Monthly Archives: April 2013

Here’s another story summing up the latest Chinese affronts to artistic freedom in the somewhat artistic world of the cinema. For years, Hollywood has been reluctant to deliver Chinese villains, to place big screen wrongdoing in Chinese hands. Think back … Continue reading →

Lots of people want to escape their past. Wallace Avery wants to escape his present. Which he does, pretty much before the opening credits are over in “Arthur Newman.” That’s to be his new name. Plainly, he’s given it some … Continue reading →

Once you’ve destroyed Pearl Harbor and let robots rampage across the Earth a few times, your whole idea of a buddy picture has got to be warped. Elephantiasis sets in, even on a caper comedy with daft characters and silly … Continue reading →

Forty-five films into his Oscar-winning career, Colin Firth worries about the same thing a lot of people who’ve held the same job forever fret over — burnout. The Prince of Period Pieces (“The King’s Speech”), Regent of Romance (“Love Actually, … Continue reading →

Yeah, it’s a radio show on NPR. But it’s coming to theaters a week from next Thursday, and far be it for me to pass up the chance to turn the interrogation tables on Peter Sagal, the host of the … Continue reading →

Jeff Bridges, WAY over the top. Ryan Reynolds, in AWE of it. Dead cops keeping dead bad guys from re-infecting the EArth. Dazzling effects and laugh-out-loud gags. “R.I.P.D.” opens July 19.

The original came out in 2004, when Vince and Ben & the “Frat Pack” were at their peak. Now, almost ten years later, Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn and a screenwriter are envisioning a sequel, with Ben and Vince on … Continue reading →

“At Any Price” is an engrossing if somewhat over-the-top “trouble on the farm” melodrama. The troubles facing this corner of Iowa fall just short of Biblical as they pack in everything but a drought and plagues of locusts. Indie director … Continue reading →

There’s something utterly unnerving about seeing a child with an AK-47. He can beNigerian, Sudanese or Canadian, but the sense of innocence lost, of that “Lord of the Flies” cruel streak too many of us carry with us makes the … Continue reading →