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
The Green Hornet represents a pretty big shot in the arm to the recent crop of self-serious superhero films. While those films like reflect on the problems of the times, The Green Hornet is really only interested in having fun, satirizing the genre, and packing in plenty of over-the-top action.… Continue reading
Rabbit Hole is about as gentle and low-key as a film about the loss of a young son can be. Most can only imagine what such a tragedy would be like for a set of parents. Rather than dwell on the negative, Rabbit Hole takes us through a couple’s steps… Continue reading
RED, standing for Retired Extremely Dangerous, is one of the most preposterous films of the year, filled with a “how did they get these people to do this?” cast. It’s also one of the more entertaining; a celebration of crazy action and sly dialogue that has enough crossover appeal to… Continue reading
Frozen is yet another entry into the man vs. nature survival picture genre, joining the ranks of Open Water and its ilk. Films like this live and die by the empathy level of the audience, not to mention their ability to place themselves in the exact situation. Frozen, which tells… Continue reading
The Switch, originally titled The Baster (how’s that for a mental image?), is a surprisingly effective and genuine romantic comedy. You’d never guess it from the premise, which with just a few rewrites could have been turned into one of the raunchiest comedies ever made. A shaky first act settles… Continue reading
In a sea of sameness, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World emerges as a fine work of originality and energy. It merges everything that twenty-to-early-thirty-something men have ever loved in life: video games, crazy action, humor, and the pursuit of women. While the core story is hardly anything special, director Edgar… Continue reading