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The Hangover Part III is an obvious example of how wrong things can go when the almighty dollar is allowed to rule what comes out of Hollywood. When the first Hangover stunned analysts by becoming not just successful but a massive hit, director Tod...

The Hangover begins and ends conventionally but, in between, it's not afraid to go off the rails. Unlike most so-called "comedies," this one can claim the virtue of being reasonably funny. It never tries too hard, the actors have a good sense of ...

Have we reached a point where the term "young adult literature" has become pejorative? Have books like Twilight and its ilk promulgated a negative connotation? If Stephenie Meyer's scribblings represent an exhibition for the prosecution, perhaps Su...

Apologists will no doubt argue that bifurcating Suzanne Collins' final novel in The Hunger Games cycle, Mockingjay, is the right way to go. There's no doubt that stretching it over 4+ hours allows for a more complete adaptation, but movies are diff...

Another so-called YA (Young Adult) motion picture property has reached its cinematic conclusion. Billed as “the next big thing” 3 1/2 years ago with the release of the first Hunger Games movie, the series has lived up to its hype. The mov...

It has been eight years since director Francis Lawrence released Mockingjay Part 2, the second half of the bifurcated film that wrapped up Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy. Although the fourth movie in that series was the weakest entry, Law...

I Am Legend, the third cinematic adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel, has been in development for a very long time. Originally slated to star Arnold Schwarzenegger and be directed by Ridley Scott, this movie has kicked around for so long that b...

It has long been my contention that the male bonding movie, or so-called "buddy movie," is actually a romantic comedy without the sex. I Love You, Man makes this explicit - it's a buddy movie with all of the rom-com elements exaggerated out of prop...

Jindabyne, an adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story "So Much Water So Close to Home," is an examination of a fractured family and how mistakes and miscommunication can lead to the widening of pre-existing fissures. While these themes are in t...