Monthly Archives: June 2011

Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) answers the call to defend the Earth from evil in the comic book-based superhero adventure “Green Lantern.” I wasn’t much of a Green Lantern fan back in the ’60s when I read a lot of comic books, both from the DC and Marvel brands. How powerful can a superhero be if […]

Tom Popper (Jim Carrey) leads six birds in a dance number during the unappealingly preposterous “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.” The alleged family comedy “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” lacks wit, cleverness, convincing characters, a serviceable plot, worthy messages about parenting and real fun. It’s the kind of bleak, soul-deprived comedy that even Dean Jones would refuse to do, […]

Martha Plimpton, Stephen Colbert and Neil Patrick Harris sing away in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 musical “Company,” in movie theaters on four nights only. What makes for good live theater doesn’t always make for a good movie, and the proof lies in the New York Philharmonic’s all-star revival of “Company,” Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 […]

When you think about it, a lot of places can tell filmmakers how to make movies: Columbia College. UCLA. USC. NYU. But how many of them can tell filmmakers ways to avoid bad reviews of their movies? I can. I offer 100 ways to warn filmmakers – beginners and veterans – on how they can […]

Martin (Gabriel Basso), left, Cary (Ryan Lee), Joe (Joel Courtney) and Charles (Riley Griffiths) witness a terrible train derailment in “Super 8.” The kids in J.J. Abrams’ science-fiction thriller “Super 8” are so personable, so funny, so transparent and so real that it feels like a distraction when a hokey, angry extraterrestrial drops in on […]

Erik (Michael Fassbender), left, and Charles (James McAvoy) prepare to prevent World War III by using telekinetic powers in “X-Men: First Class.” Matthew Vaughn’s marvelously inventive “X-Men: First Class” wraps a classic comic book superhero origin tale around the Cuban missile crisis, then creates a coming-of-age teen angst drama that poses pertinent philosophical questions: What […]

A group of investigators follows a path where an entire New Hampshire village disappeared in 1940 in the psychological horror film “Yellowbrickroad.” We’re only two films into AMC Theaters’ exclusive summer horror movie series “Bloody Disgusting Selects,” and I must admit, I’m impressed. Between last month’s Armageddon plague drama “Rammbock” and this month’s psychological brain […]

Gil (Owen Wilson) and his fiancee (Rachel McAdams) have their destinies reshaped by a fantastic journey into the past in Woody Allen’s whimsical comedy “Midnight in Paris.” Woody Allen’s whimsical fantasy “Midnight in Paris” becomes a stylish lamentation on how human nature deprives us of fully living our lives in the best period of history […]