Monthly Archives: April 2011

Brian (Paul Walker) and Dom (Vin Diesel) plan to make one last big score in the action-packed “Fast Five.” Justin Lin’s “Fast Five” — his third directorial contribution to the “Fast and Furious ” franchise — is easy, breezy, bloodlessly violent comic-book fun. In fact, if you listen to the characters talking to themselves while […]

Rebel Jesse (Thomas McDonell) enjoys a shake with overachiever Nova (Aimee Teegarden) in “Prom.” From Joe Nussbaum, the director who gave us the clever cult film short “George Lucas in Love,” comes one of the least clever, culty motion pictures to come out of the Walt Disney Studios. But give it credit. It has miles […]

Jacob (Robert Pattinson) falls in love with a married circus performer (Reese Witherspoon) in “Water for Elephants,” based on the novel by Sara Gruen. “Water for Elephants” could use an elephant hook to prod it along a little quicker, and some emotional fireworks to bring some burning desires to the main characters. After all, this […]

Sita the cheetah watches over her cubs in Walt Disney’s amazing new nature documentary “African Cats.” I sat in awe of what my eyes beheld. There on the river bank stood a mighty male lion defending his pride from an aggressive crocodile attempting to interrupt their dinner. With inches between their noses, the lion and […]

Union soldiers escort Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) to trial where she faces charges of plotting to assassinate President Lincoln in Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator.” Had Oliver Stone directed the Lincoln assassination drama “The Conspirator,” historical accuracy might have suffered in the service of creating political paranoia and some loopy visuals. But “The Conspirator” was directed […]

Linda (voiced by Leslie Mann) teaches Blu the bird (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) to brush his beak in the 3-D animated comedy “Rio.” “Rio” presents a blandly generic story pumped full of life by bright and crisp animation — despite being dimmed by 3-D glasses — plus a bouncy musical score equipped with a few […]

Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) struggles to keep an edge on her relationship with a serial killer in “Scream 4.” I realize that “Scream 4” is supposed to be a self-aware post-modernistic comic horror film, because two soon-to-be skewered blondes tell us this in the film’s fatal opening segment. But must all the characters in “Scream […]

Saoirse Ronan stars as “Hanna,” a lethal teenager on a mission from dad. If you see Joe Wright’s amazing action movie “Hanna,” pay close attention to a scene where Hanna’s father, Erik (played by Eric Bana), arrives at a bus station. In one single, glorious, meticulously crafted shot, the camera follows Erik all over the […]

Arthur Bach (Russell Brand) consoles his ailing nanny (Helen Mirren) in the embarrassingly dated, lackluster romantic comedy “Arthur.” Of all the movies from the early 1980s, Steve Gordon’s rom-com “Arthur” would seem the least likely to justify a remake in 2011. Yet, here it is, a dated dud of a movie eking by on the […]

Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson, left) and his wife Renai (Rose Byrne) must save their son from evil spirits in “Insidious.” “Insidious” is so confident it will scare the Pop Tarts out of us that it begins with a cheesy opening scene suggesting it’s going to be just another stupid, PG-13-rated horror movie. While a boy […]