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Miss Bala is a reworking of a 2011 Mexican film. Although the movies may share the same name, they have different agendas. The original Miss Bala focused more on the dramatic elements than the action/thriller ones and wasn’t afraid to get d...

We all have monsters - dark impulses that dwell in the deepest recesses of our minds, occasionally forcing their way into our nightmares or impinging on our consciousness. A Monster Calls asks (but doesn’t answer) the question of whether such m...

When The American President was released, many knowledgeable movie-goers commented how the sentimentality of its "feel good" storyline recalled the work of director Frank Capra. Now, with Mr. Holland's Opus, another Capra-esque motion picture has ...

Much Ado about Nothing is Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of one of Shakespeare's better-known comedies. Centered around two romances - Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), and Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thomps...

Like most Agatha Christie stories, Murder on the Orient Express is all about the “whodunnit?” Once that question has been answered, there’s little reason to revisit the story. Christie never cared much about character development and her ...

Nanny McPhee is an excellent movie… if you're a seven-year old girl. That's less a negative evaluation than it is a statement of fact. This isn't a "family film;" it's a "children's film." What's more, it's for girls who are old enough to unde...

The Night Listener is an eerie, occasionally disturbing motion picture focused on the differences between perception and reality. The film exists in the gray area separating drama from psychological thriller, although the mood is in many ways more...

Whenever a movie addresses the subject of a girl living alone on a desert island, the soft porn warning lights go on. So it may come as a bit of a surprise that Nim's Island is a family film in which no one considers skinny-dipping. What's more, i...

Notes on a Scandal is an attempt to make a Fatal Attraction type thriller for the art house crowd. With a cast that features two of today's best actresses - Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett - and a screenplay of uncommon literacy, the movie nearly ac...