Ever since the film medium began, it borrowed from other established artforms for inspiration. It used the opera and its operetta cousins as cinematic sources. It Read More

Allow me to clear up any confusion right up front: Hot Pursuit is not directed by Paul Feig, and it does not star Melissa McCarthy. It’s Read More

A grieving father expresses a wish to the family concerning his terminally ill teenager – “Let’s enjoy the time we have with her.” But this is not Read More

The D Train, the creepy new dramedy with Jack Black, is a journey to the end of the line, the ultimate Seth Rogen-James Franco bromance film Read More

Modern indie film has an abundance of hangdog slackers. But none are as effective as Jason Schwartzman, he of the long face, sad eyebrows, and terribly good Read More

With the second assembling of the Avengers now in theaters, they’re banking on the same billion dollars plus the first film delivered some three years ago. Since Read More

Avengers: Age of Ultron works because we like familiar heroes enacting grand spectacle on an epic canvas. There are flaws aplenty in this, Joss Whedon’s sequel Read More

Welcome To Me is an exercise in vicarious discomfort and an exploration of the social responsibilities surrounding mental illness. It’s also a perfect vehicle for Kristin Read More

A good story needs no embellishment. Great actors don’t need gimmicks to get their point across. A quality director typically makes an equally excellent film and Read More

If you want to see history white(man)washed and scrubbed clean of any scandal, The Water Diviner is the film for you. It offers Russell Crowe (in Read More

There is a very intriguing concept at the core of The Age of Adaline, an idea muddied up by meaningless asides and undeniable coincidence. Had the Read More

The Forger is short on imagination and transparent in its contrivance. Richard D’Ovidio’s script is so overloaded with clichés of the crime thriller and the weepy Read More

Little Boy is old fashioned Hollywood hokum glazed with a fine sheen of post-modern manipulation. It never earns a single one of its telegraphed five-hanky emotions Read More

It’s sometimes referred to as the Land of Dreams. It can also be a hell hole of untold personal and professional nightmares. Still, hundreds of hungry Read More

The funny fat man. The jolly plus-size jester. It’s a trope as old has Hollywood. From silent star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle to John Candy in the Read More

Unfriended is a gimmick-based horror movie. Like The Blair Witch Project, which turned the first person POV found footage approach into a now well-worn waste of Read More

2010’s Monsters was innovative in its stripped-down sci-fi approach. Gareth Edwards’ directorial debut used rarely seen, though beautifully rendered, hulking aliens as foreboding atmospherics that enhanced Read More

The Dead Lands, an import from New Zealand, is a breath of fresh air. It’s got enough hardcore action to please the most dedicated of fight Read More