J. Edgar is a by-the-numbers biopic that’s just never quite as engaging as it should be. Interesting things happen onscreen, but there is an inexplicably empty, sterile feel to the whole affair. This seems surprising considering that J. Edgar Hoover is one of the more polarizing characters in all of… Continue reading
Nary could a soul in 2004 have predicted that it would be 2011 and we would have another Harold & Kumar movie. This has to be one of the most unlikely franchises of all time, but here we are seven years after the original and these guys have delivered once… Continue reading
The return of the viral outbreak film has been a long time coming (there hasn’t been one without zombies since 1995’s cheeky Outbreak), and Contagion is a damned good one. Feeling chillingly realistic throughout, director Steven Soderbergh and an all-star cast deliver a tense, first-rate thriller that will have you… Continue reading
Horrible Bosses is a consistently funny tale of three disgruntled workers trying to off their bosses. It’s a Three Stooges routine, more or less, and plenty crude. While the idea seems to qualify as a black comedy, the execution just feels too darn nice. It’s virtually impossible not be reminded… Continue reading
Larry Crowne is as lightweight, innocent, and conflict-free of a romantic comedy as you’ll ever find. It’s charming, but very leisurely paced and underwritten given the gravity of the situation that the main character finds himself in. Fortunately, veteran actors Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts elevate the material with likeable,… Continue reading
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third in the Earth-destroying series, delivers the goods, plain and simple. Correcting many of the mistakes from its immediate predecessor, Transformers 3 is an epic, exciting popcorn film whose last hour is so relentless and visually breathtaking that all-out sensory overload is a foregone… Continue reading
Bad Teacher is a solid summer diversion; no more, no less. It will inevitably be compared to 2003’s Bad Santa, a superior and significantly edgier film that really went for awkwardness and black comedy. Bad Teacher has attitude, but it never feels like it wants to be truly “wrong.” This… Continue reading
Look no further than the Toy Story short and the extended The Lion King re-release trailer that precede Cars 2 for reasons why this latest Pixar film just doesn’t cut it. The former two films have true character development, well-written, well-told stories, and spectacular animation. Cars 2 only has the… Continue reading
Green Lantern is a loud, obnoxious, joyless video game that pretty much makes you want to write off superhero origin movies all together. The genre has become such a cash cow that studios now just assume that throwing a character onto the heap automatically guarantees a franchise. Warner Brothers may… Continue reading
The Hangover Part II is more of a remake than a sequel, and the more you think about it the sadder that thought gets. The glass half-full people will say, “well, even a lackluster sequel to The Hangover will be better than just about any other comedy this year.” They’re… Continue reading