MOVIE REVIEWS: LAWLESS

It’s hard to remember a movie that received such divergent reviews as Australian director John Hillcoat’s Lawless, which opens today (Wednesday). That’s how it was at Cannes, when it was screened in competition last May, drawing boos and applause during the closing credits. The film, adapted by rock musician Nick Cave and starring Shia LaBeouf, […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: STEP UP REVOLUTION

Clearly one doesn’t go to the Step Up movies expecting a compelling story, gripping performances, or awesome special effects. They’re all about one thing: the dancing. More Bollywood than Hollywood. And they’re clearly not most critics’ cup of Darjeeling. So, how’s the dancing in Step Up Revolution? Frank Levece in Newsday says it’s OK. “While […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: TED

Raunchy? Yes. Funny? Yes. That’s the way most of the nation’s critics have voted in their reviews of Seth MacFarlane’s Ted. In fact, Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times minces no superlative: “The funniest movie character so far this year is a stuffed teddy bear. And the best comedy screenplay so far is Ted,” he […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: MEN IN BLACK 3D

One thing that the critics all agree on about Men in Black 3: It’s a significant improvement over the first sequel 10 years ago. Indeed, Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times argues that it’s better even than the 1997 original. “I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this belated sequel,” he writes, “But I had fun.” […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: THE DICTATOR

Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator is arriving today (Wednesday),, instead of on Friday, in an apparent effort to avoid the fate of several fellow dictators of late. The relatively low-budget comedy is arriving at a time when the box office is deluged with $100-200-million blockbusters. Baron Cohen has been relentlessly promoting the movie for months […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS

The unlikely winner of the award for best-reviewed movie of the weekend is Aardman Animation’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Of the major critics, only Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel sends it to the plank. “Amusing in small doses, Pirates is the first Aardman film to suffer a serious shortage of sight gags, the […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: THE LORAX

Having already transformed most of Theodor Geisel’s most popular Dr. Seuss books into successful movie and TV versions, Hollywood has now turned to a less-loved book, The Lorax, which delivered an environmental message long before such messages became controversial. It was regarded as one of Geisel’s “serious” kids books when it was published in 1971. […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: THE VOW

The Vow Is the kind of movie that requires a package of Kleenex to sit through — a “weepie,” the critics call it. The problem, some of them say, is that it’s not weepie enough. Writes Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times: “This is a movie that leaves you wanting more. To care more, […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: JOYFUL NOISE

Reviews for Joyful Noise are decidedly negative. It is, writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times, “a flimsy movie musical whose parts are pasted together with chewing gum and Scotch tape.” Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times concludes. ‘In trying so awkwardly to include a little something for everyone. Joyful Noise succeeds in finding […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: THE IRON LADY

Meryl Streep is receiving high praise for her performance as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady; the movie itself, not so much. Consider the closing paragraph of Betsy Sharkey’s review in the Los Angeles Times: “What helps elevate the film is the searing insight Streep brings to Thatcher’s aging; she catches […]

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