Monthly Archives: January 2013

  Welcome to the “Hotel Transylvania” where “you can check out any time you like, but you will never laugh.” With apologies to The Eagles, “almost never.”

Fifty years past his heyday, and thirty years after his death, the world still knows Alfred Hitchcock by reputation, even if you can’t get the kids to check out his classic movies. “Hitchcock,” a dark and dazzling bio-thriller about the … Continue reading →

  All the technical prowess of “aliens invade” thrillers, from “Independence Day” through “Battle: Lost Angeles,” and the best comic actors money can buy serve “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” well. The funniest, best-executed film in the Earth-protecting robots-that-look-like-cars-and-trucks series, … Continue reading →

We meet Oliver as he is cleaning up his father’s bungalow and dumping Dad’s prescription pill supply down the toilet.  His father has died, and we can see in Ewan McGregor’s face that this is but the latest blow to … Continue reading →

You’ve never seen Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones quite like this. As old marrieds facing “intensive” couples counseling over their comatose sexual relationship, two of America’s finest screen actors are by turns silly, befuddled, awkward and confused. And “Hope … Continue reading →

We haven’t seen Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts in a movie like “Larry Crowne” in decades.When you’ve got “Oscar winner” and “blockbuster hits” on your resume, feather-light character comedies fall off your radar.

Stupid freaking Judd Apatow, with his stupid freaking foul-mouthed and sentimental “Hobbit” length comedies, his stupid freaking insistence on not only peopling them with his old comic cronies, but his wife and cursing kids. Happy freaking R-rated holidays, America. Here’s … Continue reading →

  Boy, it sure looks like Dax Shepard is doing all his own crazy, gonzo stunt-driving in “Hit and Run,” the car-chase comedy he wrote and co-directed. “All me, 100%,” he says. You know how you can tell? Look in … Continue reading →

In ancient times, before the phrases “Global Warming” and “Peak Oil” ruined our fun, Hollywood used to make car chase comedies, automotive epics that were more about burnt rubber than good acting. An aspiring director like Ron Howard could launch … Continue reading →

For their latest comic trick, Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen go for something that neither has been known for over the course of their respective careers – cute. With “Guilt Trip,” they’ve made a holiday comedy safer for Streisand’s audience … Continue reading →