Search for Brian

At least the werewolves in Red Riding Hood have teeth and, when in human form, they don't parade around shirtless. Alas, wearing the PG-13 like a Scarlet Letter, the movie advertises an absence of true horror. Even Lon Cheney Jr.'s Wolfman was scar...

The tale of Robin Hood is one of several dozen Hollywood staples that experiences re-makes or re-interpretations on a regular basis by the motion picture industry. If nothing else, that's a testimony to the legend's enduring popularity. The most ...

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is one of the most inconsequential big-screen cartoons to reach theaters this year. It’s also one of the most disappointing releases to come from Dreamworks Animation, the studio responsible for such beloved mode...

Runner Runner contains elements that, if properly nurtured and presented, could form the basis of a compelling film noir. Unfortunately, director Brad Furman is less interested in developing characters and building tension than he is in shaking the...

Upon its initial release, Scarface was savaged by many critics and suffered from tepid box office performance. Opened at the height of Oscar season with awards aspirations, it was shut out by the Academy - although it did receive three Golden Glob...

One reason why Wes Craven’s 1996 slasher film, Scream, met with success was that Craven (and screenwriter Kevin Williamson) found a way to enliven things by incorporating a tongue-and-cheek “meta” aspect to the proceedings. In the course of ...

You know a franchise has exceeded its “sell by” date when all the titles seem to blur together and the newest installments seem like remakes of the older ones. That being said, Scream VI is possibly the most entertaining entry into the lon...

To the extent that there’s a difference between “big screen cartoons” and “animated features,” The Secret Life of Pets 2 comes closer to the former than the latter on the spectrum of non-live-action motion picture entertainment. The ...

About 20 minutes into The Secret Life of Pets, an entertaining but inconsequential animated movie, I was struck by a powerful feeling of déjà vu. It didn’t take long for me to ascertain the cause. The Secret of Pets is pretty much...

A couple of cliches come to mind while watching Danny Boyle's deliciously diabolical feature debut, Shallow Grave. The first -- that money is the root of all evil -- is obvious. The other -- that it's always the quiet ones who bear the closes...