Search for James Vanderbilt

Where to go with Spider-Man? That's the billion dollar question that has plagued Sony Pictures. One of their flagship franchises, Spider-Man is a proven money-maker that could not be allowed to lie fallow simply because the creative engine ran out ...

The temptation is there to say that Independence Day: Resurgence tarnishes the image of its predecessor but the original Independence Day wasn’t all that good to begin with. It’s probably better in our memories than it ever was on cellulo...

It's as easy to deride The Losers for not being what it isn't as it is to celebrate it for being what it is. An unapologetic B-grade feature, The Losers delivers most of what's expected from this sort of picture, with a few shortcomings. The one-...

It has been a while since Hollywood has produced a bona fide action hero, but it appears that one has finally emerged. Look out Vin Diesel, because the Rock appears ready to roll. He is the Schwarzenegger of the 2000s with a comprehensible accent....

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...

White House Down is what it's advertised to be: a Roland Emmerich Film. Those familiar with the director's work won't be surprised by anything in the movie. It follows the Emmerich template: a spectacle-tinged, compelling setup; a dumb, disappointi...

Zodiac is a police procedural - a sort of souped-up, ultra-long episode of Law & Order. Based on the 1986 "true crime" book by Robert Graysmith, the movie looks back on one of the nation's most sinister unsolved crimes: the Northern California ser...