the United States enmeshed in Korea, war didn't seem to be a lighthearte...

The three screenwriters (Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, Billy Ray) credited with adapting Paul Abbott's mini-series into a motion picture have done something remarkable: reduce five hours of material into less than two hours and still produ...

1950 was a very good year for movies that took a look behind the showbiz scene. Both Sunset Blvd. (films) and All About Eve (theater) collected their share of Oscar nominations, with Eve beating out Sunset in the key Best Picture category. Howeve...

Although Terminator: Dark Fate, the sixth film in the Terminator franchise, is an improvement over the other non-Cameron-directed sequels, it doesn’t rise to the level of the first two entries in the series. And, while Terminator die-hards a...