It owes a great debt to the found-footage concept behind “The Blair Witch Project,” has some of the aesthetic and tonal touches of “Cloverfield” and probes the same sorts of philosophical notions about the burden of power that serve as the basis for the “X-Men” series. And yet, “Chronicle” still has enough … Continue Reading →

If a movie is cheesy and knows it’s cheesy — if it embraces the soft, gooey texture and pungent aroma of its own fromage — does that make it any more palatable as a meal? That is the question to ponder while watching “Big Miracle,” a rousing, feel-good, family-friendly animal adventure which … Continue Reading →

In “Red Tails,” the famed Tuskegee Airmen get the John Wayne-style heroic rendering they very much deserve, but in a hackneyed and weirdly context-less story that does them a disservice. Long a pet project of his, George Lucas self-financed the film and has said he hopes “Red Tails” will prove there’s an … Continue Reading →

The so-called thriller “Man on a Ledge,” about a disgraced cop who threatens to jump off a building to divert attention from a heist going on across the street, isn’t even implausible in a fun way. You see a movie like “Ocean’s 11” or “Tower Heist” (which is thematically similar to this … Continue Reading →

The debut of a new action movie starring Liam Neeson is becoming an early-in-the-year movie tradition. Taken, featuring Neeson as a hell-bent dad out to rescue his daughter from sex slavery, debuted in January 2009. Unknown, starring the Irish actor as an American in Berlin who’s lost his memory, splashed across screens … Continue Reading →

Mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano rocks in Steven Soderbergh’s high-velocity action movie Haywire. Former Baton Rouge resident Soderbergh, a filmmaker capable of making mainstream crowd-pleasers and art-house eccentricities, aims for the jaw with Haywire. Though the movie contains some of his trademarks, it’s most of all ready to rumble. Carano, following … Continue Reading →

On the surface, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close seems a can’t miss project. Based on a best-selling novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, the film’s cast is crowded with Oscar winners and Oscar nominees. Another Oscar nominee, Stephen Daldry, directs from a screenplay by Oscar winner Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, The Insider). There’s … Continue Reading →

French writer-director Michel Hazanavicius’ homage to Hollywood’s silent, black-and-white past creates something unexpectedly new. The Artist, a Cannes Film Festival favorite that’s collecting more honors during this high season for movie awards, is a newly produced silent film that’s amazingly true to the early 20th-century cinema that inspired it. Far from being … Continue Reading →

Yes, “Contraband” follows the tried-and-true One Last Job formula. Yes, Mark Wahlberg is nestled deep within his comfort zone as a former master criminal who’s lived a dangerous life and gone straight. Still, this is a solid genre picture that knows exactly what it is, has no delusions of grandeur and carries … Continue Reading →

Sugary sweet movies that focus on religion are usually straight to DVD fare. Sure, they’ll always have an audience, but these movies rarely have what it takes to cross over and compete with other mainstream films. “Joyful Noise,” on the other hand, with its eclectic cast and worldly nuances does an excellent … Continue Reading →

Two powerful women — one an actress, the other a politician — and two talented filmmakers form the quartet that make The Iron Lady possible. Starring in the based-in-fact but fictionalized The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep, America’s queen of accents, plays the United Kingdom’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. Phyllida Lloyd, … Continue Reading →

Ripping cues from the many exorcism-based horror flicks produced since that mother of exorcism movies, The Exorcist, debuted in 1973, The Devil Inside blends standard exorcism movie scenarios with phony “found film” footage of the kind seen in the super-profitable Paranormal Activity movies. More than anything genuinely scary, this opportunistic, shamelessly obvious … Continue Reading →

Could the quietly effective career-spy in the feature-length film adaptation of John le Carré’s classic spy novel, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, be any more of a contrast to James Bond than he is? In 1973 London, George Smiley wears glasses. He says little. He’s average —at least on the outside. A nondescript … Continue Reading →

Sometimes, reacting to a movie is all about the expectations you bring with you walking into it. “We Bought a Zoo” is about a family that . buys a zoo. It’s as high-concept as you can get, outside of maybe “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” or “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and … Continue Reading →

The latest project from Steven Spielberg returns the director to the subject for which he’s won three Academy awards. Following the World War II-era dramas — 1993’s Schindler’s List and 1998’s Saving Private Ryan — Spielberg depicts an earlier but likewise sweeping conflict that’s been seen much less often in movies, World … Continue Reading →

It’s no surprise that the grief-drenched Sept. 11 drama “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” should turn out incredibly mawkish. A cloying exercise in sentimentality, the film also winds up extremely annoying, even infuriating. Director Stephen Daldry’s film, featuring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, centers on the worst day most Americans have lived … Continue Reading →

Following the Harry Potter, Twilight and The Lord of Rings series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, likely the first installment of a new round of hit movies based on a vastly popular literary source, arrives in theaters this week. As with previous widely anticipated fiction-to-film adaptations, director David Fincher and screenwriter … Continue Reading →

With blockbuster films like "Adventures of Tintin" and "War Horse" coming to the theater in the same week, there is no doubt that director Steven Spielberg is a master at his craft. "War Horse," which will be Spielberg's second offering, begins with the story of a poor British teenager named Albert (Jeremy … Continue Reading →

A trio of creators blends talents for the ultimate boy’s adventure movie. Director Steven Spielberg, producer Peter Jackson and Belgium artist and writer Hergé are the principals behind the computer-animated, 3-D The Adventures of Tintin. Stuffed with action and swashbuckling, the film swoops and soars with Indiana Jones thrills, Pirates of the … Continue Reading →

Hollywood has commandeered Sweden’s big literary export, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” without compromising the story’s Scandinavian roots or its top-of-the-world, Seasonal Affective Disorder sense of barrenness, even hopelessness. It could have been transplanted Stateside for American audiences, but thankfully, what happens in Sweden stays in Sweden in David Fincher’s stark … Continue Reading →

Luckily for Tom Cruise, “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” is one of his finest action flicks, just what’s needed to potentially restore some of this fallen star’s box-office bankability. For director Brad Bird, though, the fourth “Mission,” rock solid as it is, ranks only as his second-best action movie, after the animated … Continue Reading →

There’s nothing like a really good villain to make an audience appreciate a tried-and-true hero. Think about it for a moment. Where would Batman be without the Joker, Luke Skywalker without Darth Vader or even Paula Abdul without Simon Cowell? Granted, the last one may not be the best example, but you … Continue Reading →

Screenwriter Diablo Cody, director Ivan Reitman and a disarming pair of young leads, Ellen Page and Michael Cera, made the unconventional 2007 teen story, Juno, a hit and an Oscar winner for its screenplay. Despite the big challenges Page and Cera’s characters meet, their tale is a walk on the bright side. … Continue Reading →

The second Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law is much better than the first. The trio first collaborated for 2009’s Sherlock Holmes, a brutal, frantic, loud jackhammer of a movie that lacked style and substance. The new Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows tells a smoother, … Continue Reading →

Puns like these would be unforgivable coming from a human. From high-pitched rodents, they prompt calls for an exterminator. It starts with the title: “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” the third in the noxiously contemporary series of new Chipmunks films. Following 2009’s “Squeakquel,” “Chipwrecked,” as a title, is actually rather subtle and … Continue Reading →