The Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie. Period. It has everything I like about a great adventure or musical — memorable characters, catchy tunes, quests, a really evil character, comic relief, amazing special effects (for the time), a talented lead actress and even flying monkeys. Imagine my surprise when I learned that they were going […]

Vin Diesel first entered the consciousness of moviegoers with Pitch Black (2000) and The Fast and the Furious a year later even though he had small roles in Saving Private Ryan and Boiler Room. Diesel knows how to give back to his fans and doesn’t snub his nose at the movies that propelled him to […]

Some sequels are logical extensions of other properties. Think of how the X-Men movies led to the Wolverine films. Planes is also an offshoot of another popular property. Billed as “From above the World of Cars,” it does truly concentrate on the aerial citizens of that universe. That doesn’t limit the characters to those of […]

A group of friends and a local hippie they pick up along the way search for the ultimate high and some meaning in their lives in Crystal Fairy. There are great films. There are lousy films, and then there are films that remind me why I felt I had something to contribute to the glut […]

Adaptations from comic books don’t always lead to superhero movies. The comic book industry has enough variety, especially with the independent publishers, to generate gems like The Walking Dead in addition to the latest Spider-Man and Batman titles. The filmmakers behind R.I.P.D. dug deep to unearth this unusual story. Dark Horse Comics released the series […]

The team from the surprise action/comedy hit of 2010 is back in action with the all-new sequel RED 2. Bruce Willis and John Malkovich are back, starring as retired CIA black-ops agents Frank Moses and Marvin Boggs respecitvely. Frank’s settled down into a rather mundane existence as the live-in boyfriend of Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) when Marvin […]

Gru and family return for a sequel to the 2010 smash-hit original in Despicable Me 2. In the new installment, Gru has given up his evildoing aspirations in order to focus on being the best father he can be for his three girls — Margo, Edith and Agnes. Unfortunately, his evil past means he’s also the best […]

Many moons ago, kemosabe, Will Smith was the talk of the trail as he dominated the Fourth of July movies with Independence Day and then Men in Black. Greedy producers thought that they could produce the same magic once again, and they pushed their luck with a Western called Wild Wild West. Similarly, the folks […]

Brad Pitt looks to save his family and, reluctantly, the rest of humanity from a new pathogen that turns the infected into bloodthirsty zombies in World War Z. Speaking of reluctance, I’ve never been a big fan of zombie films. I’ve generally found them to be as mindless as the zombies themselves. There have been […]

The unoriginal plot meandered its way along like a stoned senior looking for a snack.

Zombies are all the rage these days thanks to the success of the TV series The Walking Dead, which follows a long line of other zombie films, TV shows, comic books and books. It all goes back to Night of the Living Dead, but there have been all kinds of interpretations that lead to unique […]

I avoided the fraternities and sororities in college except for the parties. Some of those were quite wild and involved all kinds of drinking stunts and things I wouldn’t even consider today. That kind of spirit infuses Monsters University, but the emphasis is on scares instead of drinking. This is the first prequel to a […]