In 1845, a crowd gathers in a field as a young girl is hooded and hoisted into the air by a rope tied to an old oak tree. The men surrounding the base of the tree light a fire, and a priest prays aloud, holding a doll in his hands. The crowd does nothing to…
This latest Disney picture, Beauty and the Beast, joins a growing list of live-action movies which traces its origins to animated films, including “The Jungle Book,” “Pete’s Dragon,” “Cinderella” and “Maleficent,” among others. The bar here, however, is just a bit higher, considering the 1991 edition became the first animated feature to earn a Best…
For those who believe sequels are and integral part of the filmmaking process, I present the following recent exhibits: “The Hangover Part II,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Ted 2.” Yes, I realize there are also other examples where the sequel bested the original, such as “The Godfather Part II,” “Superman…
If you thought you had seen the last of Charlize Theron hamming it up as the icy, evil queen Ravenna in “Snow White and the Huntsman,” then you’d be sadly mistaken because she is back in The Huntsman: Winter’s War. But it gets better than that . . . Emily Blunt joins in on the…
In the battle of the 2014 Hercules flicks, Brett Ratner’s sly little smash-em-up, Hercules clearly emerges the victor over Renny Harlin’s unintentionally hilarious blunder, “The Legend of Hercules” from earlier in the year. This should come as no surprise to anyone who’s so much as glimpsed a shot from the cheapo origin pic or even…
Feeling very much like a a mix of “Gladiator” and “Clash of the Titans,” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures presents the first full trailer for Hercules. In it Hercules (played by everyone’s favorite wrestler turned actor, Dwayne Johnson) just wants to be left alone and care for his family. Unfortunately for the man who just so…
