“The Judge” is a relatively simple film that wants you to think that it is more complicated. To do this, it drops in multiple subplots that have all reared their ugly heads in prior similar titles. But rather than enhance “The…
I’ve figured out by now that I simply have nothing useful to say about screwball comedies. I don’t like them. I have watched more than half of the supposed very best of the genre and I don’t find a single…
The period drama juggernaut “Downton Abbey” rolls on in Season 5, and creator Julian Fellowes has programmed in some minor course corrections addressing the several disappointments of Season 4. Don’t worry, the changes are more of focus rather than tone…
What do you get when you cross “Casablanca” with “The Sun Also Rises,” “The Dawn Patrol,” and “Beauty and the Beast”? If you animate it and throw in your own vision (and a few seaplane pirates), you get “Porco Rosso”—in English,…
During Shakespeare’s time, men dressed like women because women weren’t allowed onstage. But there’s always been a fascination (fetish?) with men donning dresses. Tyler Perry as Madea makes just about everybody’s list of worst attempts at men playing women in movies,…
“Pom Poko” is one of three new-to-Blu Studio Ghibli titles from Disney, along with “Porco Rosso” and “Tales from Earthsea,” that are scheduled for February 3 release. Based on an idea by Hayao Miyazaki, “Pom Poko” is the story of a…
“By The Gun” is about guns, duh. It’s also about organized crime, honor, family, more guns, and angry men shouting at each other in between long, terse silences. Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian in the “Narnia” films) plays Nick Tortano, a…
I knew absolutely nothing about “Men, Women & Children” when it showed up. And after watching it, I know even less. Why? Because it’s bad. Very bad. And it brings down a decent cast and director with its horrific quality. The man…
I’ll say this for South Korean cinema: what they do, they do with style. And “The Pirates” has plenty of it. Director Lee Seok-hoon pays obvious homage to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise with a slick comedy-adventure that features a Johnny…
When “Glee” debuted in 2009 and excited fans so much that they started calling themselves “Gleeks”—short for “Glee” geeks—I thought the show would have a lifespan of a boy band. Just a flash in the pan, even though it appealed…