When "Shrek" took a playful slap at the sun-is-shining, birds-are-chirping world of Disney animation, audiences were absolutely delighted. What audacity, we read from all the reviewers. But let’s not
I touched a Dardenne. “The Kid With a Bike” (2011) had just screened at the Elgin Theater during the Toronto Film Festival, and I was winding my way along the side of the building trying to get back
I vividly remember being a little kid and watching the opening scene to the very first “A Nightmare on Elm Street” with my older brother. He told me that if I was already beginning to freak out over F
My first thought after watching **"The Imposter"**was that I had to think back to my seventeen year old self back in 1995 and try to remember if I had heard about the news story or not. Even though th
News programs were already polling the man on the street for soundbite reactions to hot button issues and marketers were mining kinda-big-data to determine what features consumers wanted in their next
The Disney philosophy for its animated features has been fairly simple: make a movie that will appeal to adults as well as children, and balance every laugh with a tear. That changed somewhat with "Be
It is an unpleasant truth that conscience usually carries a cost. Behind every feel-good story of justice achieved is a check paid in blood or dishonor or cold, hard reproach. Few films have demonstra
Like "Pinky and the Brain," each episode of "Phineas and Ferb" begins the same way, with the two main characters wondering what to do. But rather than trying to take over the world in every episod
Difficult economic times call for difficult choices. When the money gets tight and the husband skips town, some women take a second job, some get public assistance. And some take a job at a massage pa
*Funny and uplifting?*A drama about a wealthy quadriplegic and his caretaker, who happens to be an ex-con from the projects? It sounds more like the weeper of the week. Or a crime scene waiting to hap
People really love their pets. As someone who doesn’t own a pet, even I know that. In a lot of cases, people love their pets more than they love some of their own relatives, perhaps even immediate fam
It’s hard to watch a documentary focused on the American health care system these days and not draw comparisons to Michael Moore’s “Sicko.” Moore has a knack for taking a serious, hot-button issue, an