I love movies, tech, politics, games and more. I've been writing professionally since 1985 and, thankfully, have worked with some of the best editors in the business. I'm also a proud member of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle and the Broadcast Film Critics Association (Critics Choice Awards).
Dramatic climate change suddenly threatens the existence of a solitary caveman family in the new animated film from Dreamworks—The Croods. The main plot of The Croods is pretty typical in that it takes current day aspects of everyday life and pastes them onto a Paleolithic family. The father, Grug (voiced by Nicolas Cage), is obsessed […]
Timeline is a simple little game that we’ve been playing of late. The core game (now more accurately referred to as Timeline: Inventions) comes with 110 cards that depict inventions throughout human history. The cards have a picture of the invention on both sides and its name. On just one side of the card you’ll […]
It’s dull, flat and extremely predictable almost in an insulting fashion.
An unassuming local adman is recruited to head up the messaging for a referendum vote to determine the fate of Chile’s long-time dictator in the new foreign film, No. In 1988, under intense worldwide pressure, Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet decided to allow his people to vote on whether he should run the country for another […]
Veteran 911 operator Halle Berry is pushed to the breaking point, along with the audience, when she takes The Call. This is the latest thriller from director Brad Anderson who last kept audiences on the edge of their seat with his 2008 tension-inducer, Transsiberrian (though I wasn’t one of them). The Call focuses on Jordan Turner […]
Matthew Fox stars as a World War II general who walks a tightrope between revenge and justice for Japan’s divine leader in Emperor. Fox plays Brigadier General Bonner Fellers, a member of General Douglas MacArthur‘s staff. MacArthur is recreated here in commendable fashion by Tommy Lee Jones. The movie literally starts off with a big bang as […]
Hunger, obesity and their potential causes are scrutinized in the new documentary from the makers of Food, Inc. called A Place at the Table. The film points out that, in the 1970s, the will was there to end hunger in the United States. Action by the government nearly eradicated the epidemic only to have it storm back […]
James Franco materializes in the form of the famous wizard in the prequel tale of Oz The Great And Powerful. The story takes us back to the merry old land of Oz to revisit the famous L. Frank Baum characters from The Wizard of Oz. Just about everyone here knows the tale as it’s been […]
Israel’s interior security service—the Shin Bet—is the target of a surprising documentary in The Gatekeepers. The most fascinating element of the movie is that it’s very much a self-examination as the only people interviewed are the very individuals who led the organization for the last 30 years—and this is the first time they’ve ever spoken on record. […]
Dwayne Johnson is the star of Snitch, a new action/drama about a small business owner named John Matthews, who has to go to the extreme to get his son out of a very tight noose. When it comes to Johnson I have to continually wonder if I’ll ever see him in a film where I’m […]
Beautiful Creatures is a supernatural story involving two main characters—Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) and Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich)—who are drawn to one another in more than the typical ways usually associated with love affairs. The supporting cast is top-notch including Jeremy Irons as Lena’s overprotective uncle, Emma Thompson as her mother, Viola Davis as the […]
The latest Nicholas Sparks novel to be filmed is Safe Haven. It’s another romance surrounded by elements that threaten an otherwise obvious love affair. I must admit that I’m a huge fan of The Notebook which has gotten me no shortage of curious looks from various friends but I still contend it’s a great love […]