Monthly Archives: January 2013

Nobody really knew Matthew Broderick could sing, back in the early ’90s. Still, it’s a little bit of a surprise to recall that Disney used somebody else to do his crooning in 1994’s “The Lion King.” A year later, Broderick … Continue reading →

If his stage act is any indication, tightwad Kevin Hart was checking ticket sales all weekend long when “Laugh at My Pain” opened — over $20,000 per screen, 97 screens — a $2 million opening weekend.

If you want to make your getaway, you need to play it cool. No squealing tires. No panic at the first sign of the police. You need to stick to the speed limit. You need to know when to pull … Continue reading →

Equal measures smug and savage, Rod Lurie’s infuriating remake of Sam Peckinpah’s vengeance thriller “Straw Dogs” still packs a visceral punch. An exploitation picture built on redneck cliches and big city liberal outrage, it’s not all bad. But it is … Continue reading →

“Senna” is a racing documentary that takes us into the jittery, jumpy, nerve-wracking driver’s seat of Formula 1 race cars of the 1980s and 90s. More interestingly, it gives us access to the sometimes acrimonious driver’s meetings of the day, … Continue reading →

The story of how Winter, a New Smyrna Beach dolphin, lost her tail and became the star attraction of the Clearwater Aquarium becomes an adorable kids’ film in “Dolphin Tale.”

“Killer Elite” is a guy’s movie and makes no bones about it. It’s an old-school straight-no-chaser action picture about an ex-CIA agent who hunts down assorted troopers from the British Special Forces to save an American agent from a vengeful … Continue reading →

“Twilight” alumnus Taylor Lautner makes his debut as a leading man in an action film tailor-made — ahem — for him. “Abduction” puts Lautner in motion and never goes very far wrong as long as he remains in motion.

  There’s a hint of incredulity to the rave reviews for the alcoholic love story “Smashed.” And since its director, James Ponsoldt, made a previous film about an alcoholic baseball umpire (“Off the Black”), that slack-jawed shock is aimed at … Continue reading →

There’s always been something that screamed “CARTOON” about that potty-mouthed pixie, Sarah Silverman. Even at her most outrageous, the edgy comic’s disarming, Betty Boop by way of Betty Rubble voice intentionally softens that edge. Silverman’s demeanor and material, in which … Continue reading →