ReelViews for PG movies

By now, I'm tired of penguins. After Madagascar, March of the Penguins, and Happy Feet, it's time to move on to some new species of beast or fowl. Yet I must admit that of the four recent penguin-centered movies, Surf's Up is the most entertaining...

Seen in "standard" (non-IMAX) 3-D. Tangled (which was called Rapunzel until the 11th hour) represents Disney's application of "new" technology to an old format. In many ways that matter, this film recalls the recent classics of the Magic Kingdo...

Warning: As with most retrospective reviews, this reveals key plot points. Spoilers abound.Undoubtedly, one of the reasons why James L. Brooks’ feature debut, the three-hankie weeper Terms of Endearment, won the Oscar for Best Picture is tha...

The title of this film, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain, is so long that it can function as a plot synopsis in its own right. "The Englishman" in question is British cartographer Reginald Anson, played by Hugh Grant with...

By the time Thunderball, the fourth in the "official" James Bond film canon, was released, the "Bond Formula" had already been perfected. It goes something like this: take the suave 007 (always impeccably dressed and ready with a witty one-l...

Ever wondered what Dorothy's trip along the Yellow Brick Road might have been like if, instead of traveling with the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, she had been accompanied by H.G. Welles, Roald Dahl, and Monty Python? Or how C.S. ...

Tomorrowland is an interesting collage of moments and ideas in search of a strong narrative and a coherent ending. For a while, it doesn't matter that the plot meanders. The story seems like a jigsaw puzzle inviting us to solve it. That's the...

Tootsie works for three reasons: a sharp screenplay, good comic timing, and delightful performances. There's nothing deep or philosophical about the film. It doesn't try to solve the world's problems or uncover some great social truth. It's a ge...

Top Gun is an ‘80s testosterone fix – a celebration of machismo and a recruiting film for the U.S. Navy. Typical of Jerry Bruckheimer/Don Simpson at their peak, the movie embraces masculine tropes to create a patchwork narrative that is almost...

2016’s Trolls, an animated confection based on the toy line, was a pleasant surprise, both in terms of its appeal and its box office prowess. The latter (as much as the former) determined that there would be a sequel. At one point, distribut...