The other day, after surviving a screening of Hangover III and faced with writing about a “comedy” so completely humorless that its relentless ineptitude felt like it had to be intentional, I had a moment of clarity about the film, the franchise, and its hack auteur Todd Phillips (Old School, Hangover I and II, Due … More The Hangover III: Shut Up and Give Us Your Money

(Seriously – this is a really long, rambling, geek-wonky piece about why I’m disappointed in Star Trek Into Darkness. It’s really probably only of interest to hard-core Trek fans who’ve seen Into Darkness and are thus spoiler-proof. And even they might get bored with it all.) In my previous piece about why I felt a … More Warning: Longwinded Star Trek Into Darkness Spoilers and Geekery Ahead!

“What do you think the Devil is going to look like if he’s around?… Nobody is going to be taken in by a guy with a long, red, pointy tail! What’s he gonna sound like?… “He will just bit by little bit lower our standards where they are important. Just a tiny little bit. Just … More The Shiny, Sexy Seduction of Star Trek Into Darkness

It’s possible to both love the giddy, flamboyant excesses and musical abandon of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 fever-dream Moulin Rouge and appreciate the rich prose and all-American soul-searching of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby and still come away from Luhrmann’s new film version of the literary classic feeling that just because someone can do … More And the Beat Goes On: Baz Luhrmann’s Spastic, Love-sick Gatsby

I’d guess most everyone who helped give Iron Man Three the number two box-office opening of all time (after its stable mate The Avengers last year) came away from it feeling suitably entertained by the First Summer Film of the Year. But so much of that feeling, including the public’s attendance and “A” CinemaScore, can’t help … More Iron Man Three: Kiss Kiss Clang Clang

After three (going on four) Transformers movies for “kids,” we’re back to being buffeted and beaten down by director Michael Bay’s R-rated adolescent id (last seen popping up its leering, lurid, head in 2003’s repugnant Bad Boys II). Bay’s Pain & Gain tells (as we’re repeatedly reminded by “ironic” title cards) the true story of … More Pain & Gain: No.

Ah, the tyranny of “cool ideas.” Any young, imaginative genre fan (be it of sci-fi, Westerns, crime, or romance) no doubt had school notebooks festooned with doodles and descriptions of ideas birthed along the lines of, “Wouldn’t it be really, wicked-awesome, cool, gnarly if…,” followed by descriptions and drawings of Ligers and their ilk. Written … More Oblivion: Of Cruise and Nothingness

Like many, at first I dismissed Harmony Korine’s 1995 screenplay for Larry Clark’s Kids and his 1997 directorial debut Gummo (as well as the follow ups Julian Donkey Boy and Trash Humpers) as sordid shock mongering; his fascination with the degenerate behavior of the bungled and the botched coming off as risible hipster sneering. But as … More Spring Breakers Forever

In 2011, writer-director Derek Cianfrance’s feature-film debut Blue Valentine, about a marriage in collapse, grabbed the attention of film lovers who appreciate powerful, perhaps even brutal emotional honesty. For his follow up, Cianfrance has reteamed with his Valentine star Ryan Gosling, plus Bradley Cooper, Ray Liotta, Eva Mendes, and go-to character actor Ben Mendelsohn, to … More Interview: The Place Beyond the Pines Writer-director Derek Cianfrance

Despite a title cribbed from Notorious B.I.G., writer-director Adam Leon’s first feature, Gimme the Loot, isn’t some dark, violent dive into the criminal underworld. Instead, the sure-footed film is a much lighter, but still honest urban adventure that follows two New York City graffiti artists on the streets of the Bronx. Malcolm and Sofia (newcomers … More Interview: Gimme the Loot Writer-director Adam Leon