Movie Reviews


Bad romance: 'Something' isn't quite right Published on May 11th, 2011 0 comments One of the curious problems with Something Borrowed is that Kate Hudson's performance is too effective. She plays Darcy, the lifelong best friend of the heroine, Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin). Blond,...
The Rock rolls: 'Fast Five' a fun ride Published on May 5th, 2011 0 comments I don't think you can do this. I don't think you can take two midsize sedans, chain them to a bank vault, and haul it behind you on a high-speed chase through the streets of Rio de Janeiro while...
Circus drama: 'Water for Elephants' an old fashioned love story Published on Apr 28th, 2011 0 comments There's something endearingly old-fashioned about a love story involving a beautiful bareback rider and a kid who runs off to join the circus. What makes Water for Elephants more intriguing is a...
Humorous horror: Scre4m's smart; its stars are not Published on Apr 20th, 2011 0 comments The great pleasure in the Scream movies is that the characters have seen other horror films. At times they talk as if they're in the chat room of a horror site. Wes Craven's Scre4m, the...
Indomitable: Soul Surfer inspirational, but realistic? Published on Apr 14th, 2011 0 comments Soul Surfer is based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a champion surfer who in her early teens was attacked by a shark and lost almost all her left arm. One month later, she was back on a...
Weird science: Source Code a mind-bending ride Published on Apr 7th, 2011 0 comments Source Code is an ingenious thriller that comes billed as science fiction, although its science is preposterous. Does that matter, as long as everyone treats it with the greatest urgency? After all,...
Gothic romance: New 'Jane Eyre' gloomily compelling Published on Mar 30th, 2011 0 comments Gothic romance attracts us with a deep, tidal force. Part of its appeal is the sense of ungovernable eroticism squirming to escape from just beneath the surface. Its chaste heroines and dark,...
Brain strain: 'Limitless' falls short of brilliance Published on Mar 24th, 2011 0 comments I know how Eddie Morra feels. Like him, I know almost everything, but have forgotten most of it. We are told time and again that we utilize only a small portion of our brains, and have enough left...
To grandmother's house? You might want to stay home Published on Mar 16th, 2011 0 comments Of the classics of world literature crying out to be adapted as a sexual fantasy for teenage girls, surely Red Riding Hood is far down on the list. Here's a movie that cross-pollinates the Twilight...
2D miracle: 'Rango' is animation at its best Published on Mar 10th, 2011 0 comments Rango is some kind of a miracle: an animated comedy for smart moviegoers, wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly satirical and (gasp!) filmed in glorious 2D. Its brilliant colors and startling...
Derivative: 'Number Four' flawed in countless ways Published on Mar 3rd, 2011 2 comments I Am Number Four is shameless and unnecessary. That's sad, when a movie casts aside all shame, demonstrates itself willing to rip off anything that might attract audiences, and nevertheless fails....
Un-conventional: "Cedar Rapids" sinfully sweet Published on Feb 23rd, 2011 1 comments You are making the mistake of thinking of Cedar Rapids as a small town. In Cedar Rapids, a sweet comedy with a dirty mind, it is the metropolis, a sinkhole of sex, sin and high living at an annual...
Don't go with it: Sandler-Aniston vehicle runs out of gas Published on Feb 16th, 2011 0 comments The people in this movie are dumber than a box of Tinkertoys. One fears they're so unfortunate it's not politically correct to laugh at them. That's not a problem because Just Go With It is so rarely...
Watered down: Sanctum could cave Cameron's reputation Published on Feb 9th, 2011 1 comments Sanctum tells the story of a terrifying adventure in an incompetent way. Some of it is exciting, the ending is involving, and all of it is a poster child for the horrors of 3D used wrongly. The film...
MOVIE REVIEW-Ineffable loss: Blue Valentine explores the death of love Published on Jan 27th, 2011 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Who was it who said we get married because we want a witness to our lives? That may provide an insight into the troubled minds of the married couple in "Blue Valentine," which...
MOVIE REVIEW-No sting: <i>Hornet </i>leaves Ebert green around the gills Published on Jan 20th, 2011 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO The Green Hornet is an almost unendurable demonstration of a movie with nothing to be about. Although it follows the rough storyline of previous versions of the title, it neglects...
