Category: Movie Reviews

BIG BUDGET FILMS Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (PG-13 for profanity, intense violence and disturbing images) 3-D Marvel Comics sequel finds stuntman-turned-demon hunter Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) emerging from his self-imposed exile to protect a woman (Violante Placido) with a young son (Fergus Riordan) from the devil incarnate (Johnny Whitworth). Cast includes Ciaran Hinds, Idris […]

Don’t let the political-sounding title mislead you. Watching TV with the Red Chinese is a cross-cultural period piece having precious little to do with the dissemination of propaganda behind the Bamboo Curtain. Set in the U.S. in the summer of 1980, this character-driven romantic dramedy is rather about a trio of transfer students’ awkward adjustment […]

The Tuskegee Airmen is the nickname given the 332nd Fighter Group, the first squadron of African-American aviators ever trained by the U.S. Air Force. Formed in 1940, the historic unit had to be stationed at a base on the campus of the Tuskegee Institute in Macon County, Ala., since the Armed Forces were still racially […]

Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) joined Mike Morris’ (George Clooney) presidential campaign out of a heartfelt conviction that the Pennsylvania governor was “the only one who’s going to make a difference in people’s lives.” And the idealistic press secretary’s bright-eyed enthusiasm has remained apparent even to casual observers like New York Times reporter (Marisa Tomei) who […]

BIG BUDGET FILMS Big Miracle (PG for mild epithets) Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski co-star in this romance drama about the resurrected relationship of a reporter and his environmentalist ex-girlfriend in the wake of their joining forces to save a family of gray whales trapped under the ice near the Arctic Circle. Supporting cast includes […]

She’s ugly. She’s dumb. She’s mean. She’s a mud duck. She’s covered in a layer of dirt that must be washed off. She’s pretty– to be so dark. These are some of the comments shared by dozens of women and children in the new documentary “Dark Girls: The Story of Color, Gender and Race” at […]

Over the course of her illustrious career, Meryl Streep has landed more Academy Award nominations (16 and counting) than any other thespian in history. Blessed not only with an enviable emotional range but a knack for feigning foreign accents and regional dialects, the versatile actress has repeatedly demonstrated an uncanny ability to disappear into whatever […]

Brad Pitt has positioned himself as a serious contender for an Academy Award by virtue of his engaging performance in this delightful bio-pic. For he is simply sensational as Billy Beane here, in an emotionally-uplifting, David vs. Goliath saga revolving around the amazing run of the Oakland Athletics during the 2002 season. The iconoclastic, A’s […]

Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker) is a high-powered, Boston investment banker whose boss (Kelsey Grammer) is ready to recommend his rising star for a big promotion. Trouble is the new position will involve longer hours and frequent overnight stays in New York, and the job has already been taking a toll on the stressed-out workaholic’s […]

Seventeen-year-old Alike (Adepero Oduye) has been hiding a big secret from her parents, namely, that she’s gay. But that fact is becoming more and more difficult for the latent lesbian to suppress, given the raging hormones that have her yearning for a girlfriend. Lately, she has struck up a platonic friendship with Laura (Pernell Walker), […]