Movies

Review: Love Happens

Melodrama also happens
Half an hour into the screening of this tearjerker from Brandon Camp, three women exited. They made the right choice.

By BRETT MICHEL | September 23, 2009

Diablo Cody's exquisite corpse
You are no doubt approaching Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody's new venture into horror comedy with gritted teeth, expecting the cinematic equivalent of being bludgeoned into a bloody pulp by an adorable novelty hamburger phone spewing snappy quips out of its receiver.

By SHAULA CLARK | September 16, 2009

Review: Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All by Myself

Tyler Perry's latest is not so bad at all, really
Tyler Perry's latest crackles with electricity, thanks to heaps of boffo acting talent, high-octane musical interludes, and the most easy-to-root-for electrocution scene since Ernest Goes to Jail.

By SHAULA CLARK | September 16, 2009

Review: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Animated fare will leave kids unsatisfied
This bizarre animated adaptation of Judi Barrett's cult-classic children's book by Phil Lord and Chris Miller ladles up much to chew on yet little that's appetizing.

By ALICIA POTTER | September 16, 2009

Review: Sorority Row

Inadvertent murder leads to inadvertent camp
You can't fault young actresses (here including Rumer Willis, the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, and Briana Evigan, who's nearly Moore's double) for jumping into a mindless movie like this one from Stewart Hendler.

By TOM MEEK | September 16, 2009

Review: Whiteout

CSI: Antarctica?
The title of this thriller from Dominic Sena ( Swordfish ) is supposed to describe a brutal Antarctic storm, but what's more likely to come to mind is the goop the film's phalanx of writers used to blot out boos-boos while revising the script.

By TOM MEEK | September 16, 2009

The plots thicken

9/11 Truthers, Tea Parties, Birthers — conspiracy is in the air. No wonder Hollywood is embracing paranoia.
Eight years after the destruction of the World Trade Center — the result of one of the most devastatingly successful conspiracies in history — Americans still take comfort in paranoia.

By PETER KEOUGH | September 11, 2009

Review: Gamer

It's a bit tough to swallow
This film from Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor features two fictional games: Society and Slayers , and both involve the mind control of volunteers by gamers who pay to play.

By MADDY MYERS | September 09, 2009

Review: All About Steve

They should have called it "There's Something Insane About Mary"
How is it that the absolute worst "chick flicks" of the summer were written by women?

By BRETT MICHEL | September 09, 2009

Review: Extract

Mike Judge goes back to work
I'm hard-pressed to say, though, whether Extract is a significant leap forward for Judge in terms of story or just not as funny as his earlier work.

By MARK BAZER | September 02, 2009

Love letter

Gerald Peary's ode to the film critic
Rock critics rarely cut gold records. Likewise, few football reporters go on to quarterback Super Bowl winners.

By CHRIS FARAONE | September 03, 2009

Review: The Final Destination

Can-we-cheat-death exercise takes a fourth go-round
David R. Ellis, who helmed Final Destination 2 , pretty much reworks the exact same shebang here.

By TOM MEEK | September 02, 2009

Review: Halloween II

Rob Zombie's newest bloody mess
Rob Zombie's remake of a sequel to a film he remade begins where his previous film left off.

By BRETT MICHEL | September 02, 2009

Review: My One and Only

A side of George Hamilton seldom seen these days
If you've thought of George Hamilton only as a B-celeb with a Day-Glo perma-tan, think again.

By TOM MEEK | September 02, 2009

First look at James Cameron's Avatar

Titanic Gamble
James Cameron captained the biggest box-office smash of all time, his Titanic having grossed nearly $2 billion worldwide. But that was 12 years ago, long before the recession appeared on anyone's radar.

By BRETT MICHEL | August 26, 2009

Review: Inglourious Basterds

Payback for Hitler in Inglourious Basterds
From the beginning, Tarantino's obsessive self-referentiality and movie allusions never let you forget that you're watching a film.

By PETER KEOUGH | August 24, 2009

Interview: Quentin Tarantino

The director talks Basterds
Quentin Tarantino began writing the screenplay for Inglourious Basterds more than 10 years ago. When I got him on the phone, he talked about the film's long gestation and how he chose his actors.

By KAM WILLIAMS | August 18, 2009

Review: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

Idiotic, but not a total lemon
Cash for clunkers? Not completely.

By SHAULA CLARK | August 19, 2009

Review: Post Grad

Kooky!
Vicky Jenson's grainy Little Miss Sunshine spawn starts promisingly, with Carol Burnett as a caftan-clad coffin dodger inhaling oxygen and a bag of Cheetos.

By ALICIA POTTER | August 19, 2009

Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

One obnoxious romance
Long a staple of sci-fi, time travel makes its chick-flick debut in Robert Schwentke's adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's novel.

By SHAULA CLARK | August 19, 2009