BBB.5 (out of 5) Monkey trouble doesn’t even begin to describe what a scientific expedition and ists military escort experience when the assessment of the geological properties of an uncharted island reveals the place to have more… Continue reading
BB.5 (out of 5) The bombing of the 2013 Boston Marathon is the subject of this action drama starring Mark Wahlberg as the police officer at the centre of the action. Recovering from a knee… Continue reading
B (out of 5) A strong contender for Most Annoying Film Of All Time, adapted from the popular Japanese television series by the Wachowskis to look like a cartoon in live-action form. What it… Continue reading
BBB.5 (out of 5) Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (played here by Bryan Cranston) easily became a prime target for the HUAC during the height of the Red Scare: gregarious, charismatic and a card-carrying Communist… Continue reading
BB (out of 5) Todd Solondz follows two exceptionally good features with a rare misfire, a dull and humourless examination of societal self-image split in two parts. The first, “Fiction”, has college student… Continue reading
B (out of 5) Liv Tyler gives a sexy performance in the best tradition of film noir goddesses as a double-crossing vixen who always gets her way. Paul Reiser, Matt Dillon and John Goodman are the… Continue reading
BB.5 (out of 5) Nazi Germany is destroying life in Europe and threatening to take over the world, and with America’s entry into the war, George Clooney wants to get involved. The preservation… Continue reading
BBB.5 (out of 5) Following his last adventure (in 1967, this kid doesn’t age!), Mowgli (now voiced by Haley Joel Osment) feels awkward and out of place in the human village he lives… Continue reading
B (out of 5) If there is a God, he should do more to help prevent movies like these. In this semi-sequel to the box office hit Bruce Almighty, Steve Carell fills in for… Continue reading
BBB (out of 5) Sally Field gives a spirited performance as a bored housewife who realizes that her observations on suburban living make for great standup fare. She pursues a career in the field… Continue reading
BBBB.5 (out of 5) Another terrific example of how magical the Coen Brothers can be when they let go their desire to be cute about their favourite movie genres. This indelibly perfect tribute… Continue reading
BBBB (out of 5) This is a wonderful, captivating film biography of the greatest country singer of all time, Patsy Cline. Obviously made to cash in on the success of Coal Miner’s Daughter,… Continue reading
BB (out of 5) A good soundtrack and excellent hair design will never hide the fact that this film is less scholarly than a Playmate of the Month video. For the guys in… Continue reading
BB.5 (out of 5) Not great but very sometimes funny update of the classic television cartoon. The inane plot involves the evil trio of Fearless Leader (Robert De Niro), Boris (Jason Alexander) and… Continue reading
BBBB.5 (out of 5) Excellent remake of the 1950 George Cukor classic is a perfect example of Melanie Griffith‘s admirable talent. She plays a Vegas showgirl who hangs off the arm of her… Continue reading
B (out of 5) Brian Levant does absolutely nothing interesting with this big-screen version of the popular television cartoon show, except in casting four great leads: Rick Moranis as Barney, Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma, John… Continue reading
BBB (out of 5) The surprise hit of the 1980s with a secretly subversive agenda; anyone who saw Hope Davis’s deconstruction of the film in American Splendor will have to admit that this… Continue reading
BBB (out of 5) Animated films anthropomorphizing insects or inanimate objects have become as formulaic and predictable as romantic comedies, and this one is no exception. Jerry Seinfeld, who also co-wrote and co-produced,… Continue reading
BBB.5 (out of 5) In this remake of A Guy Named Joe, Richard Dreyfuss plays an airborne firefighter who dies in a tragic accident, leaving behind his heartbroken girlfriend (Holly Hunter) and his best… Continue reading
BB.5 (out of 5) Denzel Washington is a coke-snorting, booze-guzzling airline pilot whose excellent track record easily covers up his bad habits and helps him forget the trouble he left behind when he… Continue reading
BBBB (out of 5) The cinema receives a heartfelt valentine in this film that incorporates the techniques of the early silent days to a fresh end result. Jean Dujardin is astoundingly perfect as… Continue reading
BBB.5 (out of 5) This enjoyable drama centres around the loss of youth’s golden dreams in the wake of grown-up reality. Dennis Quaid plays a star college football player who sees nothing but glory… Continue reading
BBB (out of 5) Cute romantic comedy starring Josh Charles as a man who since childhood has been obsessed with traffic, watching cars going back and forth on the freeway near his home. He… Continue reading
BB.5 (out of 5) This overly depressing drama is a remake of the classic tearjerker Stella Dallas starring Barbara Stanwyck and Anne Shirley. In this version, Bette Midler plays a girl from the… Continue reading
BBBBB (out of 5) Another classic from Disney’s computer animation studio is this endlessly hilarious tale of two bedroom monsters working at the factory of Monsters, Inc. John Goodman and Billy Crystal more… Continue reading
BBBB (out of 5) The funniest animated Disney film in a long time is this inspired tale about a selfish South American prince (David Spade) who is turned into a llama by a… Continue reading
B (out of 5) Extremely annoyed is how you’ll feel from the opening of this execrable movie, a false and cloying attempt at feel-good post-9/11 drama that is surprisingly made by the director… Continue reading
BBB.5 (out of 5) Critics were unfairly harsh to this enjoyable comedy, probably because having Mike Nichols’ name in the credits promised more than they eventually got (and apparently they haven’t seen The… Continue reading
BB.5 (out of 5) Martin Scorsese returns to the harrowing themes of Taxi Driver that made him so popular twenty-odd years earlier. Nicolas Cage is mostly expressionless as a New York City ambulance paramedic… Continue reading
BB (out of 5) Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) spent her childhood wishing she could shop like a big girl, then grows up to be a credit card-maxing spend-freak who has racked up thousands of… Continue reading
BBBB (out of 5) Pixar returns to one of their most charming successes for a prequel that recaptures the delight of the original if not necessarily all of its thrills. We learn about… Continue reading
BBB (out of 5) In this highly stylized Coen Brothers comedy, John Turturro plays a Broadway playwright who is brought out to Hollywood to write films. Initially thrilled at the prospect of changing… Continue reading
BB (out of 5) Annoying Coen brothers film about mistaken identity has reprehensible loafer Jeff Bridges taking the heat from kidnappers when he is mistaken for a rich man with the same name as… Continue reading
BBB (out of 5) Stylish and witty film by the Coen brothers that pays tribute to the Frank Capra/Preston Sturges comedies of yesteryear. When Hudsucker Industries loses its president (Charles Durning) to suicide,… Continue reading
BBB.5 (out of 5) Early entry in the Coen Brothers canon that hit well enough with audiences and critics to put their name on the map. Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter are both… Continue reading
BBBB (out of 5) Disney makes an animated film that concentrates primarily on African American characters; well, it only took a hundred years, and it is after all a very progressive country. Anika… Continue reading
BBBB (out of 5) It’s not easy being a kid, and when you’re the type who sees dead people it’s a little bit harder. At least that’s what we learn about young Norman,… Continue reading
BBBB (out of 5) Set in the rural American south of the thirties, but still retaining the main events from Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey upon which it is based, the Coen Brothers… Continue reading
BBBB (out of 5) While the story doesn’t reach the brilliance of Toy Story or Monsters, Inc., this animated film from the multi-talents at Pixar is among their most beautiful, and manages some… Continue reading
BBBB (out of 5) Following the terminally ill Shah’s escape to America and Ayatollah Khomeini’s rise to power over a newly conservative Iran, Americans at the U.S. embassy in 1979 Tehran find themselves… Continue reading
