Monthly Archives: February 2014

He’s an Oscar winning screenwriter who tackled a 700-page novel, adapting and directing “Winter’s Tale” for the big screen. DAunting. Not quite “Da Vinci Code” daunting, but tough enough. She’s one of the stars of this time-traveling romantic fantasy. And … Continue reading →

“Ride Along” will clear $100 million this weekend. Imagine the business they could have done with a funnier movie. But “The Lego Movie” may open close enough to that to top it by mid-week next week. Reviews will help. Everybody … Continue reading →

　The various young blood suckers of “Vampire Academy” belong to warring clans, with a royal family, “guardians” of those royals, silver daggers they use to kill each other and varying degrees of sensitivity to the harsh light of day. And … Continue reading →

My next interview is with Elizabeth Olsen, the lovely young star of “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” “Oldboy”, “Red Lights”, “Liberal Arts” and many an indie film in her still-new career. “In Secret” is a “Postman Always Rings Twice” style thriller … Continue reading →

So many horror films, so very few with real ambition. “A Field in England” is a period piece set during the English Civil War, and its horrors are not of the torture-porn, splatter, slasher with a knife a variety. This … Continue reading →

It pops up early on in the new “Lego Movie,” this…song. “Everything is awesome. Everything is cool when we’re part of a team.” Can’t get it out of your head — bubbly tune, infectious lyrics. “Everything is awesome, when we’re … Continue reading →

　”The Monuments Men” is the “Last Vegas” of World War II movies. A roughly true/fictionally embellished account of the efforts of American arts scholars — drafted into the Army — to preserve the artistic patrimony of Europe from the scourge … Continue reading →

If the Looney Toons team had played with plastic blocks that snap together, “The Lego Movie” is the kind of surreal subversion they might have made. Their Looney heirs, the guys behind the original “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” … Continue reading →

We first spied him in a sharp supporting role in “Scent of a Woman,” first “noticed” him in an absurdly showy bit part in “Twister,” and then, pretty much from “Almost Famous” onward, saw him step into the spotlight and … Continue reading →

As late as October or so, Jason Reitman’s “LAbor Day” had Oscar buzz. A melodramatic novel with thriller elements, Oscar winner Kate Winslet held hostage (hostage in LOVE) by Josh Brolin, a Joyce Maynard best seller adapted with care and … Continue reading →