Tim Burton’s attempts to homage, revamp, and satirize his latest remake Dark Shadows are ambitious, but fruitless.  As he tries to entertain, wow, scare, and captivate the audience, he takes what could have been a tongue-in-cheek revival of the cult classic and instead makes a film that lacks cohesiveness with no clear tone or...
Read more »

In honor of Mother’s Day, here’s my review of the aptly titled horror flick Mother’s Day. Looking for the perfect film to watch with mom this weekend?  I assure you, this is not it. Well, unless your mom is like me, and seeks out any depraved movie she can get her hands on. In...
Read more »

What to Expect When You’re Expecting has been the go-to pregnancy “bible” for almost thirty years. You would be hard pressed to find a nursery without the book on the shelves. Now Lionsgate films has adapted the book into an ensemble movie. This time, the men share the spotlight with their expectant wives as...
Read more »

I feel bad being so late to this movie—granted this is the opening day, but it seems that for the past two weeks, everyone in the world has seen it already. And so, for the past two weeks, everyone’s been raving about it and saying that it’s the greatest superhero movie ever made; it’s...
Read more »

Watching Damsels in Distress, director Whit Stillman’s much anticipated first feature in thirteen years, was for me something akin to seeing an old college flame again after a similar interval. The old charms, about which one had been so wild—in Stillman’s case, the characters’ earnest dialogue, which flows in uncharacteristically complete, literary and erudite...
Read more »

Last year we were bombarded by a slew of raunchy rated-R comedies (Hangover 2, Horrible Bosses, Bad Teacher, Bridesmaids, The Change-Up, etc.) that tried to one-up one another with gross-out gags and sexual escapades. After a while, they all started to blend together. Different movie, same old shtick.  I expected more of the same...
Read more »

There is no denying that Chimpanzee is a joy to watch. Clocking in at just over an hour, it is engaging, stunningly beautiful, and even made me temporarily want one (well, a baby that doesn’t have superhuman strength yet, at least). It is only about what the title implies and contains a surprising absence of...
Read more »

We’re down to eight now, and I was kind of surprised at this week’s elimination—I won’t spoil it yet. Another surprise is this apparent Clay-Arsenio alliance mentioned in the “previously on” segment that opens the show. Did that exist last week? I thought it was all about Lisa actually being cordial to Dayana. Nevertheless,...
Read more »

Indonesian thriller The Raid: Redemption is that rare action film that is a treat to watch. Brutal, visceral, thrilling and gory, Raid is a juggernaut of taut action masterfully delivered to the screen. It’s an exhilarating watch that leaves you breathless from the onslaught of non-stop fighting, and it is awesome. Most films boast...
Read more »

This year over 13 million kids will be subjected to bullying in one form or another. The problem has increased in magnitude with the advent of social media, allowing kids to attack one another from behind a keyboard or phone. Lee Hirsch tackles the hot button issue in his new documentary, Bully. It follows...
Read more »

I’m probably going to see better comedies this year, but I don’t think I’m going to laugh at any one as much as I did at The Three Stooges. When I told that to my editors, Shannon and Matt, they both wrote back in disbelief. I know the trailer got a massive amount of...
Read more »

I’m a Bob Marley fan, but I wasn’t ready for a two-and-a-half-hour documentary on the guy. I liked director Kevin MacDonald’s other stuff, particularly The Last King of Scotland and Life in a Day, but, again, two-and-a-half hours. And while the time doesn’t fly by, it does hold your interest. There’s the standard talking...
Read more »

I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t hoping for another explosive blowup between Arsenio and Aubrey this week – he basically said everything I was feeling toward Aubrey last week, pointing out her overuse of “I,” “me,” and “my,” taking credit for damn near everything, and, yes, shoving the box aside. But...
Read more »

American Reunion is the fourth installment in the American Pie franchise, and since it takes place a decade after the first one, you kind of expect the team to step up to the plate, and bring something new to the genre. Nah, that would be too hard.  Why be original when you can recycle...
Read more »

When Natural Selection made the festival rounds last year, the film quickly became a darling of sorts, picking up various awards and accolades from discerning audiences and critics alike. Considering the fact that the film was made on a shoestring budget by a first-time director (Robbie Pickering), that’s no small feat. Now that the...
Read more »

Director Lasse Hallstrom (best known for My Life as a Dog and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) is a man unafraid of heartwarming, and his latest, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, is shameless. The big fish tale of a romantic, mystical Yemeni sheikh (the gorgeous Egyptian actor Amr Waked, last seen as Saddam Hussein’s son-in-law...
Read more »

Fans of “The Hunger Games” book will find themselves thrilled by director Gary Ross’s very faithful film adaptation. Ross has managed to depict Suzanne Collins’ vision with eerie precision, nailing the look of the glum and socially repressed districts as well as the opulence and excess of the Capitol. It’s clear he took the...
Read more »

Jeff is a jobless 30-year-old slacker man-child who does indeed live in the basement of his mother’s house. He is an expert at marijuana smoke rings, daytime television and pickup basketball but whines and protests when asked to perform a simple household errand for his mother (a wonderful Susan Sarandon). Lost and paralyzed, he...
Read more »