Latest from The Spokesman-Review

• Film critic Roger Ebert dead at 70

  April 4, 2013 in Features, Nation/World CHICAGO — The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that its film critic Roger Ebert has died. He was 70. The paper says on its website the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic died … 11

• Review: Lively Carrey makes ‘Morris’ a keeper

  January 7, 2011 in Features on Page D2 Despite its title, it has nothing to do with cigarettes. But its star, as he once famously said on screen, is absolutely “smokin’.” Jim Carrey is the narrator, heart and …

• Review: ‘Country Strong’ plot misses the high notes

  January 7, 2011 in Features on Page D2 “Country Strong” is a little like modern country music: Odd moments of sincerity, heart and authenticity peek through the plastic, the hype and the manufactured hokum. Moving once or twice, …

• Review: ‘King’s Speech’ hits right note at every turn

  December 24, 2010 in Features on Page D2 “The King’s Speech” is the kind of handsomely photographed, weighty-yet-uplifting period drama that seems to arrive amid great fanfare come awards time each year. It’s based on a true story …

• Review: Coens deliver beautiful, smart, well-acted ‘Grit’

  December 24, 2010 in Features on Page D2 The pioneering Coen brothers don’t blaze new territory with “True Grit.” And that’s just fine, pardners, because these highfalutin’ boys sure know how to rassle up one spitfire of a …

• Review: Film series one too many with ‘Little Fockers’

  December 24, 2010 in Features on Page D2 You know a comedy franchise has hit rock bottom when, within the first 15 minutes of a movie, you’ve been forced to watch an obese man receiving an enema and …

• Review: Cast, story elevate ‘Fighter’ to victory

  December 17, 2010 in Features on Page D4 There’s so much natural drama in the real boxing story of half-brothers Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund, all director David O. Russell had to do was cast the right people …

• Review: Portman’s star power punctuates ‘Black Swan’

  December 17, 2010 in Features on Page D3 “I had the craziest dream last night, about a girl who was turned into a swan,” Natalie Portman says, tremulously, in the early going of “Black Swan.” But it can’t …

• Review: ‘Tron’ takes a rough ride

  December 17, 2010 in Features on Page D2 At long last: a movie to make the two “Matrix” sequels, the two “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequels and “The Last Airbender” seem positively restrained and comprehensible. “TRON: Legacy: – …

• Review: ‘How Do You Know’ lands with thud

  December 17, 2010 in Features on Page D2 How do you know when a film is horrible? When it’s “How Do You Know,” it’s pretty obvious. Nothing about this would-be romantic comedy ever gels – neither the romance …

• Movie review: Lifeless ‘Yogi Bear’ deserves better fate

  December 17, 2010 in Features on Page D2 A combination of Borscht Belt comedian and Hanna-Barbera animation, Yogi Bear was a clever enough creation that more than 50 years later, we still can’t help but impersonate his “pic-a-nic” …

• Avoid ‘Tourist’ as your movie destination

  December 10, 2010 in Features on Page D2 In “The Tourist,” Johnny Depp is asked to play a bland American everyman, in the fashion of Cary Grant in “North by Northwest” or Jimmy Stewart in “The Man Who …

• Latest ‘Narnia’ outing beautiful but uninspired

  December 10, 2010 in Features on Page D2 C.S. Lewis began the third book in his Narnia series, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” this way: “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved …

• Christmas movies scarce as new approaches dry up

  December 10, 2010 in Features on Page D2 This year, the role of Grinch will be played by Hollywood. The release of new Christmas movies long has been as much a tradition of the season as the annual …

• Aguilera, Cher save cliched ‘Burlesque’

  November 26, 2010 in Features on Page D2 Every movie has a few cliches. You’ve just got to finesse them. In “Burlesque,” writer/director Steve Antin lays on the cliches with a trowel, delivering a showbiz tale packed with …

