Yearly Archives: 2013

Norman, the young hero of the animated delight “ParaNorman,” hears dead people. He sees them, too. So there’s no sense trying to comfort him because you think he’s missing his dead grandma too much. “Grandma’s in a better place.” “In … Continue reading →

The stars of “The Paperboy,” the ones who did their due diligence anyway, must be kicking themselves. They didn’t get to work with the Lee Daniels who directed the Oscar winning “Precious,” but were stuck with the Lee Daniels who … Continue reading →

A confined space and mismatched characters forced together by their traveling conditions are the recipe for “Overnight,” a wan comedy about passengers on an overnight cross-country flight. They’re all looking for love, or to hang onto love, or to justify … Continue reading →

On today’s edition of “Smart Women, Stupid Choices,” Katherine Heigl! She left a halfway decent medical soap opera for a string of of increasingly mediocre, decreasingly romantic “comedies” pairing her with increasingly bland leading men.

 It’s ironic that the studio founded by the son of Hollywood founding father Samuel Goldwyn should be the one releasing “October Baby.” Apparently, the acquisitions department never took to heart Goldwyn the elder’s most famous Goldwynism about what movies are … Continue reading →

Well, “Green Lantern” isn’t “Jonah Hex” bad. But it’s silly enough to be part of the same “silliest Warner Brothers comic book summer movies of all time” conversation.

“Moneyball” is a thinking person’s baseball movie, and a baseball fan’s thinking movie. Sure, it’s based on the Michael Lewis book about Billy Beane, the ex-ballplayer turned Oakland A’s general manager who upended the game by rebuilding his team through … Continue reading →

  “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” is precious, protracted and pleasant enough, if not exactly potty trained.

In the early days of Italian neo-Realism, there was this little classic called “Bicycle Thieves,” a movie about a father struggling to support his adoring son in post-war Italy. When his bike is stolen, his ability to make a living … Continue reading →

You might have noticed her in “The Dark Knight Rises.” That’s Juno Temple, playing Catwoman’s confidante, second banana to the tall, dark and runway ready Anne Hathaway. It’s a small role in a very large studio summer blockbuster. But you … Continue reading →