reviews

'Temptation' Review: Tyler Perry, Even Sudsier and More Sanctimonious

March 29, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 7 weeks ago

Who better to shill for the institution of marriage than 43-year-old bachelor Perry, who uses homophobia as a punch line and HIV as a cheap plot gimmick?

  

'The Host' Review: Invasion of the Boring Snoozers

March 28, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 7 weeks ago

Replace vampires and werewolves with body-snatching aliens, and you’re left with another dippy Stephenie Meyer love triangle

  

'Place Beyond the Pines' Review: Ryan Gosling + Bradley Cooper = Overwrought Daddy Issues

March 28, 2013 By Leah Rozen 7 weeks ago

Good performances can't stop Derek Cianfrance's "Blue Valentine" follow-up from crashing under the weight of its own symbolism

  

'Room 237' Review: The Secrets of the Universe, as Hidden in 'The Shining'

March 27, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 7 weeks ago

Documentary goes down a rabbit hole of conspiracies and secret meanings in Stanley Kubrick’s classic adaptation of the Stephen King horror novel

  

'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' Review: Saturday Morning Cartoon Writ Large

March 27, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 7 weeks ago

The PG-13 action sequences pile on relentlessly, lest the audience get a chance to breathe…or think

  

'The Croods' Reviews: Critics Mixed on Prehistoric 'Toon

March 22, 2013 By Brent Lang 8 weeks ago

Most reviewers were kind to "The Croods," though Nicolas Cage's work was not adored

  

'From Up on Poppy Hill' Review: Teenagers, and a Nation, Come of Age in Another Miyazaki Triumph

March 21, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 8 weeks ago

No cat-buses or walking castles this time out, but the very human storytelling packs a punch

  

'Olympus Has Fallen' Review: Where Are You, Bruce Willis, Now That POTUS Needs You?

March 21, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 8 weeks ago

 “Die Hard” comes to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. with this thrilling but dopey action flick that keeps things moving even while it defies logic

  

'Breakfast at Tiffany's' Reviews: Well, at Least the Critics Liked the Cat

March 21, 2013 By Brent Lang 8 weeks ago

Critics weren't so crazy about "Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clark as Holly Golightly or the latest Broadway adaptation of the Truman Capote novel

  

'The Croods' Review: Dazzling Fun Proves Even a Caveman Dad Can Evolve

March 20, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 8 weeks ago

Nicolas Cage leads a family of Neanderthals into a whole new world in this amusing and visually stunning animated film for all ages

  

'Admission' Review: Toss This Tina Fey Rom-Com on the Reject Pile

March 20, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 8 weeks ago

Despite the presence of Tina Fey and Paul Rudd neither the rom nor the com work here

  

'Incredible Burt Wonderstone' Reviews: Jim Carrey More Magical Than Steve Carell

March 15, 2013 By Brent Lang 9 weeks ago

Critics love Jim Carrey, but complain that "Burt Wonderstone" falls flat

  

'Spring Breakers' Review: 'Where the Boys Are' - But With More on Its Party-Till-You're Numb Mind

March 14, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 9 weeks ago

Harmony Korine deconstructs a cherished teen ritual with this hedonistic horror show of nubile teens, reckless partying and a dreadlocked James Franco

  

'The Call' Review: Halle Berry Thriller Starts Strong, Gets Hung Up

March 14, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 9 weeks ago

This suspenseful tale starring Halle Berry as a 911 operator works better as a workplace thriller than as a “Silence of the Lambs” knock-off

  

'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone' Review: Magician Comedy Has Nothing Up Its Sleeve

March 13, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 9 weeks ago

Despite the presence of Steve Carrell and Jim Carrey, the laughs get shackled up and suspended in a tank of repetitiveness and sentimentality

  

'Oz the Great and Powerful': What Critics Think of Sam Raimi's Emerald City Update

March 8, 2013 By Brent Lang 10 weeks ago

"Oz the Great and Powerful" is earning a mixed reception from top critics

  

'Dead Man Down' Review: As Plastic as Isabelle Huppert's Tupperware

March 7, 2013 By Leah Rozen 10 weeks ago

“Dead Man” is an action film with an art-house sensibility and heart, which means lots of moody staring between extended shootouts

  

'Oz the Great and Powerful' Review: Sam Raimi Manages to Fill Some Mighty Big Ruby Slippers

March 5, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 10 weeks ago

James Franco goes from carny conman to reluctant messiah in this ingenious prequel to the 1939 classic

  

'Jack the Giant Slayer': What Critics Think of Bryan Singer's Fairy Tale

March 1, 2013 By Brent Lang 11 weeks ago

America's top critics have spoken, so should you see "Jack the Giant Slayer"?

  

'Stoker' Review: When Style Becomes Self-Parody

February 28, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 11 weeks ago

Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska are buried in stares and significant pauses in director Park Chan-Wook’s overdone American debut

  

'Phantom' Review: Capable Cast Can't Keep This Sub Tale From Scuttling

February 27, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 11 weeks ago

Even with Ed Harris, David Duchovny and William Fichtner on board, this Cold War true story never reaches adequate depth

  

Oscars 2013: What the Critics Thought of Seth MacFarlane's Hosting

February 25, 2013 By Brent Lang 12 weeks ago

Was Seth MacFarlane sexist or fantastically irreverent?

  

'Dark Skies' Review: When Your Haunted House Is Behind on the Mortgage, It's Doubly Terrifying

February 22, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 12 weeks ago

Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton star in an effectively chilling thriller about a suburban family under attack by both invisible creeps and a sluggish economy

  

'Inescapable' Review: All That's Inescapable in This Action/Personal Drama Mash-Up Is Marisa Tomei

February 22, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 12 weeks ago

Marisa Tomei shines in an otherwise by-the-numbers tale of a Syrian spy confronting his past after his child is kidnapped

  

'Escape from Planet Earth' Review: A Black Hole of Entertainment

February 15, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 13 weeks ago

This bland and charmless kiddie flick can’t even muster enough personality to be awful

  

'No' Review: A Tale of Vision and Daring, Told With Not Enough of Either

February 14, 2013 By Alonso Duralde 13 weeks ago

Gael Garcia Bernal stars as an ad man who helped overthrow a dictator, but the movie could use his character’s skill at thinking outside the box