ReelViews for PG-13 movies

At the end of Superman II, the producers promised "Coming Soon: Superman III." It has taken 26 years for that promise to be fulfilled. To be sure, there were movies in the 1980s called Superman III and Superman IV, but those were bad jokes masquera...

When The Sure Thing was released in 1985, it was out of step with the times. Teen comedies in those years were saturated with sex and broad humor. Romance and realism (even to a modest degree) were undesirable relics of a bygone era. Nevertheles...

Surrogates was not pre-screened for critics. Most of the time, I understand when a studio takes this route - it's a way to avoid undue negative publicity before the release of a movie that is recognized behind-the-scenes as being a turd. Once in ...

Note to readers: this review contains spoilers. While I do not believe that the revelation of certain plot points will damage the overall viewing experience, those who wish to see Sweet November without having previous knowledge of key elements wo...

Hamburg. Nazi Germany. 1939. Peter (Robert Sean Leonard), Thomas (Christian Bale), and Arvid (Frank Whaley) are three "Swing Kids" -- young rebel Germans who have fallen in love with the forbidden: American movies, British fashion, and Swing musi...

In the past, it has been difficult to get the public interested in political films. This is especially true of younger viewers who are not old enough to participate in the voting process. 2008 may be different, however, with the "rock star" candi...

The Switch made me want to gnash my teeth in frustration. Nested within the restrictive confines of a middling romantic comedy is a secondary plot of some immediacy and power. It results in several moving scenes and allows Jason Bateman's acting ...

It's Dangerous Minds with dancing. That's the sinking feeling I got while watching Take the Lead, one of the year's most uninspired inspirational stories. Culled from the real-life experiences of Pierre Dulaine (Banderas), Take the Lead warps and...

If there are any 24 fans who have wondered what the TV series might be like if Liam Neeson replaced Kiefer Sutherland, Taken provides an opportunity to have that question answered. Neeson's Bryan Mills uses nearly all the Jack Bauer tactics, inclu...

The original Taken, released in the United States in early 2009, was never intended to be anything more than a January throw-away. $145 million later, Fox had a different opinion of the French-made film, whose U.S. opening occurred months after it ...