Film

Does Pixar even have to try anymore? That’s both a compliment and a critique. This week with “The Good Dinosaur,” it provides yet another in its long line of films that are solid and charming tearjerkers aimed primarily at kids but also are appealing to adults. It’s everything you expect it to be, and while that is great for people ... Read More »

Only the coldest, most bitter of cynics could dislike “Peanuts.” Who among us has not crumbled bashfully before the majesty of the “little red-haired girl” in our lives? Who has not had a metaphorical blanket we clutched like Linus? Perhaps most of all, who among us has not felt like the ball we were about to kick has been pulled ... Read More »

The safest thing to do is to always just stick with the original. As far as James Bond is concerned, it’s easiest to say that Sean Connery has played the role better than anyone, so let’s just do that. Despite the lack of nuance or humor from Connery that you can find from later actors, you can never go wrong ... Read More »

Zombie movies are a lot like zombies themselves. They refuse to die. Even if you love the genre, it is hard to argue that popular culture itself has not been oversaturated with all of the shambling, brain-munching repetition. The creatures have become a sort of unofficial mascot for the young, modern nerd crowd that scoffs at sincere filmmaking and prefers ... Read More »

Less can definitely be more, especially in Hollywood. It is not a coincidence that so many verbally-challenged men have become action heroes. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Steven Seagal and Keanu Reeves have all had tremendous action movie success while delivering their dialogue with the emotional complexity of a ham sandwich. This is what works, though. Simplicity is conducive to action ... Read More »

Actress Mia Wasikowska must be an English major at heart. Over the years, she has starred in adaptations of “Jane Eyre,” “Madame Bovary,” “Alice in Wonderland” and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “The Double.” Now, with “Crimson Peak,” she stars in a perfect love letter to Gothic literature. The Gothic genre is widely accepted as the birthplace of modern horror. As one of ... Read More »

In the wake of iconic horror director Wes Craven’s death, it is appropriate and bittersweet that we are seeing a resurgence of the slasher movie satire he made famous with his “Scream” series. That film series has been adapted to television recently, and Fox debuted a similar show entitled “Scream Queens” only a few weeks ago. The public response to ... Read More »

The term “deus ex machina” was used during the days of ancient Greek tragedies for when actors playing gods were brought to the stage on devices, like cranes, to save all of the characters and assure a happy ending. The term translates into English as “god from the machine.” These days, it is used as more of an insult to ... Read More »

“The Green Inferno” is one of the worst things I have ever seen. It’s disgusting, implausible, hateful and offensive in every possible way. You could even argue the movie is bad for society as a whole. That being said, I loved every minute of it. I thought long and hard trying to figure out if I had any major problems ... Read More »