Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

  It gets better, the saying and the TV public service announcement campaign told us. Years ago. And it has. The occasional giant step backward notwithstanding, we’re a long way from “The Hangover” (2009) and its “Paging Dr. Faggot” jokes. … Continue reading →

Is there a more frightening creature in the movies than a bored, amoral teenage girl? Give the pale princess endless cash and endless free time and problems that seem to visit only the super-rich (in the movies) and you just … Continue reading →

Death comes to the trailer park in “The Strangers: Prey at Night,” a pitiless sequel to the slasher hit “The Strangers” of a decade ago. Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”) and Martin Henderson (“Grey’s Anatomy”) are the parents who take their … Continue reading →

Aliens invade — well, three of them do — Japan, and they’re here for our mental “concepts” in “Before We Vanish,” a peculiarly Japanese take on Pod People, what makes us human and the complacency that comes with that knowledge. … Continue reading →

  Alicia Vikander makes us feel Lara Croft’s pain, with every grunt, whimper, yelp and gasp of exertion she makes as the “Tomb Raider.” Yes, the Oscar winner is a Swedish slip of a thing, and having her stand next … Continue reading →

The rules for this bachelor party are simple. “Number one, ‘Get drunk.’ Rule number two, ‘Stay drunk…’” Mustaches are optional. The whooping and chest thumping, bailing out of AA “because I need a break…I’m gonna go to that meeting Monday … Continue reading →

“A baby doesn’t know how rich its parents are,” Dustin Hoffman famously said in defense of the most expensive flop of his career, the comedy “Ishtar.” That aphorism could cover pretty much any movie you sit down to watch. We … Continue reading →

Mumblecore comedy meets the fateful, fatal romance of gambling in “Win it All,” an engaging wallow in the land of the losers starring Jake Johnson. It’s a low-rent travelogue reminiscent of every hot-streak-goes-bust picture ever made, the ones that emphasize … Continue reading →

Of all the things one can imagine actor Jared Leto as — hearthrob, “Mr. Nobody,” emaciated transgender junkie with AIDS — “made man” in the Japanese mob would have to be low on the list. But as delicate as he … Continue reading →

Miles Walton is a teen with a dream, one his principal indulges with a killer compliment. He makes little movies, works part time at the local three-screen cinema, and could be “the next Spielberg.” If only he can get into … Continue reading →