Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, April 4,2013

Host’s trite execution

Author Stephenie Meyer does the same to Jack Finney’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers with The Host as what she did to the vampire myth in Twilight – namely dumb it down with a sappy teen r

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, March 28,2013

The Call not worth taking

By Chuck Koplinski

If there’s one thing I realized while watching Brad Anderson’s The Call, it’s that a documentary on 911 call centers and the people who work there would probably make for a fascinati

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, March 28,2013

Change is good in The Croods

By Chuck Koplinski

While Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders’ The Croods shows you can teach an old caveman new tricks, it also drives home the point that some things never change, namely that teenagers will rebel and

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, March 21,2013

Wonderstone encourages us to be amazed

By Chuck Koplinski

My obsession with film began at an early age, and I got my hands on every book I could find on the subject at the local library. It was my father’s fault that I had gotten hooked on cinema, and

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, March 21,2013

More to Admission

By Chuck Koplinski

About 15 minutes into Paul Weitz’s fine new film Admission, Princeton admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is put through the ringer by a group of exceptionally smart high schoolers who q

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, March 14,2013

Raimi and Franco save new Oz

By Chuck Koplinski

Is Sam Raimi’s Oz the Great and Powerful a foolhardy endeavor to cash in on one of the most beloved films of all time or an honorable addition to the folklore of this classic slice of Americana?

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, March 7,2013

Johnson shows surprising range in compelling Snitch

By Chuck Koplinski

Based on a true story, Ric Roman Waugh’s Snitch is far better than it has any right to be. As a vehicle for Dwayne Johnson, going a far way toward putting his “Rock” image in the pas

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, March 7,2013

Quartet a showcase for veteran English cast

By Chuck Koplinski

Sporting much the same vibe that made The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel a surprise hit and even featuring one of the stars of that sleeper, Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, Quartet is a pleasant

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, February 28,2013

Sluggish Skies fails to realize potential

By Chuck Koplinski

There’s a fine line between building suspense and testing an audience’s patience as well as having the instinct to know when you’ve crossed it. With his first two features, Legion an

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, February 28,2013

Jack revitalizes classic tale

By Chuck Koplinski

While Hollywood studios are often criticized for having a lack of imagination where feature films are concerned (too many sequels and reboots, thank you) and have been knocked recently for plumbing th