Screen
It (almost) never works
Since American media sexualizes almost everything except sex, Hollywood romantic comedies about two people making hey-hey without any big plans for any big future rarely come easily or operate from a spirit of carnal delight. The strain of being hip and loose, yet ...
Weakling becomes hero
Uncle Sam Wants You!” the posters shouted during the 1940s, but what if you were too scrawny to pass the physical and fight for your country? That’s the dilemma faced by Brooklyn weakling Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in Captain America: The First Avenger...
Where’s the honey?
Winnie the Pooh, Disney’s latest film revival of A.A. Milne’s “willy, nilly, silly old bear,” is longer on charm than it is on laughs. Or length. But it’s a treat for children making their first trek to the multiplex and for parents and grandparents with fond ...
All’s well that ends well
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is a rare gift. Long-running film franchises generally either fade away or leave fans hanging. Director David Yates takes advantage of the opportunity to close the book on this series by creating a film finale that ...
reel to reel | Week of July 21, 2011
Bad Teacher Cameron Diaz gets in touch with her bad self as the world’s worst teacher, an alcoholic, drugusing party animal who tries to seduce a wealthy new substitute (Justin Timberlake). Rated R. At Century, Flatiron and Twin Peaks — Rene Rodriguez Beginners ...
‘Horrible’ pretty good
You can practically hear little coils of contempt tightening inside Jason Bateman every time he’s in a pickle on screen. In the new comedy Horrible Bosses, the Bateman specialty is the are-you-trying-to-tell-me response. At one point in the film, when confronted ...
Night at the zoo
We want the same thing from our comedians that we expect of great ballplayers — that they “leave it all on the field.” And Kevin James does that. From his various team-ups with Adam Sandler to Paul Blart: Mall Cop, James hurls himself at the physical shtick and ...
Special effects addicts only
If you’re a fan of special effects and seek entertainment on the big screen, a few hours of escape and some righteous butt-kicking and loud explosions, and if you’ve already enjoyed Transformers and have forgiven Michael Bay for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen...
Indifference wins the day
The best romantic comedies have a blithe, take-it-or-leave-it spirit. Larry Crowne has the opposite. It’s the neediest movie of 2011, and one of the phoniest...
Merchandise in lieu of a movie
Cars 2 had every chance to improve upon the leisurely 2006 animated feature from Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Studios. Yet here we are, stuck with a merchandising assembly line in lieu of a movie. Despite its technical and design finesse, this ranks as ...