MOVIE REVIEWS: HIT & RUN

Ordinarily studio execs, meticulous students of demographics all, target women with romantic comedies and men with car-chase thrillers. With Hit & Run, which opens today (Wednesday), they’re aiming to capture them all with a rom-com/car-chase flick. And critics aren’t sure whether the ingredients have effectively been blended. It makes for “a strange, but strangely entertaining […]

FANS CHEER HOBBIT PREVIEW AT COMIC-CON

Reports coming out of Comic-Con about the screening of 12 minutes of scenes from director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings prequel(s), The Hobbit, had as much to do with fan reaction as with the preview itself. The Associated Press’s David Germain wrote, “If reaction to The Hobbit footage at Comic-Con is any indication, Peter […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: TO ROME WITH LOVE

Critics seem to find little to dislike about Woody Allen’s latest film, To Rome with Love. But, they suggest, like the title, it’s more like an amiable postcard from afar than a substantive, homey comedy, like his most memorable New York-based movies. Rex Reed in the New York Observer compares it with a “Hallmark Valentine,” […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: SAFE

Safe is expected to bomb at the box office this weekend. If it does, however, it won’t be because of the performance of its star, Jason Statham, which is being praised even by many critics who hate the movie. “There’s nothing terribly original about Safe, but it’s a suitably grimy playground for action cinema’s reigning […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

Arthur Christmas has already brought the gift of smiles to the faces of generally hard-boiled critics. It’s one of those animated films, they say, that parents don’t have to merely endure but can actually enjoy. There are “plenty of sly jokes for grown-ups,” Neil Genzlinger assures his readers in the New York Times, while Amy […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: THE THING

They’re calling the third rendition of The Thing, a prequel, but most critics indicate that there’s not much difference in the plot between the earlier Things and this one (including, obviously, the title). Several maintain that this version is no improvement on the earlier ones. David Germain of the Associated Press argues that “the new […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: SUBMARINE

Opening in limited release, the British coming-of-age film Submarine is being hailed by some critics as the emergence of a talented new writer director, Richard Ayoade. Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan calls him a “fresh and inventive cinematic voice” who has taken a familiar subject and “makes us feel like it’s never been told […]