• Awkward screenplay undercuts ‘Love’ bond

  November 26, 2010 in Features on Page D2 The studio bills Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway’s “Love & Other Drugs” as an unconventional love story. Maybe a bit, in its unusual setting – the world of prescription drug …

• ‘Faster’ fails to tie storylines

  November 26, 2010 in Features on Page D2 “Faster” screenwriters Joe and Tony Gayton had three good ideas for movies: Ex-con goes on killing spree to avenge his brother’s murder; drug-addicted cop tries to get his life in …

• ‘127 Hours’ filmed with heart, beauty

  November 26, 2010 in Features on Page D4 Others heard the real-life story of rock climber Aron Ralston’s days-long ordeal, trapped by a boulder that pinned down his arm, and winced. Director Danny Boyle saw a tale of …

• ‘Tangled’ romances with wit, sass

  November 26, 2010 in Features on Page D2 I don’t feel like writing a review of “Tangled.” I feel like throwing it a parade. This Disney makeover of “Rapunzel” is a joyous, gorgeous, glorious extravaganza. The animation is …

• ‘Deathly Hallows’ dark, dazzling

  November 19, 2010 in Features on Page D2 Fear and loathing, doom and gloom permeate nearly every minute of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” the beginning of the end of the behemoth boy-wizard series. This …

• ‘Fair Game’ fades in final act

  November 19, 2010 in Features on Page D2 For its first 80 minutes, the fact-based drama “Fair Game,” directed by Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity”), crackles with urgency and intelligence. We meet CIA agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), …

• ‘Cool It’ leaves big questions of credibility

  November 19, 2010 in Features on Page D3 There’s plenty of room for debate within the broad scientific discussion of global climate change. The question raised by the new documentary “Cool It” is whether censured Danish economist Bjorn …

• Slow pace makes ‘Three Days’ feel 24 hours too long

  November 19, 2010 in Features on Page D2 In “The Next Three Days,” his third outing as director, Paul Haggis (“Crash,” “In the Valley of Elah”) sets aside the socio-political commentary and hunkers down to craft a pressure …

• ‘Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1’ playing at Magic Lantern

  November 19, 2010 in Features on Page D4 When last we saw redoubtable French gangster Jacques Mesrine, he was just starting to bask in the pleasures of being a celebrity criminal. Now, in “Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1,” …

• ‘Inside Job’ reveals Wall Street crisis

  November 12, 2010 in Features on Page D4 Somebody owes us $20 trillion. “Inside Job,” a riveting, eye-opening, infuriating documentary about the financial collapse of 2008, coolly presents a prosecutor’s brief against the culprits who engineered the greatest …

• ‘Mesrine: Killer Instinct’ at Magic Lantern

  November 12, 2010 in Features on Page D4 “Mesrine: Killer Instinct” begins at the end, with a forest of guns and a close-range shooting, and then, barely giving us time to gasp, takes us back where it all … 1

• Plot barely anchors ‘Morning Glory’

  November 12, 2010 in Features on Page D2 Imagine the idealists of 1987’s “Broadcast News” in the New Media Age. They’ve given up “important” in pursuit of numbers. They avoid the term “journalism” and embrace the fluff. That’s …

• ‘Unstoppable’ a runaway nail-biter

  November 12, 2010 in Features on Page D2 Finally, we’ve found the ideal use for Tony Scott’s hyperkinetic, headache-inducing filmmaking style: a movie about a runaway train, barreling through small Pennsylvania towns filled with hardworking, unsuspecting people, at …

• ‘Conviction’ role fits Swank

  November 12, 2010 in Features on Page D2 Hilary Swank is at her best in working-class, little-people roles, and she’s found another one with “Conviction.” It’s the real-life story of Betty Anne Waters, who put herself through law …

• ‘Megamind’ pulls off cute comedy

  November 5, 2010 in Features on Page D2 There are rules to this super-hero/super-villain game, and they’re laid out by the title character in the chatty new animated adventure comedy “Megamind”: “Good receives all the praise and adulation. …

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next page ›