Monthly Archives: June 2016

“The Conjuring 2” had a good Saturday to go with its great Thursday night and Friday, enough so that the ever-inching-up estimates for the film’s opening weekend now stands at about $42 million. Good reviews may have helped. They certainly didn’t … Continue reading →

On paper, it looks like one of the worst weekends for movies of the summer. But darned if a horror sequel, a failed video game adaptation and a Jesse Eisenberg magic caper dramedy (sequel) didn’t push to the top of … Continue reading →

Horror director James Wan’s latest trick is to morph his “The Conjuring” franchise into a supernatural love story. Both as a director and as a producer, Wan is mining the rich “true story” vein provided by Lorraine and Ed Warren, … Continue reading →

Another video game makes a branded transition to the big screen, and Hollywood blows it, yet again. That’s “Warcraft.” And seeing as how this tripe just wasted two hours and three minutes of my life, with the threat of sequels … Continue reading →

Editor’s note: The news that BBC radio was re-visiting “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” for a fresh series (“And Another Thing…”) prompted me to pack my CDs of the earlier incarnations for a recent road trip. And I thought I’d … Continue reading →

Summer sequel season is long since in full swing. This weekend’s crop is quite representative — one solid sequel that might please the faithful, one limp one to a movie nobody thought merited a sequel in the first place. Jesse … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Movie Nation:
The unlikely pairing of Amber Heard and Christopher Walken pays comic dividends in “One More Time,” an agreeably predictable famous father/bitter daughter dramedy. Walken plays Paul Lombard, an aged crooner, “The King of Romance,” contemplating…

“Maggie’s Plan” is the best romantic comedy Woody Allen never made. A tale of pretentious academics in love, infidelity, and “Let’s get you two back together” manipulations, with plucked guitar jazz in the score and oodles of Manhattan locations, director … Continue reading →

Luis Guzman, for decades one of the funniest character actors in the movies (“Waiting…” “Yes Man”) hilariously steps into the spotlight in a comedy whose title is as deep as it ever gets — “Puerto Ricans in Paris.” It’s a … Continue reading →

  Clark, the smart, judgmental teen at the heart of “Quitters,” has a reason for being that way. His mother (Mira Sorvino) is a medicated mess, weepy, unstable and needy. She insists on driving him to a friend’s house after … Continue reading →