reviews

'Epic' Review: Moments of Delight Pep Up a Crushingly Familiar Story

May 22, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 2 days ago

This pre-school "Avatar" offers the occasional surprise, but even little kids will feel déjà vu from the stock characters and situations

  

'Fast & Furious 6' Review: Bypasses Logic and Drives Straight to the Pleasure Center

May 21, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 3 days ago

All makers of loud, stupid action movies only wish their films delivered as much sheer sensation as this latest installment in the vroom-vroom saga

  

'The Hangover Part III' Review: Thank God for Peculiar, Perverse - and Outrageously Funny - Galifianakis

May 20, 2013 By Leah Rozen 4 days ago

Returning fans will enjoy this raucous third outing, though the fun peters out noticeably in the second half as the movie’s overly complicated plot drags on

  

'Star Trek Into Darkness': What the Critics Think of the Sequel

May 17, 2013 By Tony Maglio 1 week ago

The sequel to 2009's reboot is getting high praise, though J.J. Abrams may be taking too much a page out of Michael Bay's playbook

  

'Black Rock' Review: Woman-Hunt Tale Whose Only Suspense Is Waiting for It to Get Better

May 17, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 1 week ago

You keep thinking Katie Aselton’s Iraq vets vs. gal-pals thriller will explore larger ideas until it doesn't

  

'Star Trek Into Darkness' Review: Thrilling Sequel Balances Fun with a Post-9/11 Sensibility

May 14, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 1 week ago

If you weren’t convinced that the imagery and politics of terrorism have been fully ingrained in action movies, this new “Trek” will be the tipping point

  

'Venus and Serena' Review: More Love Than Faults in This Portrait of the Tennis Legends

May 10, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 2 weeks ago

Filmmakers Maiken Baird and Michelle Major are less interested in digging deep than they are in celebrating the sisters’ achievements and cultural impact -- which is just fine

  

'Peeples' Review: Funny, But You've Already Met These Parents

May 10, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 2 weeks ago

Even though it's rote and by-the-numbers, a Fokker-free "Peeples" made me laugh

  

'Sightseers' Review: Chris & Tina's Excellent - Albeit Homicidal - Adventure

May 9, 2013 By Leah Rozen 2 weeks ago

No doubt about it, the third film by talented director Ben Wheatley takes us deep into the land of black comedy

  

'The Great Gatsby' Review: How Many Flappers Make a Flop?

May 5, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 2 weeks ago

Baz Luhrmann sucks the life out of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s immortal novel and replaces it with empty filigree and overbearing style

  

'Something in the Air' Review: You Might Fool the Children of the Revolution

May 3, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 3 weeks ago

Olivier Assayas explores the political passion of French teenagers coming of age three years after the May 1968 demonstrations

  

'Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's' Review: Glitzy Doc Gives Label Names the Floor Space

May 2, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 3 weeks ago

Director Matthew Miele focuses on fashionistas in portrait of famed New York department store

  

'Iron Man 3' Review: Supercharged Fun - Just Take Off Your Thinking Cap

April 30, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 3 weeks ago

Robert Downey Jr. makes the witty banter and explosive action zing -- just don't worry too much about the convoluted plot

  

'The Big Wedding' Review: Ho-Hum Ceremony With a Lively All-Star Guest List

April 26, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 4 weeks ago

This nuptial farce is the kind of film best enjoyed while on the couch, zonked out on cold medicine, secure in the knowledge that it won’t make you any sicker

  

'Mud' Review: Lovely Coming-of-Age Tale Zigs Where Zagging Would Suffice

April 25, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 4 weeks ago

Matthew McConaughey continues his streak of interesting anti-heroes, playing a fugitive who committed murder in the name of love

  

'Reluctant Fundamentalist' Review: Missed Opportunity to Weigh In on Anti-Muslim Discrimination

April 25, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 4 weeks ago

This story of an America-loving Pakistani radicalized by post-9/11 racism couldn’t be more zeitgeist-y, but the film is an overblown slog

  

'In the House' Review: Darkly Funny, the Best Teacher-Student Movie Since 'Election'

April 19, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 5 weeks ago

A young scribe and his mentor cross the line in pursuit of the story they want to tell

  

'Oblivion' Reviews: Does Tom Cruise Still Have It?

April 19, 2013 By Brent Lang 5 weeks ago

Critics are mixed on his futuristic adventure

  

'Oblivion' Review: Tom Cruise Meets 'Tron,' 'Wall-E,' 'The Matrix' ...

April 16, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 5 weeks ago

While a case could be made that the warmed-over “Oblivion” will make the boldest anti-drones statement of any fictional film this year, it’s a chilly movie that never draws you in 

  

'Scary Movie 5' Review: The Sound of Spaghetti Not Sticking to the Wall

April 12, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 6 weeks ago

"Thirty-three years later, we’re still quoting “Airplane!” whereas almost no one is going to remember “Scary Movie V” after, oh, Monday."

  

'42' Reviews: Does Jackie Robinson Movie Score?

April 12, 2013 By Brent Lang 6 weeks ago

Critics like new sports drama starring Harrison Ford

  

'Matilda' Gets Rave Reviews, Called Best Musical Since 'Lion King'

April 12, 2013 By Brent Lang 6 weeks ago

"Matilda" may be the musical to beat at the Tony Awards

  

'42' Review: Despite a Few Errors, Baseball Biopic Presents a Jackie Robinson Who's Both Heroic and Human

April 11, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 6 weeks ago

Writer-director Brian Helgeland acknowledges the groundbreaking ballplayer’s legend without turning him into a plastic dashboard saint

  

'Trance' Review: Danny Boyle's Hypnotic Thriller Makes Twists Fun Again

April 5, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 7 weeks ago

James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson and Vincent Cassel lead us down a brilliantly entertaining rabbit hole of shocks and surprises

  

'Jurassic Park' 3D Reviews: Years Have Been Kind to Spielberg's Blockbuster

April 5, 2013 By Brent Lang 7 weeks ago

The dinosaur picture is enhanced, not diminished by 3D

  

Roger Ebert: Movie Maven, Digital Immigrant, Unconquerable Spirit

April 5, 2013 By Sharon Waxman 7 weeks ago

Ebert's last act -- reinventing himself as a digital ninja at a time when his peers were retiring, getting fired and relegated to the past  -- was his most extraordinary

  
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