ReelViews for PG-13 movies

Aquaman is a reminder of the meager pleasures that can be gained from a generic superhero movie. Devoid of the complex plotting, comprehensive world-building, and narrative twists that defined Marvel’s two big 2018 superhero movies, Black Pa...

Ten years ago, with much fanfare, the DC Extended Universe was born. Warner Brothers, riding the wave of success from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, decided that rather than stick with stand-alone titles featuring their best-loved supe...

In the 1970s, Judy Bloom broke onto the scene with several popular young adult books. Later in her career, she added mature novels to her resume (with frank depictions of adult sexuality that shocked some who were familiar with her preteen-oriente...

Arena is one of those movies where there’s a strong temptation to assign a one-star rating (or less). Indeed, based on “traditional” reviewing metrics, this 1989 sci-fi throwaway is undeserving of any degree of respect. The story is a hodgep...

Stylish, smartly edited, and bursting with energy, the trailer for Argylle is fantastic. That’s about the only thing related to this movie the superlative could be used to describe. The actual production is a polar opposite: overlong, tediou...

Deep Impact has been buried. Godzilla's size didn't matter as much as TriStar hoped it would. Six Days, Seven Nights took about that long to come and go. Now it's time for Bruce Willis to kick asteroid. Recalling the amazing box-office assa...

The scenario presented in Arrival isn’t new - motion pictures have been dramatizing an event of this sort almost since moving images first flickered on a big screen. We wonder about it, dream about it, imagine it, and write about it. Popular te...

The biggest alien invasion picture of the summer of 1996 is Independence Day. But it's not the first. The Arrival, with a significantly lower budget than Fox's July 3 release, has that distinction, and, while this particular film doesn't boast an...

It's amazing how a lifeless, pointless remake can provoke pangs of nostalgia about a mediocre movie. Such is the case with Arthur. The kindest thoughts I have ever experienced about the 1981 original occurred while I was watching Russell Brand and...

To label The Artist as an homage to the silent era is to undervalue what director Michel Hazanavicius has achieved with this movie. In a time when bigger, louder, and more spectacular is interpreted as being "better," he has turned the clock back t...