Criterion | 1939 | 91 mins. | NR Making its debut at the Savoy Theater in 1885, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado was an immediate hit and went on to become one of their most enduring comic operas. Producer Richard…
Warner Bros. | 2010 | 80 mins. | G Yogi always was “smarter than the average bear.” However, having watched the Hanna-Barbera cartoon for years, I also remember him as funnier than the average bear. Unfortunately, the makers of this…
Criterion | 1984 | 88 mins. | NR Winner of the 1984 Oscar for Best Documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk is a gripping film that works on almost every level. Informative without being entirely one-sided, it’s also funny and…
Sony Pictures | 1986 | 88 mins. | R Based on the Stephen King short story “The Body,” the 1986 film Stand By Me is suffused with the magic of childhood. Expertly for the screen by Raynold Gideon and Bruce…
For their 50th feature-length cartoon, Disney has returned to the genre that defined the studio: fairy-tale princesses. With Tangled, Disney takes on the retelling of Rapunzel in a style we’ve come to expect—softening the edges and assuring a happy ending….
Sony Pictures | 2010 | 103 mins. | PG-13 Given the screenplay for The Tourist, if this were the 1950’s, Alfred Hitchcock would have directed and Cary Grant and Grace Kelly would have starred. Then Hitch would have gone on…
Lionsgate Films | 2010 | 101 mins. | PG-13 The Switch is the kind of film that makes me scratch my head. Nestled within the formulaic confines of a romantic comedy, is a a secondary plot of some surprising power….
Criterion | 1987 | 104 mins. | PG Set in occupied France in the early months of 1944, the students at a Catholic boarding school in Vichy, France live a somewhat sheltered life, largely shut off from the rest of…
Paramount Pictures | 2010 | 116 mins. | R Like Rocky, Raging Bull and many other boxing movies, The Fighter doesn’t offer a particularly original story. We get the underdog who achieves sports glory despite many disadvantages. Where The Fighter…
Paramount Pictures | 2010 | 100 min | R Frankly, I’ve never understood the fascination with Jackass. The long-running MTV series seems to glorify the foolishness of men apparently stuck in adolescence. They are constantly finding new ways to outdo…