Category Archives: previews

“Insurgent” doesn’t seriously diverge from the “Divergent/Hunger Games/Maze Runner” formula until its final act. Up until then, this “Divergent” sequel is Young Adults Save the World generic. It’s action-packed in the extreme, as Young Heroine Tris (Shailene Woodely) and “Dauntless” … Continue reading →

Here’s how Derek and Hansel announced it. By walking the catwalk at Fashion Week in Paris, for Valentino. Well-played. Sure, it’s probably too late for them to return to these guys. This sort of comedy is passe in “The Hangover” … Continue reading →

Of all the Cinderellas that Disney could have updated, how on Earth did they settle on this one? This Kenneth Branagh version, scripted by Chris “About a Boy” Weitz, is stately and sumptuous, but dull and never ever delightful. The … Continue reading →

Tom McCarthy transformed himself from an actor into an indie writer-director, and became a critics’ darling. Who knew what he REALLY wanted was to make Adam Sandler comedies? Call it hubris, the belief that he could alter an actor’s career … Continue reading →

Love that Octavia Spencer. And since I’ve interviewed Shailene Woodley so much her mom is getting suspicious, I pitched The Only O I Adore as someone I’d like to talk to about “Insurgent,” the sequel to “Divergent.” We last spoke … Continue reading →

The best acting job in “Unfinished Business” is turned in by Vince Vaughn. He spends the 91 minutes of this seriously laugh-starved comedy trying to pretend he doesn’t want to strangle Dave Franco. Rare is the performance that inspires such … Continue reading →

Wrongheaded in conception, eye-rolling in execution, “Chappie” is a childish blend of the cute robot goofiness of “Short Circuit,” and the bloody-minded mayhem of “Robocop.” It never finds its sweet spot and never, for one moment, works. Neill Blomkamp, the … Continue reading →

“To Write Love on Her Arms.” It’s a cause, vividly illustrated by its name, a turn of phrase so poetic that it’s no wonder a big segment of the music industry embraced it as a cause celebre a few years … Continue reading →

Dame Judi Dench takes an awkward pause, Her interviewer’s name is familiar, even if the actor he shares it with never played one of Dench’s versions of James Bond. “Well, I don’t know whether to have a nice little chat…or … Continue reading →

A pop culture icon passed away today. Leonard Nimoy was, by my estimation, the Dalai Lama of world pop culture, recognizable, revered, respected. And all because of a TV character. A character he played on a low-rated show that became … Continue reading →