Screen
‘When in Rome’ fails as romantic comedy
You'd think by now Hollywood would have romantic comedies down to a cell-phone ap any studio exec could access...
‘Howl’ is arty and difficult, and exactly right for the Sundance...
PARK CITY, Utah — We were not even four hours into Sundance John Cooper-style...
‘Saint John of Las Vegas’ has comedic timing
In "Saint John of Las Vegas," the hero's name is John "Alighieri," his job mentor is "Virgil," and the adversary they meet up with is "Lou Cipher...
Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar channel Jack Kerouac’s thesis
I remember my first experience with Jack Kerouac. I was on a classic literature binge; the more risqué, the better. I was in the midst of reading everything I could afford with my mangled selection of bills and picked up a copy of On the Road. All I knew about the ...
‘Book of Eli’ a throwaway post-apocalyptic religious parable
The 23rd Psalm, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” is the inspiration for the dark, moody film The Book of Eli, and though it takes quite a while to move beyond its Mad Max roots, it is ultimately a modern religious parable...
‘Spy Next Door’ not worth a ticket
I'm a lukewarm Jackie Chan fan. He’s been in some terrific films, notably Rush Hour and The Forbidden Kingdom, but he’s also been in a lot of movies that are stupid, including the Rush Hour sequels and the ghastly Around the World in 80 Days...
‘Tooth Fairy’ is a cavity
Dwayne Johnson tries to cash in on his "Game Plan"-proven kid appeal and Fox strains to find a little Disney-magic in "Tooth Fairy," a sugary blend of "Enchanted" and "Monsters, Inc." that will make you want to brush midway through it...
‘Extraordinary Measures’ is safe, not extraordinary
For its big screen debut, start-up studio CBS Films...
‘Armored’: Terrible tough guys
Ever wonder what kind of guy drives an armored car full of cash? Yeah, I never did either, but that’s the environment that Armored presents us with: a bunch of edgy, tough-guy losers who somehow have ended up as employees of Eagle Shield Security...