Now and then

0

Off to the races

0

Screen

Movie for schmucks

0
Dinner for Schmucks is a remake for schlemiels, or at least easy marks when it comes to formulaic Hollywood comedy. But the film’s peculiar sluggishness and nagging hypocrisy probably won’t get in the way of its popularity. It has a lot of funny people going for ...

Well-seasoned action flick

0
After her uninspired acting in the tedious Wanted, I was leery about seeing Angelina Jolie in another action film, though I loved her as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. She’s back in fine form in Salt, however, as tough CIA field agent Evelyn Salt, forced to clear her ...

Child’s tale come to life

0
Know how to give mild G-rated fare a little something special? Cast Sandra Oh as an elementary school teacher who enjoys her orderly ways and who regards the Ramona half of Ramona and Beezus, taken from the venerable Beverly Cleary children’s books, as more ...

Loopz fits in a video game-infested world

0
In 2010 most kids have at least one video game system. Whether it’s a Nintendo DS or Sony PSP, a Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360, video games seem to dominate a considerable amount of a kid’s leisure time. You don’t often see kids playing with board games and toys like they did...

Nolan delivers again

0
Inception is one of the most complicated stories I’ve ever seen on the big screen, but if you can figure out what’s going on, it’s an amazing movie filled with mind-boggling visuals and an intriguing exploration of the subconscious. It might also be the best movie ...

Magic needed

0
I really liked Fantasia (1940) as a kid and recall being amazed at how well the music and animation synchronized in one of the most trippy of the Disney animated films. The centerpiece of Fantasia was the Sorcerer’s Apprentice scene, where Mickey Mouse used magic ...

Hunters becoming hunted

0
The 1987 film Predator inspired a number of spinoffs, from the inane (Alien vs. Predator) to the ghastly (Predator 2), and it was definitely time for a reboot before the titular hunter became a tedious cliché. Predators is a nonstop thrill ride of an action film, ...

Too much violence — despicable

0
Despicable Me is a surprisingly violent animated movie that suffers from being released within a few weeks of Toy Story 3. Where Toy Story 3 has warm characters who seek to do well by each other, Despicable Me is populated by characters who constantly hurt each ...

Swing and a miss

0
Dame Helen Mirren as a toughtalking Nevada brothel madam? We like to think our finest screen performers can play anyone. Mirren, whose career has encompassed the full spectrum of human behavior, from queens to gangster’s molls, is fully capable of tackling a ...

M. Night trips and falls in the dark

0
According to The Last Airbender — the latest 3-D offering in theaters, yet barely functional in 2-D or even 1-D — the world’s separate kingdoms are built around fire, air, water, earth and impenetrable, rock-hard exposition. Bringing those first four to the ...

Sam and Max deliver the laughs again

0
 It was a boring weekday night when I stumbled across what I thought was a relic from my youth: a Sam and Max video game, fully restored and buyable from the Playstation Network store. But I was wrong. Delightfully wrong. The game I had found was Sam & Max: The Devil...

Delightful con artists

0
Sean-Pierre Jeunet hasn’t directed many films, but they’ve all been terrific, distinctive and stylish. Two you’ll hopefully have enjoyed already are The City of Lost Children and the weird Amélie. With Micmacs (original title Micmacs à tire-larigot) Jeunet moves ...