Cinemascoping

Upon meeting Jack Reynor and Nicola Peltz you can tell that these two young performers are well aware that they’re lucky to be in the position they’re in.  While both these actors only have a handful of credits between them, they were both cast in one of the summer’s most eagerly awaited films, Transformers: Age […]

One would think that with over 30 films under his belt as a director that Clint Eastwood would be out of tricks.  And yet, with his big screen adaptation of the Broadway smash Jersey Boys, he not only breaks new ground for himself – as this is the first musical he’s directed – but is […]

Director Josh Boone had his work cut out for him with having to bring The Fault on Our Stars to the big screen.  Not only did he have a rabid fan base to answer to, but had to navigate the many pitfalls inherent to the tragic love story genre.  Having not read the best-selling novel […]

Some things are better left alone.  Sometimes, those who wear white hats shouldn’t have them tarnished while those who don the black version shouldn’t have them lightened.  Obviously, in life it’s better to understand how people become the way they are but as far as some forms of entertainment, absolutes are better where dramatic tension […]

 There’s nothing wrong with Jon Favreau’s Chef that an objective set of eyes and a judicious editor couldn’t fix.  Far too long as well as self-indulgent, this movie is obviously a passion project for the filmmaker who leaves no creative hat unworn as he writes, stars, directs and produces this slight entertainment.  He also called […]

In my mind, I’ve always thought of Seth MacFarlane as the Emperor with New Clothes of comedians.  While millions have embraced his Family Guy television show and hailed him as a comic genius, all I see is an overgrown class clown who’s somehow survived being beaten up by bullies and made it big in Hollywood.  […]

In the Marvel Comics Universe, the X-Men books were always the ones with a social conscience, focusing on issues of alienation and bigotry in whatever forms they may have taken during different phases of the series’ existence.  So it goes with the movies, as the Spider-Man films are more romp than circumstance, the Avengers universe […]

Just as Christopher Walken famously asked for “more cowbell” on Saturday Night Live, you may find yourself asking for “more Godzilla” while sitting through Gareth Edwards’ reboot of Japan’s most famous import.  Employing the same strategy he did with his low-budget debut “Monsters” (2010), the director toys with the audience, giving us glimpses here and […]