Ice Cube and Kevin Hart made for a fun and likable pair in 2014’s buddy-cop action comedy “Ride Along”. In just two short years, Hart’s star-power has significantly risen to (sadly) the point of overkill. He dominates the screen in “Ride Along 2” and his brand of over-the-top, wacky humor mixed with an occasionally smart […]
We’ve seen a Disney animated classic, a Cathy Rigby musical, an NBC live TV musical and a Johnny Depp drama that all involve the story of Peter Pan. What else can possibly be done with this character we know too well? “Pan” dares to answer that by going the prequel route with the tale of […]
“We Are Your Friends” star Zac Efron has called his latest film the “Saturday Night Fever” of this generation. But instead of a white jumpsuit and disco, Efron sports headphones and blares techno music as a DJ looking to make it big. Efron’s Cole Carter is part of a four friend posse. They live in […]
“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” is based on a semi-hit 60s TV series, and while director Guy Ritchie does a nice job capturing the style and feel of the decade with fashion, sets and music, he fails miserably at delivering a film with any actual substance. This should’ve been a light and fun summer popcorn spy […]
“Paul Blart: Mall Cop” was one of the first and funniest films of 2009. As a New Jersey mall security guard who had one epic Black Friday, Kevin James proved to be an unlikely likable hero and established a modern classic comedy character. It took James more than six years to get back into the […]
“Inherent Vice” is writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s follow-up to 2012’s overrated “The Master”. The only appreciation I had for that film were the performances of stars Joaquin Phoenix and particularly the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman. The rest was an unfocused and overly complicated mess. That same description can be used to describe “Inherent Vice”, which […]
At every county fair there’s a challenging, exciting and exhausting corn maze. It’s filled with twists and turns, giving those who dare to enter the feeling that there’s no way out. “The Maze Runner” presents a lot of questions early on. And after going in circles for nearly two hours, the only way I hoped […]
At one point in “The Giver”, Meryl Streep tells fellow Oscar winner Jeff Bridges: “When people have the freedom to choose – they choose wrong.” This seems to apply perfectly to the decision that Bob & Harvey Weinstein made to finance this big-screen adaptation of one of the most popular tween books of the last […]
Dwayne Johnson is one of the hardest working men in Hollywood. His post-wrestling, big screen career has included notable action hits, family films, and even a few comedies. Prior to filming “Hercules”, the artist formerly known as “The Rock” told director Brett Ratner (the “Rush Hour” trilogy) that he was “born to play” the title […]
“Obvious Child” is an indie romantic comedy first showcased at this year’s South by Southwest and Sundance Film Festivals. Jenny Slate, who spent a season (’09-’10) on “Saturday Night Live”, stars in this adaptation of a short film she and director Gillian Robespierre made back in 2009. The plot of “Obvious Child” is very straightforward. […]