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Stories tagged: movies
Fri., June 25, 2010
You’ll find Spokane, porn in ‘Finding Bliss’
When Julie Davis arrived in Los Angeles two decades ago with a pipe dream, she hoped she might end up directing a movie at a big Hollywood studio. She never …
Fri., June 25, 2010
‘Mother and Child’ shows how we love and bond
Rodrigo Garcia’s “Mother and Child” considers what happens when those who don’t want babies get pregnant and those who do can’t. To the women in this poignant and exceptionally acted …
Fri., June 25, 2010
Hunt for WMDs uncovers secret plot
“Green Zone”: A U.S. Army officer questions his country’s mission when his hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq reveals covert intelligence. With Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Brendan Gleeson, …
Fri., June 25, 2010
Cruise shines in ‘Knight’
“Knight and Day” introduces us to an exciting new talent: Tom Cruise. Sure, we know Cruise after his three decades in the business. We know way too much about him, …
Fri., June 18, 2010
Fate of civilization at stake in ‘Book of Eli’
“The Book of Eli” • • • – In post-apocalyptic America, the fate of civilization depends on one man guarding a sacred book. With Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, …
Fri., June 18, 2010
‘Toy Story 3’ shines, if not as brightly
This is what happens when you’re good at your job: Everyone expects excellence from you, and anything even slightly short of that feels like a letdown. “Toy Story 3” is …
Fri., June 18, 2010
‘Jonah Hex’ is too short, just terrible
Critics always gripe that movies are too long and could stand some pruning. Then you get the occasional movie, like comic-book adaptation “Jonah Hex,” that’s too short – so short, …
Fri., June 18, 2010
‘8: The Mormon Proposition’
Gay marriage — and California’s Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that stated only marriage between a man and a woman would be valid and recognized — are topics fraught …
Fri., June 18, 2010
More than a decade later, the toys are back in town
EMERYVILLE, Calif. — In a screening room on the Pixar Studios campus, Lee Unkrich — director of the new “Toy Story 3” — is flipping back and forth with the …
Fri., June 4, 2010
Hill, Brand take the moral low ground in ‘Get Him to the Greek’
In “Get Him to the Greek,” Russell Brand plays the same British rock ’n’ roll prat – Aldous Snow – that he assayed so expertly in the 2008 rom-com, “Forgetting …
Fri., June 4, 2010
‘Splice’ explores tension between science, humanity
Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) are two rebellious young biochemical engineers – and we know they’re rebellious because they wear T-shirts in place of lab coats, listen to …
Fri., June 4, 2010
‘Marmaduke’ would appeal only to little kids
Wouldn’t it be great if 7-year-olds could drive themselves to the movies? You could give them some money for Junior Mints or whatever, send them on their way and never …
Fri., June 4, 2010
Grownup ‘Alice’ must end Red Queen’s reign
“Alice in Wonderland”: Alice, now 19, slips into a rabbit hole that takes her to “Underland,” where she must terminate the Red Queen’s reign to save her childhood friends. With …
Fri., May 28, 2010
‘Prince’ looks, feels like a slow video game
Watching “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” must be what it’s like to ride a camel across the desert: slow, plodding and predictable. It gets the job done but …
Fri., May 28, 2010
Critics pummeling ‘Sex and the City 2’
The reviews are still flooding in for “Sex and the City 2” and guess what? They’re as bad as ever. The film’s “fresh” (favorable) rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website …
Fri., May 28, 2010
‘Killers’ won’t be screened for reviews
You’ve probably seen the billboards, bus-stop ads and television spots for “Killers.” They’re everywhere, featuring Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher juggling guns and bantering over super-secret identities. But critics won’t …
Fri., May 28, 2010
Highly styled ‘SATC2’ offers little substance
“Sex and the City 2” is so over-the-top ridiculous, it plays like a parody of what a sequel to the 2008 hit movie would be. You can just imagine how …
Fri., May 28, 2010
Father, son take ‘The Road’
“The Road”: Taut and haunting adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, with Viggo Mortensen and newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee as a father and son trudging across a postapocalyptic America, struggling …
Fri., May 28, 2010
‘The Secret of Kells’
Nestled among this year’s batch of best animated feature Oscar nominees was “The Secret of Kells,” a movie that received little distribution in the United States and had no spinoff …
Fri., May 21, 2010
‘Dumb idea’ opens today
When “Saturday Night Live’s” Will Forte appeared in the first goofy “MacGruber” sketch, never in his most deranged dreams did he envision the clueless, mullet-headed, bomb-diffusing character at the center …
Fri., May 21, 2010
‘Invictus’ brings tale that inspired a nation
“Invictus”: Clint Eastwood directs the story of Nelson Mandela as he motivates South Africa’s rugby team to win the World Cup to inspire national unity. With Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon. …
Fri., May 21, 2010
‘Shrek’ opener might fall short
The big screen’s most famous ogre might have good reason to be grumpy this weekend. “Shrek Forever After,” the fourth and purportedly final installment of DreamWorks Animation’s money-minting series, could …
Fri., May 14, 2010
‘Robin Hood’ prequel never rises above passable
In one unfortunate regard, Ridley Scott’s grimy “Robin Hood” lives up to its legendary character: It, too, robs – just from richer movies. Scott’s bungled yet matinee-worthy take on that …
Fri., May 14, 2010
Crowe unveils a rugged ‘Robin’
The legend of Robin Hood, king of the rogues, is best summed up by Roger Miller, the guy who sang “King of the Road.” “There’s been a heap of legends …
Fri., May 14, 2010
Sappy ‘Letters’ just feels contrived
Juliet might want to take her own life all over again if she knew the gooey depths to which Hollywood would sink in her name to woo an audience.
Fri., May 7, 2010
Mickey Rourke’s comeback rolls on with ‘Iron Man 2’
With the muscular physique of a lifelong athlete and a face battered by boxing, Mickey Rourke looks almost as intimidating in person as he does in “Iron Man 2,” where …
Fri., April 23, 2010
Summer movie calendar features something for just about everyone
Hollywood is expanding its age demographic this summer. With a new karate kid, a middle-aged iron man, the return of the school girl-teen wolf-vampire love triangle, and a 1,500-year-old sorcerer, …
Fri., April 2, 2010
‘Clash’ remake not so titanic
Who wants to be a god, anyway? That’s the principal twist inserted into the new “Clash of the Titans,” a remake of the sometimes fondly recalled, technologically dated 1981 film …
Fri., April 2, 2010
Holmes, rival resurrected on small screen
Available on DVD this week: “Sherlock Holmes”: The super sleuth and his assistant, Dr. Watson, watch their nemesis put to death, but he returns from the grave for revenge. With …
Fri., March 12, 2010
‘Our Family Wedding’ leans on slapstick, stereotyping
Instead of invitations, they should be sending out apologies for “Our Family Wedding,” a cake-and-kisses comedy that has disaster written all over it and not for the right reasons. Race …