Here are the movies to look forward to (and avoid) over the first half of the new year: JANUARY 9 – “Taken 3” (a third dose of those “special skills”), “Inherent Vice” (Wide), “Selma” (Wide) 16 – “American Sniper” (Wide), “Blackhat” (hacking movie NOT from Sony), “Paddington”, “The Wedding Ringer”, “Still Alice” (Limited) 23 – […]

The fact that “The Monuments Men”, “Need for Speed”, “Obvious Child”, “The Giver”, and “The Maze Runner” couldn’t even make my Honorable Mentions list shows that there were a lot of bad films released in 2014. So many to choose from, but these were the Worst movies of the Worst: 1. “EARTH TO ECHO” This […]

My 10 Best Films of 2014 include several Best Actor contenders, an animated blockbuster, an underrated action gem, a powerhouse music drama, and an inspirational look at a “Two Thumbs Up” life at the movies. 1. “BIRDMAN” Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu masterfully directs using, essentially, a handful of continuous shoits. A daring story about a […]

There was a surprisingly large number of cameo and uncredited appearances in 2014 movies. This list is a compilation of my favorites. WARNING – if you haven’t seen some of these films yet, I’m sorry for spoiling some surprises. And if you have other suggestions that I should add to the list, please let me […]

Some rather well-known characters are celebrating the Holiday Season with special ads promoting their upcoming movies: The “Despicable Me” Minions sing and form their own Christmas Tree in this delightful promo for AMC Theaters and next Summer’s “Minions”. The stars of “Hotel Transylvania 2” – Dracula, Mavis and Jonathan, attempt to decorate their own tree […]

These are the 10 strongest performances by actors and actresses in 2014 that could have been deserving of Best Supporting Actor/Actress consideration if only their roles had been a little bit bigger: Carrie Coon is excellent as the emotional and honest Margo Dunne, sister to Nick Dunne (played by Ben Affleck) in “Gone Girl”. Viola […]

UPDATE #2: Sony will now release “The Interview” in 331 theaters on Christmas Day. UPDATE: Sony has cancelled the Christmas Day, theatrical open of “The Interview”. It can be argued that the Sony Pictures comedy, “The Interview”, is the most buzzed-about and controversial movie of 2014. However, while this will probably turn-out to be the […]

Here’s my annual list of the Most Fascinating People of the year: If you didn’t go to the movies a lot this year, you missed the on-screen domination of Kevin Hart. The combined grosses of “Ride Along” (co-starring Ice Cube), “About Last Night” and “Think Like a Man Too” totaled nearly $250 million domestically. And […]

Sony Pictures has announced that the 24th installment in the 007 series will be titled “Spectre”. Returning James Bond, Mr. Daniel Craig, will be joined by Ralph Fiennes and new villain Christoph Waltz (a perfect casting choice), along with returning director Sam Mendes (who helped earn 2012’s “Skyfall” two Oscars and a total of 5 […]

Last December, NBC did something no TV network had done in nearly 50 years: televise a live musical. “The Sound of Music LIVE!”, a three-hour, stage production starring country singer Carrie Underwood as Maria Von Trapp, drew nearly 19 million viewers. So The Peacock has decided to take a calculated risk and air another one. […]