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 | The End of a Franchise Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.
[b]Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs[/b], the third film in the [b]Ice Age[/b] franchise that began seven years ago is, despite the success of its predecessors, a bland and unengaging film that would be forgettable if not for the 3D that’s become the standard for family-oriented animated films. With 3D added into the mix, [b]Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs[/b] may be watchable, but the dearth of original ideas puts the movie at the back of the animated pack.More |  | Another Allen Misfire Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.
If [b]Whatever Works[/b], the latest film from prolific filmmaker Woody Allen, is any indication, it’s time for the well-past-his-prime Allen to take a respite from filmmaking, perhaps even a permanent one. A stale, tired rehash of ideas and themes that first appeared thirty years ago and have since been recycled repeatedly, but with Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Seinfeld") taking over as the neurotic misanthrope moviegoers are expected to love, [b]Whatever Works[/b] is, sadly a minor work from a filmmaker fading quickly into the twilight of his career.More |  | Family Drama (and Trauma) Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.
When a bestselling novel makes the jump from the printed page to the big screen, fans inevitably compare the adaptation to the source material, often finding fault in the adaptation for a lack of faithfulness or fidelity to the novel. Sometimes, however, filmmakers err in the opposite direction, in sticking so closely to what they perceive are the novel’s unique qualities that they forgot that narrative techniques that work on the page often don’t work in a primarily visual medium like film.More |  | Action-Heavy Remake Scores (Mostly) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
In less than two months, Hollywood has inundated multiplexes with prequels, sequels and reboots ([b]X-Men Origins: Wolverine[/b], [b] Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian [/b], [b]Terminator Salvation[/b]). This week, Hollywood returns to form with [b]The Taking of Pelham, 1, 2, 3[/b], a suspenseful, action-heavy remake of the gritty, gripping 1974 hostage drama.More |  | Uneven Relationship Drama Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.
A collaboration between filmmaker Sam Mendes and screenwriters Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, [b]Away We Go[/b] focuses on the excesses, failings, and complications inherent in the American Dream, at least as seen through the traditional nuclear family. Unlike Mendes’ previous film, [b]Revolutionary Road[/b], [b]Away We Go[/b] ultimately presents a far more optimistic take on heterosexual relationships, monogamy, and parenting.More |  | Men Behaving Really Badly Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
In a summer season jammed with big-budget, high-concept sci-fi blockbusters along comes [b]The Hangover[/b], the latest male-oriented comedy from director Todd Phillips. An unabashedly crude, rude and vulgar journey into the male psyche, [b]The Hangover[/b] is relentlessly, unmercifully hilarious, skewering everything and anything related to heterosexual male anxiety but never skimping on sight gags or character-based verbal humor. [b]The Hangover[/b] succeeds where far too many male-oriented comedies fail: in being consistently, outrageously hilarious from the first scene to the closing credits.More |  | Yet Another Unnecessary Sequel Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.
Two-and-a-half years ago, [b]Night at the Museum[/b], a lackluster, family-oriented fantasy adventure, became a surprise hit, making $250 million in North America alone and $574 million worldwide. A sequel was, of course, inevitable and a sequel is what family audiences will get this weekend with the awkwardly titled [b]Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian[/b]. Not all sequels, however, are made equal.More |  | Jarmusch in Minimalist Mode Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
[b]The Limits of Control[/b], the first film from writer-director Jim Jarmusch in four years, is an allusive, elliptical, existentialist anti-narrative where everyday rituals and the rhythms gain new, often elusive meaning. A return to Jarmusch’s preoccupations with identity, alienation, isolation, and the limits of language and culture, [b]The Limits of Control[/b] will definitely reward Jarmusch’s fans or moviegoers with a taste for the challenging, intellect-stretching films made by Michelangelo Antonioni or Jarmusch’s contemporary, Wong Kar-Wai.More |  | Not Quite a Symphony Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Nothing says “Oscar bait” like a “based on a true story” film centered on the redemptive friendship between a lonely, divorced writer and a mentally ill, homeless musician. Add to that Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winners in front of and behind the cameras and you have a seemingly perfect formula for Oscar success. Unfortunately, Joe Wright’s ([b]Atonement[/b], [b]Pride and Prejudice[/b]) third film, [b]The Soloist[/b], from a screenplay by Susannah Grant and based on Steve Lopez’s newspaper series and the subsequent non-fiction book, is hitting movie theaters two months after Oscar statues have been handed out.More |  | A Perceptive Character Study Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the writing, directing, and producing duo whose first film, [b]Half-Nelson[/b], justifiably received critical acclaim, are back with their second film, [b]Sugar[/b], another character study, this time focusing on a Dominican baseball player’s experiences in the United States minor leagues and the personal and professional problems he encounters as he attempts to become a major leaguer. Infused with the attention to psychological detail and socio-cultural context that made [b[Half-Nelson[/b] worthwhile, [b]Sugar[/b] thankfully avoids the “sophomore jinx”.More |
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