Yearly Archives: 2013

A solitary figure, clad in gray, stumbles and weeps across a rainswept moor. Yes, it’s “Jane Eyre” time again. One of the most frequently-film period pieces from the golden age of the corset is back, with Mia “Alice in Wonderland” … Continue reading →

Nick Swardson is the latest comic reclamation project to come out of Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production company. He’s been given a star vehicle, “Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star,” a comedy about a farm country dimwit who discovers … Continue reading →

The “s”  word is never used in “Atlas Shrugged: Part 1,” the first film of a planned trilogy of Ayn Rand’s magnum opus. But it’s there in spirit, whispered off camera by the heroes of Rand’s exceptional-people-intent-on-doing-exceptional-things tale, saving the … Continue reading →

“The Undefeated” is a slick one hour and 50 minute version of those political convention hagiographies  (“A Man From Hope”), so it’s not exactly an objective take on its subject, former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. It’s … Continue reading →

It’s great to see Jesse Eisenberg break out of his nebbish trap, just a bit, as a swaggering, sarcastic slacker in “30 Minutes or Less,” his latest collaboration with his “Zombieland” director. But it’s sad to see that Danny McBride … Continue reading →

Note to any future filmmakers planning on using that played and played-out horror subgenre, the “found footage” film. Pay attention, please. It’s kind of important if your thriller is built on “found footage” that there be some way humanly possible … Continue reading →

“Soul Surfer” is the best faith-based film ever made, an uplifting, entertaining and wonderfully-acted account of surfer Bethany Hamilton’s life before and after a shark bit her arm off in the waters off her favorite Hawaiian beach. It’s corny in … Continue reading →

Matthew McConaughey may be the only actor in Hollywood who can swagger while sitting down. He drawls and cracks out that toothy grin and it’s lock-up-your-daughters/hide granny’s mattress money time. You either fall for his charm or roll your eyes … Continue reading →

When it comes, it will probably go down just like this. A virus mutates and makes the leap from animal to human in the crowded, under-monitored Chinese food chain. Humans catch it in Hong Kong and fly home — through … Continue reading →

“The Debt” is the first movie in which Hollywood “It” actor Sam Worthington gets around to showing us what all the fuss was about, pre-”Terminator,” pre-”Avatar” and pre-”Clash of the Titans.” As a guilt-ridden Holocaust survivor now a Mossad agent … Continue reading →