Monthly Archives: January 2016

Third film in the franchise, shoved into January because of diminishing expectations (though reviews weren’t awful). “Kung Fu Panda 3” is dining out on the lack of suitable kiddie fare at the box office, with families pouring $40 million into … Continue reading →

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 →

The storm impacting much of the East put a damper on “Dirty Grandpa,” “The Boy” and “The Fifth Wave.” None of those lesser (January–low expectation) new releases will have earned more than $10 million by midnight Sunday. “Grandpa” has a … Continue reading →

Well, here’s Michael Caine throwing a little shade — or at least some perspective — on the whole #OscarsSoWhite/#whiteOscars/#boycottOscars dust up. “You can’t vote for an actor because he’s black” is the pull-quote that folks are fixating on for maximum … 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 →