I have been a movie fan for most of my life and a film critic since 1986 (my first published review was for "Platoon"). Since that time I have written for several news and entertainment publications in California, Utah and Idaho. Big fan of the Academy Awards - but wish it would go back to the five-minute dinner it was in May, 1929. A former member of the San Diego Film Critics Society and current co-host of "The Movie Guys," each Sunday afternoon on KOGO AM 600 in San Diego with Kevin Finnerty.
“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” was a television series that ran from 1964 to 1968. It was actually misnamed because it concerned TWO men — an American, Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn, Oscar-nominated for “The Young Philadelphians”) and a Soviet, Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum, “A Night to Remember”) — who worked for an espionage organization called “U.N.C.L.E.”…
With film franchises rebooting every few years, it’s surprising that this series took so long to take the plunge. The first version, “Fantastic Four,” was released by 20th Century Fox in the summer of 2005, when critics called it, “’Spider-Man’ times four,” although at the time, I described it as “Spider-Man” *divided* by four, since…
Who would have thought that a British claymation effort with no (intelligible) dialogue would end up being on of the funniest films of the year? Well, when the competition is “Spy,” “Trainwreck,” “Vacation” and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,” among others, the victory wasn’t difficult to achieve. Still, there is certainly something to be said…
Although the makers of Vacation are saying the film is a sequel and not a remake of its 1983 predecessor, “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” it’s difficult to see it as anything but. The plotlines are so similar it could be sued for identity theft: A goofy, but loving and cheery father (in this case, Ed Helms,…
Critics (and others I suppose) have been gunning for this film, Pixels, long before it hit the big screen and not without good reason. First of all, anything with the name “Adam Sandler” attached to it pretty much means movie disaster. Recent examples include “Just Go With It,” “Bedtime Stories,” “Jack and Jill” and the…
Trainwreck. Rarely has there been a more appropriately named film than this one, except like an actual train wreck, I COULD look away from this picture, I just wish I had more often. There are few things even remotely redeemable — or humorous — about this picture, written by Amy Schumer (also the star of…
Ant-Man is an engagingly decent entry into the Marvel/Disney Studios lexicon, fitting comfortably between “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Thor: The Dark World” and with the hero’s inclusion in the upcoming third Avengers picture, should build its status immeasurably. It also allows another actor with no action status, Paul Rudd, to cut his teeth on…
