Marvel‘s venerable web-slinger returns to protect the city from Electro, the Green Goblin and OsCorp in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I grew up with what’s called “Retro Spider-Man” — an animated series that originally ran from 1967 to 1970. Even with its occasionally outrageous plots and rather low-quality animation, every kid in the neighborhood was a huge […]
An estranged common thief is captivated by a beautiful, quirky resident of the estate he intended to rob in Winter’s Tale. The parents of Peter Lake (Colin Farrell), hoping for a better life for their infant son, set him afloat in a model boat after being denied entry into the United States in the late […]
When I first heard about the planned adaptation of The Hobbit, I thought that the book would translate well into a long, amazing movie. Later on, the project passed through many hands before landing back where it belonged in the lap of director Peter Jackson. In the era of adapting single books into multiple films […]
Hans Christian Andersen‘s classic tale The Snow Queen is reimagined in Frozen, Disney‘s latest animated feature. In the kingdom of Arendelle, there are two young girls — Princess Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) and her younger sister, Princess Anna (Kristen Bell). Elsa’s a precocious young girl with a very special secret — she can transform anything into ice and snow. As […]
We’re now in the midst of a glut of movies based on Marvel superheroes and other characters, and there’s no sign of it letting up. For comic book fanboys, this is great; for the rest of moviegoers, it may not be so exciting. I’ll cross my fingers that things don’t decline to the point that there’s […]
An awkward, socially inept 21-year-old finds out that every man in his family has an incredible special ability and sets out to make the most of it in About Time. Here we meet Tim (Domhnall Gleeson aka Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter films) who, upon turning 21, is told by his father (Bill Nighy) the extraordinary […]
The Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie. Period. It has everything I like about a great adventure or musical — memorable characters, catchy tunes, quests, a really evil character, comic relief, amazing special effects (for the time), a talented lead actress and even flying monkeys. Imagine my surprise when I learned that they were going […]
The unoriginal plot meandered its way along like a stoned senior looking for a snack.
I avoided the fraternities and sororities in college except for the parties. Some of those were quite wild and involved all kinds of drinking stunts and things I wouldn’t even consider today. That kind of spirit infuses Monsters University, but the emphasis is on scares instead of drinking. This is the first prequel to a […]
You’ve all heard the expression “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.” I would say that it’s true in most cases. Oz The Great and Powerful may just be that exception. With the word “Oz” in its title, a structure much like the classic […]
Gimmicks or unconventional plot conventions in movies work only as much as they are supported by the story or other major elements. The black-and-white segments of The Wizard of Oz work so well because they truly balance the rest of the story and take place in a different world. Upside Down tries something creative that […]
James Franco materializes in the form of the famous wizard in the prequel tale of Oz The Great And Powerful. The story takes us back to the merry old land of Oz to revisit the famous L. Frank Baum characters from The Wizard of Oz. Just about everyone here knows the tale as it’s been […]