THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE:  Buy A Ticket – The Odds Remain in This Franchise’s Favor Gary Ross did a fine, gritty job as director and co-writer of the first Hunger Games adaptation, one especially attuned to the emotional arc of its emblematic heroine.  But minutes into the follow-up, THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE, […]

  THE FAULT IN OUR STARS:  Worth A Ticket – John Green’s Beloved Book Is Well Treated By the Screen It’s almost impossible to describe the plot of John Green’s YA novel THE FAULT IN OUR STARS without making it sounding precious and shamelessly sentimental.  Erich Segal’s Love Story, the giant hit and instant self-parody […]

> Whit Stillman has one of the most distinctive voices in American film, and his 13-year absence from the screen barely shows in his new comedy DAMSELS IN DISTRESS; it feels as though, had it been made immediately after The Last Days of Disco in 1998, nothing about it would be the slightest bit different. […]

      WANDERLUST:  Watch It At Home – Hippy Jokes Thawed Out From 1966   The new WANDERLUST demonstrates the strengths and limitations of amiability in movies.  Its stars, Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, have made very profitable careers out of being professionally likable.  Unlike, say, Tom Hanks, who also began his career in […]

  THE MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE:  In Limited Theatrical Release and on VOD – If Nothing Else Is On   Few recent Hollywood career trajectories have been as puzzling as Rob Reiner’s.  From 1984-1992, Reiner directed This Is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, Mercy and […]

  PLAYING FOR KEEPS:  Not At Any Price – All Penalty, No Kick Has any actor more thoroughly wasted his 15 minutes in the Hollywood spotlight than Gerard Butler?  Since he hit with 300 half a dozen years ago, he’s churned out PS I Love You, Nim’s Island, RocknRolla, The Ugly Truth, Gamer, Law Abiding […]

  EVIL DEAD:  Watch It At Home – Plenty of Icky, Not So Much Scary A slick, Hollywood-budgeted remake of Sam Raimi’s 1981 EVIL DEAD (actually there was a ‘the” in front of that one, the definite article having been misplaced over the decades) is sort of a contradiction in terms.  The whole appeal of […]

  The prevailing atmosphere in Denis Villenueve’s PRISONERS will be familiar to anyone who’s been watching cable TV drama for the past few years.  Gloom, grief, hopelessness, helpless rage–it’s home turf for shows like The Killing, The Bridge, Low Winter Sun, Broadchurch and their brethren.  (The rural Pennsylvania setting of Prisoners has even borrowed the endless raininess of The Killing‘s Seattle.) […]