If anyone could have saved HOT PURSUIT, it would have been Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara. Aside from having scads of talent and audience appeal, they both have a keen understanding of their strengths as performers, yet they never quite cross the line into becoming caricatures of themselves. Here, the co-stars and co-producers have found… Read More »
Unsteady UNFINISHED BUSINESS
And so in UNFINISHED BUSINESS, THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT discovers that business as usual in the 21st century is less about facing the difficulties of conformity than it is about taking a cue from the local anarchists. In the spirit of that anarchy, the film refuses to conform to the principle of… Read More »
THE DUFF Rules
There are, to be sure, the usual tropes of high school angst and triumph to be found in THE DUFF, based on the book by Kody Keplinger, but this is a film distinguished by sprightly, intelligent writing, and outstanding performances that are not just funny, but also perceptive and nuanced. Except for the high school… Read More »
MORTDECAI is DOA
Sneaking into theaters without benefit of a press screening, MORTDECAI is a tragically unfunny attempt at lighthearted comedy. Based on the novel Don’t Point that That Thing at Me” by Kyril Bongfiglio, its efforts at whimsy fall flat, while its attempts to attain the quirky begin and end with the waxy curls of Johnny Depp’s… Read More »
Just Try to Resist PADDINGTON
There is a certain trepidation that accompanies any screening of a film released in January. This is the graveyard of films that failed to meet studio expectations, but that for some reason or another, are due a theatrical release. There is even more trepidation when the film is one aimed at children. How bad, one… Read More »
FOOT FIST WAY, THE
THE FOOT FIST WAY, an indie comedy made in just 19 days, was picked up by Will Ferrell’s production company, and it bears many of the hallmarks found in Ferrell’s recent spate of films. It involves sport, in this case Tae Kwon Do. It involves a clueless hero (played by co-writer Danny McBride, not by… Read More »
YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN
In what circle of Hell did YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN get the green light? It’s not that we go to an Adam Sandler comedy, those in which he has a producing and writing credit, that is, with hopes high. Or even raised for that matter. But this stinking pile of crass anti-humor masquerading… Read More »
FULL FRONTAL
Some films expand your horizons, some shift your paradigm, some make your spirit soar with the possibilities inherent in the human condition and some are so awful that they make you question the existence of God. That last would apply to the 109 minutes of my life wasted at Steven Soderbergh’s latest, FULL FRONTAL.The question… Read More »
PROMOTION, THE
THE PROMOTION bills itself as a comedy, and elements of it do fall into that category, but at its core, this is an incisive and often merciless deconstruction of the American Dream. What writer/director Steve Conrad is getting at here, amid the absurdity rife in the general human condition, is the dark side of that… Read More »
LOVE GURU, THE
The best moment in THE LOVE GURU is right at the beginning. It’s when Stephen Colbert first appears as a deranged sports commentator. Cling to that moment, because even when he pops up again, it won’t be the same. It will be after this revolting excrescence in which he is appearing has infected your eyes… Read More »
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- …
- 43
- Next Page »