ReelViews for PG-13 movies

As movie-goers, we expect different things from big-budget summer blockbusters than we do from "normal" films. Considerations of theme and character become secondary to action and mind- numbing excitement. The plot is expected to be very basic...

What can I write about Two Weeks Notice that I haven't written about every mediocre romantic comedy to come down Hollywood's pipeline? There's the cotton candy comparison – the movie is sweet (sometimes too sweet) and airy, with so little substa...

To me, the idea of a sequel to The Fugitive always seemed like a bad idea. True, Sam Girard (Tommy Lee Jones) was a more interesting character than Richard Kimball (Harrison Ford), but could he carry a movie on his own? Sadly, we'll never really ...

As a snapshot of the U.S. cultural scene during the late 1960s and early 1970s, The U.S. Versus John Lennon is a success. As an opportunity to hear some of Lennon's solo songs within a political context, the movie works. Unfortunately, as a piece...

Kudos to Sony for not holding advance screenings of Ultraviolet. This is the kind of crap you want to keep away from critics. Masochist that I am, I went to see this on my own dime, and regret every cent spent to gain admission to the theater. T...

For a while, The Unborn unfolds like a nice little PG-13 horror film should: a dash of atmosphere, a heroine who spends lots of time in her underwear, a general sense of enhanced creepiness, and an effective "boo!" moment or two. Then it commits a...

Angelina Jolie's sophomore effort as a director is a high-profile adaptation the true-life book Unbroken (written by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Sea Biscuit). Those unaware that the film is based on historical events might understandably ass...

Tell me if you’ve heard this refrain before: The experience of playing a game is more rewarding than watching a movie adaptation. Sadly, this applies as much to Uncharted as to nearly every previous game-to-movie translation. Even Uncharted, tou...

It would be easy to get hung up on the illegal immigration issue when discussing Under the Same Moon. Indeed, the filmmakers don't make a secret of their feelings about it; they believe the current policy to be repressive and biased. However, the...

Underwater is all adrenaline and claustrophobia – a 95-minute non-stop excursion to the bottom of the sea where human beings are aliens and monstrous creatures haunt the depths. Director William Eubank (The Signal) understands that for a mov...