What’s a classic love story without some stars crossing overhead? What’s a romantic comedy without family members getting in the way and embarrassing both themselves and the lovers in question? What can a potential bride do when her father insists on more tradition than she’s comfortable with? How can a penniless suitor earn that father’s…
About a year and a half ago (before I was writing for any sites), I went to the movie theater to go check out Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master,” a film that not only deeply sat with me, but had me thinking for days on end about its rich themes and utterly impressive display of…
Denis Villeneuve knows the truth: Spiders are evil. And now he’s made an entire movie about this. It’s hard to say whether Villeneuve is a genuine arachnophobe or just not a fan of the definitive creepy-crawly creatures, but his deliciously bleak head-trip thriller Enemy is absolutely littered with them. The arachnids are up to no…
I grew up in a time when young adult books were found in the children’s section of the bookstore and were simply fluff used to keep me quiet on long road trips. In recent years, though, young adult literature has found some serious strength, and the chances of finding a quality story are much better…
I’m a horror fan who teaches high school English, so a side effect of those combined characteristics is my knowledge of young adult (YA) fiction, and usually the darker stuff at that. I’ve read all of the Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games books like most people, and I’ve come away with mixed reactions (typically,…
It’s been 12 years since Jack Ryan has been on the big screen. Since then, Jason Bourne was introduced and conquered and James Bond was rebooted to follow suit. Now, with the Russians plotting to cripple the American economic markets, and Shakespearean director Kenneth Branagh (“Thor”) directing Chris Pine (“Star Trek Into Darkness”) as Tom…
When the beautiful, young Saoirse (pronounced “Seersha”) Ronan stunned us all with a fantastic performance as the title character in “Hanna,” it was easy to believe she’d soon be taking Hollywood by storm; little did we know that what she has in talent, she unfortunately seems to lack in wise decisions. First came the latest…
