Screen
Many unhappy returns
The hackneyed, half-assed backstory for the lead character in Happy Death Day involves the tragic loss of her mother, which doesn’t actually feel sad...
reel to reel | Week of July 28, 2011
The 400 Blows François Truffaut sensitively re-creates the trials of his own difficult childhood in The 400 Blows, the film that marked his emergence as one of Europe’s most brilliant auteurs and signaled the beginning of the French New Wave. Talk back after 7 p.m. ...
‘The Wolverine:’ Better Orient-ed
X-Men Origins: Wolverine was the kind of movie that is released with apologies and finger-pointing. After his first solo stint landed with the grace and majesty of a wet fart, odds were stacked against a sequel for Wolvie. But if Hugh Jackman can forcibly warble Les ...
Passing jerks
Reduced to butt-baring eye candy, Passengers feels like Chris Pratt was made to do a Game of Thrones-esque “Walk of Shame.” What’s that, Chris?...
Frozen is a bit childish, but that’s OK
Dangling from the edge of Mount Treacly, overlooking the icy abyss of Cliché River, Frozen hurls a Bechtel rope and swings itself to safety in the nick of time. And just in case you miss the climax’s blatantly obvious flipping of established Disney gender roles, ...
‘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...
Hurts so good
Good science fiction makes you ask hard questions. Things like “What is the true core of human nature?” and “Do they really expect us...
8-bit-o’-honey
For a generation weaned on more Mario than Mother Goose, Wreck-It Ralph has been a long time coming. An 8-bit fairy tale with a burly bruiser in the role of the misunderstood princess, it skews a tad more prepubescent than Pixar but shares similar DNA. Writers ...
Unmixed tape
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 feels like a suitor who discovered that his beloved enjoys chocolate and then filled an Olympic-sized swimming pool...
Not quite naughty, definitely not nice
It’s almost impressive to put together such a cornucopia of talent, such a veritable cavalcade of funny folks, and produce something this listless and...
