Latest Film Reviews

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Signs (2002)

An anti-Independence Day, a cousin of Close Encounters, but most of all, a well-modulated, dread-laden, faith-based mystery.
The Three Stooges Collection: Volume Two (1937-1939) (1937)

Every time you see a comedic eye-gouging or an errant board swinging around and catching someone in the face, it's a passed torch that was held for decades by the Three Stooges.
The Recruit (2003)

Watchable only for its star power and scarce caffeine kicks...awfully predictable.
Cloverfield (2008)

The mysteriously titled project might just as well have been called "9/11: The Thrill Ride," so thoroughly does it trade on our emotions of that disaster.
The Children of Huang Shi (2008)

You'll forget this one ten paces from the theatre.
The Fall (2008)

Tarsem hasn't the Gilliamesque chops to make The Fall amount to anything more than a monument to preposterous thinking.
Sex and the City (2008)

King whips up enough quips and emotional moments to treat the faithful to a sort of moviegoing spa.
The Strangers (2008)

If you put yourself through the wringer only once this year, you could do worse than The Strangers.
Commando (1985)

An audacious comic-book movie on steroids...cinematic junk food, but even a dieter deserves to cheat once in a while.
Predator (1987)

A dumber version of the Alien franchise, but this initial picture works anyway, as an atmospheric exercise in pure, primal action with a science-fiction-y twist.
Bee Movie (2008)

Seinfeld's pleasingly idiosyncratic comic voice comes through in the haphazard, slaphappy storyline.
Face/Off (1997)

This is your action movie on drugs—any questions?
Anger Management (2003)

Full-blown 'Jack'—his face a spectacular special effect of full-blown energy—remains an irresistible act.
Twister (1996)

It may not be fashionable to like Twister, but darn if it isn't an entertaining electro-shock of action cinema.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

George Lucas adopted a new mantra: 'It's only a movie, it's only a movie, it's only a movie.' And he's right. It'll certainly do for a Friday night. But to...fans, the 1980s films are more than movies.
Get Smart (1995)

The time is right to reappraise the revamp: yes, it's a shadow of the original series, but it has its high points.
Before the Rains (2008)

A poor man's rehash of A Passage to India.
Le voyage du ballon rouge (The Flight of the Red Balloon) (2008)

All suggestion and no imposition, a subtle meditation on how we position ourselves in space and to what end.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

Adamson is willing to jettison Lewis' 'quaint' (I'd say loveable) whimsy and mythical acumen in favor of more martial sequences that'll sucker in the Lord of the Rings crowd.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Though Adamson lacks Lewis' storytelling confidence...The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe still comes across as a quirkily diverting children's entertainment.
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (a.k.a. The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones) (1992)

Approached with an open mind, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles offers an intriguing angle on one of the greatest characters in modern cinema.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

The eventual arrival of towering screen presence Sean Connery as Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. alongside Harrison Ford as Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. allows for what may be adventure cinema's most potent pairing.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

If it was a sign of the times for Indiana Jones to take on more of a comic-book aspect, the film's accomodation of darker themes and explicit imagery came as something of a shock to many.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

The postmodern heir to North By Northwest...like any deathless classic, Raiders is a perfect marriage of star and material.
A Raisin in the Sun (2008)

A quintessentially American play, revisited...this one has towering performances from Rashad and McDonald.
Speed Racer (2008)

The Wachowski Brothers overshoot the mark with Speed Racer, an eccentric misfire that panders to the ADHD set and—in the adult arena—idiots and acid-droppers.
Iron Man (2008)

Favreau fully respects the material, and brings to the table a highly developed sense of humor and—praise the heavens—taste.
Baby Mama (2008)

Read the fine print before signing up for Baby Mama: though it stars Tina Fey, best known for her writing chops, Fey isn't credited for the screenplay. That dubious distinction goes to director Micha...
El Orfanato (The Orphanage) (2007)

A series of serviceable creep-outs and jolts...the pretzel-shaped resolution feels like too little too late.
Dou fo sin (Flash Point) (2008)

Martial arts junkies won't want to miss Flash Point, a sequel to director Wilson Yip and star and action director Donnie Yen's S.P.L. (a.k.a. Sha Po Lang or, for us Americans, Kill Zone). With its em...
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)

Ask anyone who knows about The Fall of the Roman Empire, and their response is sure to include the word "sumptuous." From back in the day when epic meant upwards of 10,000 extras, gargantuan sets, an...
Mio fratello è figlio unico (My Brother Is an Only Child) (2008)

The Italian dramedy My Brother Is an Only Child traces a boy's journey from a crumbling family home to something like the opposite. Beginning in 1962 with an adolescent passage in the 400 Blows vein,...
First Knight (1995)

First Knight—a brave attempt at a fresh cinematic angle on Arthurian legend—has a few interesting ideas, but is ultimately brought down by a squishy script, a director (Jerry Zucker) lack...
A Passage to India (1984)

After a fourteen year absence from the silver screen, David Lean vigorously attacked the challenge of adapting E.M. Forster's novel A Passage to India. What would be Lean's final film has much to rec...
The Savages (2007)

Tamara Jenkins' dark comedy The Savages applies bracing wit to the problem of immature adults forced to grow up and take on roles of parental responsibility for rapidly infantilized parents. It's no...
Sleuth (2007)

The script includes a verbal motif that reminds us of what binds the film's four central talents together: 'I want to show you something.'
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

"The world is an evil place," or so says a compromised diamond dealer in the crime melodrama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. "Some of us make money off of that, and others get destroyed." Dark bu...
Juno (2007)

One frequent criticism of certain screenwriters is to point out that their characters all sound the same. To some, this phenomenon is a terrible sin; to others, it's simply a matter of style. Though...
Body of War (2008)

Filmmaker Ellen Spiro and legendary TV journalist Phil Donahue join forces for Body of War, a portrait of wounded veteran and antiwar activist Tomas Young. One thread of the narrative follows Young's...
Friday Night Lights—The Second Season (2007)

After a freshman season that artistically neared perfection (but dwelled in the ratings basement), Friday Night Lights returned to NBC in fall of 2007 determined to win a larger audience without sacr...

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