Monthly Archives: March 2010

“I am Not an Animal!” Join Dann Gire (film critic of Chicago’s suburban newspaper THE DAILY HERALD, as well as the founder and president of the Chicago Film Critics Association, and adjunct instructor at Aurora and Harper Colleges in Illinois) and Raymond Benson (novelist, author of 20 books, former official author of James Bond books, […]

Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), left, joins Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) in “The Runaways,” based on the all-girl rock group. “The Runaways” tells that oh-so-familiar tale of a promising, cutting-edge rock band created in a messy birth of ego and opportunism before hitting the heights of fame and fortune, only to slowly implode from drugs and […]

Jude Law plays one of the “Repo Men” who reclaim human organs when their buyers fail to keep up with payments. “Repo Men” is a horrifically violent and gory science-fiction action thriller surfing on an allegorical wave of American political Zeitgeist. It wants to grab us by our collective lapels as if to shout, “Please! […]

Rowley (Robert Capron), left, and Greg (Zachary Gordon) chuckle with Angie (Chloe Moretz) in “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” From the very beginning, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” kept reminding me of some other motion picture. I couldn’t pin it down right away. Then, it came to me: “A Christmas Story.” Both are narrated by […]

A U.S. soldier (Matt Damon) goes rogue to find weapons of mass destruction in Paul Greengrass’ action film “Green Zone.” Matt Damon’s muscular and fast-moving action film “The Green Zone” may be marketed as an Iraq war thriller, but it’s really a classic example of revisionistic wish fulfillment. Just as Sylvester Stallone’s John Rambo and […]

Lucia (America Ferrera) can’t wait to marry Marcus (Lance Gross) in the romantic comedy “Our Family Wedding.” Lucia Ramirez has a confession for her conservative, Mexican-American father, Miguel. She dropped out of law school and intends to marry a black medical student, then go with him to Laos where he’ll work for Doctors Without Borders. […]

Nerdy Kirk (Jay Baruchel) can’t believe he’s dating the hot Molly (Alice Eve) in “She’s Out of My League.” Here’s a breezy summer sex comedy that somehow jumped the gates and wound up as a spring break release. Jim Field Smith’s “She’s Out of My League” is like a vintage Judd Apatow project, only not […]

Two tormented souls, Tyler and Ally (Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin), enjoy moments of fun in “Remember Me.” “Remember Me” makes an easy target for criticism. It’s slow and slightly pretentious with “Twilight” star Robert Pattinson channeling James Dean, or at least James Franco channeling James Dean. The ending might be too easy to […]

From left, screen writer Mark Boal, director Kathryn Bigelow and producer Greg Shapiro pose backstage with their Oscars for screen writing, directing and best movie for “The Hurt Locker.” In an evening where all the winners pretty much lined up as expected, Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq war drama “The Hurt Locker” won the Best Picture statuette […]

Undercover cop Tango (Don Cheadle), right, helps an ex-con boss (Wesley Snipes) return to society in “Brooklyn’s Finest.” “These streets,” an undercover cop named Tango tells an ex-con kingpin, “have an expiration date!” What? Did he really say that? The streets have an expiration date? This might be a cute way for a screenwriter to […]