Monthly Archives: January 2014

Tom Clancy’s C.I.A. analyst-hero Jack Ryan returns to the screen in a workmanlike if unoriginal and uninspiring reboot — “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.”Hardcore fans of espionage thrillers will recognize it as on a par with the least of the Jason … Continue reading →

A little Kevin Hart goes a long way in “Ride Along,” a dull buddy picture engineered as a vehicle for the mini motor mouth and the perma-sneering Ice Cube.It’s mismatched cops on patrol in Atlanta in this “48 Hours/Bad Boys/Showtime/The … Continue reading →

Here are your Golden Raspberry (Razzie) nominations for the calendar year 2013. As I have mentioned elsewhere, it was a banner year for not just good movies, but really bad ones as well. I used to vote in this “contest,” … Continue reading →

If you’re going to make cartoons about critters, the late  Chuck “Looney Toons” Jones used to preach, build them around the animal’s chief concern — survival. Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are always avoiding the shotgun and the stew pot. … Continue reading →

He got his start in the films of his pal Neil LaBute, has had better than a decade of stardom, but still hasn’t had that marquee hit that would ensure his bankability as a movie star. Aaron Eckhart was Harvey … Continue reading →

Ralph Fiennes brings the many colors and contradictions of the writer Charles Dickens to glorious life in “The Invisible Woman,” a melancholy biography about Dickens’ affair with a much younger woman while at the height of his fame. Period perfect, … Continue reading →

“Life of a King” is a warm and likable “make a difference” melodrama about an ex-con who teaches inner city kids about how chess can change your life. Like “The Butler,” it’s a reminder that no, Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Oscar … Continue reading →

The new year has barely begun, but we’ll be hard pressed to find a movie as disturbing — on many levels — as the darkly comic Israeli thriller “Big Bad Wolves.” It’s about the torture of an accused child molester-serial … Continue reading →