Monthly Archives: January 2013

Here’s something they don’t teach you in acting school. When you’re making a movie and running for your life, you need to look like it. You need to go all out, eyes wild with fear, arms flailing. Look like Pierce … Continue reading →

With rudeness, cruelty and self-absorption now universally heralded American attributes, with cynical political opportunists, unworthy “talents” and lowlifes dominating reality TV, the time is certainly right for a “Falling Down” remake. Which is the jumping off point for “God Bless … Continue reading →

There are always pearls of wisdom in the cinematic sermonettes of Tyler Perry. And even if they’re a tad too obvious, it’s plain that his connection to Oprah has paid off when he has characters in his films talk about … Continue reading →

“The Grey” is an old fashioned survival tale harboring pretensions that it is something more. Not a lot more, just a hint of the  psycho-cerebral, here, a smidge of the primal and primitive there.

Can a single tone-deaf, wince-inducing joke, even one that’s repeated, kill a movie? No. Not a good film. But a marginal one that has trouble finding its tone? Let’s just say wisecracks about spouse abuse don’t help.

Dreamworks Animation president Jeffrey Katzenberg recently lamented the dearth of holiday-themed movies headed to your multiplex this year. But in foisting “Rise of the Guardians” upon unsuspecting audiences for the holidays, it’s clear he just wanted some cover. Other holiday … Continue reading →

That classic “creature feature” “The Thing” earns its third treatment with a film that’s so enthralled with its actual “thing” that it forgets to be scary or suspenseful. A decent cast and a pristine glacial setting are wasted on a … Continue reading →

Four years and four films into “The Twilight Saga,” Robert Pattinson can see the finish line for the role that made him famous. With the release of  the last half of “Breaking Dawn,” he knows that the whirlwind surrounding him … Continue reading →

Gina Carano is the 29 year-old daughter of a former backup quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and a cheerleader-pretty mom. And those two ends of the gene pool have been having a knock-down drag-out fight in her from the get … Continue reading →

What a relief. “Ghost Rider” is a joke — a monumentally foolish comic book movie with lots of unintentional laughs, mixed in with the intentional ones.