Monthly Archives: January 2013

“The Lucky One” is the edgiest-ever film adaptation of the writings of Nicholas Sparks. Which isn’t saying much.

 From the day it was published, Dr. Seuss’ environmental parable “The Lorax” has courted controversy. A screed about consumerism, greed and its cost to the environment, this anti-clear-cutting tale prompted protests in lumber-country school districts and just last week inspired … Continue reading →

Joseph Gordon-Levitt utterly masters the Bruce Willis squint, where the action hero narrows his eyes, furrows his brow and purses his lips. He gives us a little of the Willis smirk, the one Bruce breaks out when he’s about to … Continue reading →

 “Lola Versus” is a conventionally unconventional romance in the modern mode, alternating between cute and crude and packing a heaping helping of self-affirmation into its 84 minutes. It’s got that “Where have I seen this before?” familiarity even as it … Continue reading →

Guy Pearce goes into low Earth orbit to get his cool back in “Lockout,” a silly sci-fi B-picture made fun by his star turn in the lead role. It’s “Escape from New York” in space, with Pearce channeling Kurt Russell … Continue reading →

“Life of Pi,” Yann Martel’s fantastical folk parable about faith and spirituality makes the journey to the big screen more or less intact, a meditative Ang Lee survival-at-sea adventure with many of the same virtues and shortcomings of the novel.

“Her and I have this witty banter thing,” single-mom Kim (Krysten Ritter) blurts out to her date as a way of explaining a little verbal snit-fit she’s shared with gal-pal Deena (Kate Bosworth. “It’s nothing serious.” There’s fact and fiction … Continue reading →

 The leading man’s too short, barely suggesting the height that his contemporaries said made him “tower o’er other men.” And his voice, researched and accurate as it may be, is not the Abe Lincoln that’s been inside our head for … Continue reading →

Chatting with Brian Fritz this AM on the Open Mike radio show on 740 The Game, and we’ll talk up the new Matt Damon/John Krasinski/Hal Holbrooke Rosemarie DeWitt drama about fracking — “Promised Land,” and a couple of vintage films … Continue reading →