ReelViews for PG-13 movies

The Upside is a serviceable English-language remake of The Intouchables, a 2011 success at the French box office. Anchored by strong performances and a palpable chemistry between leads Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston, The Upside breathes life an...

It is possible to gather a star-studded ensemble cast and make a frothy, delightful movie about love in its many guises. Richard Curtis did it with Love, Actually and a parcel of international directors accomplished something similar with the duet...

Is it unfair to compare Luc Besson to Michael Bay? Some would argue that it is but I’m not sure Besson would be among them. Both directors make the movies they want to make and, although there’s more artistry evident in Besson’s work, th...

Going into this film, I wondered whether the filmmakers would succeed at generating tension out of an event whose outcome is so well-known. Even those with only a rudimentary knowledge of history are aware that Hitler did not die as the result of ...

Valley Girl is a re-imagination of the 1983 film for a generation raised on Baz Luhrmann films and Glee. It’s a celebration of kitsch and of the ‘80s as they’re remembered (not as they actually were). Everything about director Rachel Le...

In the 1930s, monster movies were the staples of Universal Pictures' line-up, a cash cow as the industry metamorphosed from silent films to talkies. Although the monsters came in all sizes and flavors, none could match the appeal of the "Big Three...

At first glance, Vantage Point looks like it might be inspired by Rashomon - different points-of-view of an incident leading to some greater revelation about the nature of truth. However, while the decision to reveal the story like a puzzle throug...

The Vast of Night begins with an image of a TV set. A show is just beginning as the camera moves in, allowing all other details but the grainy black-and-white image to fade away. A voice, sounding suspiciously like Rod Serling, tells us “You...

Venom represents the final result of a long-standing attempt by Sony Pictures to give the popular Spider-Man nemesis his own film. Influenced equally by the comic books and the Deadpool movies, Venom falls considerably short of the high bar s...

If 2018’s Venom felt like an afterthought, then the sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, feels like an afterthought to an afterthought. With its short running length, this drunk-on-CGI production is less a movie and more the outline of somet...