The Dictator

Nothing is sacred in The Dictator, which isn’t surprising in the latest effort from big-screen provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen. However, the creator of Borat (2006) and Bruno (2009) isn’t just bordering on bad taste with what amounts to his slickest and most straightforward narrative film to date. He also manages to be quite funny. Following [...]

Dark Shadows

With the recent popularity of “True Blood” and “The Vampire Diaries,” many people tend to forget about “Dark Shadows,” the campy 1960s series that was the pioneer in terms of putting vampires on television. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp remember, however, and their affection for the source material is evident throughout their big-screen adaptation of [...]

Girl in Progress

Over the years, there haven’t been enough quality films around featuring Hispanic female leads. After Girl in Progress, there still aren’t enough. This well-intentioned crowd-pleaser about a mother who acts too young and a daughter who acts too old contains some universal themes along with some well-worn comedy cliches. Eva Mendes plays Grace, a single [...]

God Bless America

Perhaps Bobcat Goldthwait has an ax to grind, or perhaps he’s just saying what the rest of us are thinking. Either way, don’t expect to see him on “Celebrity Apprentice” or “Dancing With the Stars” anytime soon. Goldthwait skewers the dumbing down of the United States — from the lack of decorum in pop culture [...]

Capsule reviews for May 11

I Wish The latest quietly powerful coming-of-age drama from Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda (Nobody Knows) tells the story of 12-year-old Koichi (Maeda Koki), whose wish is to see his family reunited after the divorce of his parents. When a bullet-train line is announced that will link his hometown with that of his younger brother, Koichi [...]

The Avengers

Take away the gargantuan budget and high-volume special effects, and The Avengers feels like a little movie made among friends. Well, maybe not, but writer-director Joss Whedon’s affection for the comic-book superheroes that provide the source material is evident in every frame of his ambitious big-screen adaptation. In other words, he’s not just a filmmaker, [...]

A Little Bit of Heaven

Less than eight months ago, the comedy 50/50 showed that it’s possible to make a comedy about cancer that is both hilarious and sensitive, finding humor in well-grounded characters without exploiting the affliction as a plot device. By skillfully navigating such tricky subject matter, it was one of the best films of last year. Perhaps [...]

Capsule reviews for May 4

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel An esteemed ensemble cast of British veterans elevates this modestly charming saga of seniors who travel to India for what they are led to believe will be a luxurious retirement at a restored posh hotel, thanks to a shrewd marketing campaign by a young hotelier (Dev Patel). However, they find [...]

The Five-Year Engagement

Familiarity doesn’t exactly breed success in The Five-Year Engagement, which re-teams director Nicholas Stoller and star Jason Segel. However, the romantic comedy is neither a companion piece nor a sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), which marked both filmmaker and actor as names to watch. The pair also has worked together in a writing capacity [...]

Next Page »