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You know a movie is doing something wrong when you find yourself counting to determine whether, in fact, there are seven guardians (as opposed to, for example, six or eight). 7 Guardians of the Tomb, a shameless rip-off of James Cameron’s Ali...

When MGM elected not to screen Autumn In New York for film critics, the decision touched off a minor controversy. First, stars Richard Gere and Winona Ryder spoke out publicly against this move, claiming it was an insult to the integrity of their ...

Basmati Blues isn’t nearly as bad as some of the online buzz might indicate…and that’s actually unfortunate. Instead of vying for a so-bad-it’s-entertaining categorization, it falls squarely into the hell of cinematic mediocrity. A fo...

U.S. immigration laws are filled with incongruities and loopholes. In Blue Bayou, writer/director/star Juston Chon addresses one of the least-known and most egregiously unfair: that a young child adopted from a foreign country, even if his/her...

Farewell My Concubine spans fifty-three years, presenting the lives of two men against the historical backdrop of a country in upheaval. Initially banned in China but shown to international acclaim, Chen Kaige's film is one of the year's true mast...

Gran Torino is an amazingly over-the-top anti-racism parable but, despite its obvious shortcomings, it is nevertheless effective and affecting. The storytelling style is old fashioned in what it does and unsubtle in the way it goes about doing it,...

The 1966 animated TV Christmas special, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” is as perfect an adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book as one is likely to find. Featuring an iconic vocal performance by Boris Karloff (doing double-duty as the narrator...

Hacksaw Ridge embraces many of the clichés of the war movie but, instead of laying them out in a rote fashion, the film synthesizes them into a visceral, ultimately inspirational result. This is about heroism, patriotism, and an adherence to c...

Under the control of a different director, The Informant! might have been a reasonably straightforward thriller. With Steven Soderbergh at the helm, however, this has become a whimsical, semi-comedic romp, complete with a score by Marvin Hamlisch ...

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...