You’ve made me a mean one, Mr. Grinch. The book is iconic. The holiday special is a classic. We all know this story by heart. And it makes ours grow three sizes this time of year. Illumination Entertainment, the makers of “Despicable Me”, took a major risk in making a feature-length, CGI animated version of […]
The relationship drama “Life Itself” comes from writer/director Dan Fogelman, the creator of NBC’s emotionally-charged relationship drama “This Is Us”. That hit show focusses on a diverse, complex family and their even more diverse and complex storylines that all connect and intertwine in very particular ways. In promoting “Life Itself”, Fogelman has stated that this […]
Gus Van Sant’s “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” is an off-beat biopic of John Callahan, the lifelong alcoholic who was confined to a wheelchair following a drunken car crash and then become a popular, edgy cartoonist for the New Yorker and other publications. Joaquin Phoenix, one of the most versatile actors of our […]
Sony Pictures Animation’s first two “Hotel Transylvania” movies were fast-paced and filled with frenetic action, eye-popping characters and unique visuals. But what if you added loud, classic and contemporary pop music to the equation? That’s exactly what we get with “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”. This is the latest in a recent string of animated […]
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” is the 20th Marvel Cinematic Universe installment. It’s also the fourth in the last eight months. “Star Wars” isn’t the only series suffering from franchise fatigue. I was looking forward to the lighter side of Marvel, following the dramatic wrath of “Avengers: Infinity War”. And “AM&TW” is the lightest, most family-friendly […]
In the 25 years since “Jurassic Park”, dinosaurs have roared on the big screen in hand-drawn animated form (“The Land Before Time” films), skeletal form (“Night at the Museum”) and CGI/photo-realism form (“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”, “Walking with Dinosaurs”, “The Good Dinosaur” and the simply titled “Dinosaur”). Dinos have become almost as common […]
Lately the title “Horror Movie” has been awarded to films that just don’t deserve it. “Get Out” has a few gory moments in its final half hour, but it’s a suspense thriller. “mother!” includes its share of blood, but not the slicing and dicing found in traditional horror films. And neither provide the scares required […]
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” is the second “Star Wars” film in six months and the fourth in less than 3½ years – since the Disney takeover of LucasFilm. “Solo” is the second prequel/spinoff, joining 2016’s “Rogue One”. That movie had almost entirely new characters, while this one is, of course, about the early adventures […]
When I talked with Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody for 2015’s “Ricki and the Flash”, I asked her what she had in mind for her next script. She said she had nothing – and was looking for some inspiration. Well, they say “Write what you know”. My interview with her took place shortly before Cody gave […]
As I was watching the new “Tomb Raider”, which is based on the Lara Croft video games, and, of course, is a reboot of the ‘01 & ‘03 films starring Angelina Jolie, I couldn’t help but think that this is the kind of movie normally released in the summertime, not in mid-March. That’s because “Tomb […]