MOVIE REVIEW-Cage glory: <i>Season of the Witch</i> over the top Published on Jan 13th, 2011 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO I lost track of the sieges and battles. Season of the Witch opens with a series of helpfully labeled sequences in which desert battles are fought, sites are sacked, buttresses...
MOVIE REVIEW- Morally bankrupt:<i> Inside Job </i>a chilling look at Wall Street Published on Dec 3rd, 2010 2 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO I don't fully understand the workings of the derivatives and credit swaps we've heard so much about. But I'm learning. These are ingenious computer-driven schemes in which good money...
MOVIE REVIEW- Armless and dangerous: <i>127 Hours </i>harrowing, compulsively watchable Published on Nov 25th, 2010 2 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Sometimes a person will make an enormous mistake and get a lot of time to think about it. There was a man who went over Niagara Falls sealed inside a big rubber ball. It never made...
MOVIE REVIEW- Villainous fun: <i>Megamind</i> is clever family fare Published on Nov 18th, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Megamind was the third 3D movie I'd seen in a row, and as I struggled to free my glasses from their industrial-strength plastic envelope, I wasn't precisely looking forward to it....
MOVIE REVIEW- Work perk: <i>Morning Glory </i>is light comedy done right Published on Nov 11th, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Morning Glory is a funny entertainment to begin with, and then Rachel McAdams transforms it. And Harrison Ford transforms himself. She plays as lovable a lead as anyone since Amy...
MOVIE REVIEW- Damaged damsel: <i>Hornet's Nest </i>a stirring wrap to trilogy Published on Nov 4th, 2010 1 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Lisbeth Salander makes a transfixing heroine precisely because she has nothing but scorn for such a role. Embodied here for the third time by Noomi Rapace, she's battered, angry and...
MOVIE REVIEW- Beyond belief: <i>Hereafter</i> an open-minded exploration of death Published on Oct 28th, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Clint Eastwood's Hereafter considers the idea of an afterlife with tenderness, beauty and a gentle tact. I was surprised to find it enthralling. I don't believe in woo-woo, but then...
MOVIE REVIEW- Brave and honest: <i>Secretariat</i>'s a winner Published on Oct 14th, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO When Secretariat died at 19, my friend Bill Nack told me, the autopsy revealed that his heart was 2 1/2 times the size of an average horse. Bill had followed the horse for its entire...
MOVIE REVIEW- <i>Social</i> genius: Facebook flick programmed for success Published on Oct 7th, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO The Social Network is about a young man who possessed an uncanny ability to look into a system of unlimited possibilities and sense a winning move. His name is Mark Zuckerberg, he...
MOVIE REVIEW- Greed lives: <i>Wall Street</i> sequel slick, not angry Published on Sep 30th, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Oliver Stone's 1987 film Wall Street was a wake-up call about the financial train wreck the Street was headed for. Had we only listened. Or perhaps we listened too well, and Gordon...
MOVIE REVIEW- Affleck's effort<i>: The Town</i> shoots, but does it score? Published on Sep 23rd, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO There's a scene in Ben Affleck's The Town that expertly exploits the conversations we have with movie characters. In critical moments we urgently send mental instructions to the...
MOVIE REVIEW- Phoenix's ashes: <i>I'm Still Here</i> a tragedy... or a hoax? Published on Sep 16th, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO A mind is a terrible thing to waste. The tragedy of Joaquin Phoenix's self-destruction has been made into I'm Still Here, a sad and painful documentary that serves little useful...
MOVIE REVIEW- Zen masterpiece: Clooney's <i>American</i> has samurai soul<i> </i> Published on Sep 9th, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO The American allows George Clooney to play a man as starkly defined as a samurai. His fatal flaw, as it must be for any samurai, is love. Other than that, the American is perfect:...
MOVIE REVIEW- Sissy's latest: <i>Get Low </i>reunites Spacek, Duvall Published on Sep 2nd, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO We're asked to take Felix Bush on faith, and since he's played in Get Low by Robert Duvall, we must. Duvall is authentic right down to the bone, and lends his credibility to almost...