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…
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 1987 | 102 mins. | PG Director Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck is considered a romantic comedy classic by many. Released in 1987, the original screenplay by John Patrick Shanley (Doubt) mixes various storylines well, never giving any one plot…
Starz / Anchor Bay | 2010 | 292 min | NR The Walking Dead is based on a comic book series that began publication in 2003. Due to the strength and popularity of the comics, AMC bought the rights and…
Warner Bros. | 2010 | 95 mins. | R When I heard that director Todd Phillips was reuniting with Zach Galifianakis, I naturally thought the project had the makings of another laugh-till-you-drop comedy. Add Robert Downey Jr., one of the…