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.
While Despicable Me 2 may not contain as much charm or innocence of the original 2010 production, “Despicable Me,” it nevertheless includes enough fun, laughs, new characters and an interesting storyline to make it a fine family film in a season where good movie fare has certainly been difficult to come by. Again produced by…
I suppose I could just copy and paste my review of “Olympus Has Fallen” from two months ago and it would suffice to fill this space as well as describe the latest installment of another film about an attack upon the residence of the President of the United States. I could, but there are certainly…
While not reaching the heights of the original (or other Pixar classics such as “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” or “Ratatouille,” among others), Monsters University, a prequel to “Monsters, Inc.,” is a more than decent entry into the lexicon and is certainly light year’s ahead of the last two studio productions, “Cars 2” and “Brave.” It…
Any re-boot or re-make of a film franchise, no matter how well done, will inevitably draw comparisons to original or earlier productions (see “Batman Begins” or “The Amazing Spider-Man“). This is especially true of Zach Snyder’s (“300″) efforts to turn the “Superman” story on its ear by updating it through a series of multi-million dollar…
Wow. Who knew the End of Days would be filled with giant sinkholes, oversexed demons, the proliferation of the “F” word and a cameo appearance by the Backstreet Boys bathed in a thick haze of burnt high-grade weed? And who knew how the final judgment would affect a group of young comic actors, including James…
Making people laugh today must be the most difficult task in the world, much like a conservative winning a Nobel Peace Prize or a baseball player pulling off an unassisted triple play. Just look at some the recent comedies that have tried and failed: “Identity Thief,” “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” and “The Hangover Part 3.”…
The trick to any decent film featuring magic, or an element thereof, is to walk a tightrope between being just a bit smarter than the audience (or at least SOME members of it) and not being too accessible as to reveal too much to them. It is here in Now You See Me that director…
