Monthly Archives: January 2016

Is it a spoiler to refer to the coda of thriller “The Boy” as the clumsiest cop out in recent horror history? Never mind. That goes for the movie as well, a tepid tale of elderly Brits, the Heelshires (Diana … Continue reading →

“The Finest Hours” is a ripping good seafaring yarn based on a famous shipwreck and the Coast Guardsmen who undertook the “suicide mission” to rescue the survivors. It’s old fashioned in all the right ways, built on Chris Pine’s most … Continue reading →

With all the sins one can lay at the feet of “Dirty Grandpa,” here’s one that won’t stick — false advertising. It’s exactly what the title portrays it to be — “Grandpa” Robert DeNiro, as potty-mouthed, oversexed and politically incorrect … Continue reading →

One selling point for the “Shane” inspired Western “Forsaken” might be the pairing of father and son Donald and Kiefer Sutherland, working together for only the third time in their respective careers. Then there’s Kiefer, playing a reformed gunman/Civil War … Continue reading →

Young Adults save the world in so much of the fiction aimed at Young Adults. And when this science fiction comes to the big screen, YA fiction becomes PYA, full of PYTs. It’s a future where the boys have peach … Continue reading →

Well, it’s no “Inside/Out.” The first animated offering from the brain of Charlie Kaufman (“Being John Malkovich”) started life as a play about the mechanical banality of modern existence, and perhaps the emptiness of narcissism. So naturally the fellow who … Continue reading →

The decades may have passed, but the recipe for vintage ’80s sci-fi cheese has not been lost. “Lazer Team” is a goofy riff on “The Last Starfighter,” or a “Pixels” without the Curse of Adam Sandler hanging over it. A … Continue reading →

Kevin Hart may be the Hardest Working Little Man in Show Business. A new movie in theaters, two more due out later this year, he’s cashing in while the cash is good. But he’s running low on funny. “Ride Along … Continue reading →

Animation studios cast Big Names in their movies because they figure there’s baggage — the good kind — attached to their voices. But not everybody is gifted with a naturally funny voice like say, a Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy or … Continue reading →

As we all try to process the awful news that Alan Rickman has died the same week as his contemporary, David Bowie, the Oscar nominations are out. And here’s what the Academy proved. They let the Golden Globe voters basically … Continue reading →