movie review – News Stories About movie review - Page 49

Sep 28, 2007 11:47 AM CDT

As Serious Film, 'Kingdom' Falls

Unrealistic action movie doesn't carry the weight it wants to, critics say

(Newser) - The Kingdom, starring Jamie Foxx and directed by Peter Berg, wants to be a thoughtful action movie about terrorism—part Rambo, part Syriana, muses the Washington Post. Instead, Newsday says, it's a “clamorous and patronizing” popcorn flick, that EW calls “shameless” in pushing audiences’ buttons.

Do Not Adjust
Your Flat Panel TV

Sep 23, 2007 5:06 AM CDT

Do Not Adjust Your Flat Panel TV

Joe Morgenstern on the problem with flat panel TV

(Newser) - The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Morgenstern needs you to know that you’re watching your HDTV wrong. Next generation televisions are built for a 16:9 aspect ratio, he explains, so normal TV’s 4:3-formatted programming only looks right when bordered by black boxes. But TV owners who...

'Eastern Promises' Makes Good

Sep 21, 2007 9:43 AM CDT

'Eastern Promises' Makes Good

Russian mob thriller a worthy follow up to History of Violence

(Newser) - Eastern Promises, like director David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence before it, is a crime thriller starring Viggo Mortensen. And like Violence, critics love it. Its Russian mobsters transplanted to London are not characters, Roger Ebert raves, but “plausible human beings.” Mortensen stands out, having “just...

Critics Riding High on Western
'3:10 to Yuma'

Sep 7, 2007 6:47 AM CDT

Critics Riding High on Western '3:10 to Yuma'

Remake is fast paced, well acted, but ending is 'murky'

(Newser) - Critics are saddling up for "3:10 to Yuma," a remake of a Western that “moves like a barn on fire,” according to Newsday’s Jan Stuart. It's director James Mangold's "most sustained and evocative work," touts the New Yorker. The morally nuanced film...

Blanchett 'Astonishing' as Dylan

Sep 5, 2007 4:38 PM CDT

Blanchett 'Astonishing' as Dylan

From Venice film festival, British critic lauds unconventional bio

(Newser) - I'm Not There, director Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan biopic, has gained at least one fan in the Telegraph's David Gritten. More "symbolist poem" than conventional biography, the film portrays Dylan in various guises, including an 11-year-old black actor and Cate Blanchett in the film's "tour de force."...

Critics Paddle Balls of Fury

Aug 31, 2007 4:47 AM CDT

Critics Paddle Balls of Fury

Lame ping-pong comedy lacks bounce, reviewers grumble

(Newser) - Balls of Fury is barely getting it over the net, according to most critics, who find the ping-pong-meets-martial-arts comedy lifeless and unfunny. “It's the kind of comedy that finds Asian people hi-lar-ious because they're...Asian. (Are you laughing yet?)," writes Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman.

'Superbad' Still Has Soul at Box Office

Aug 26, 2007 2:39 PM CDT

'Superbad' Still Has Soul at Box Office

Out-laughs the competition for second week; highest-grossing debut is 'Mr. Bean'

(Newser) - Movie fans are filling the last week before school starts by going to the flicks their friends liked: “Superbad,” “The Bourne Ultimatum” and “Rush Hour 3” kept drawing them in with the top 3 spots this week. Rowan Atkinson's “Mr. Bean's Holiday” took surprise swipes...

Ang Lee's 'Lust' Too Hot for Hollywood

Aug 25, 2007 1:45 PM CDT

Ang Lee's 'Lust' Too Hot for Hollywood

Ratings group slaps 'Brokeback' director's new flick with NC-17

(Newser) - Focus Features says it will stand by Ang Lee and his racy new war flick “Lust, Caution,” even though a movie trade group branded the film NC-17. The film industry's Scarlet Letter could cost the pic audiences, ad dollars, and theater distribution, but Focus CEO James Schamus said...

'Champ' Packs a Weak Punch

Aug 24, 2007 11:45 AM CDT

'Champ' Packs a Weak Punch

(Newser) - The newsroom-meets-boxing-ring drama "Resurrecting the Champ" is slow on its feet, critics say, weighed down by its own sentimentality, despite a powerful performance by Samuel L. Jackson—"slumming again in a role miles beneath him," writes Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post—and a taste of the...

This 'Nanny' Is No 'Devil'

Aug 24, 2007 9:08 AM CDT

This 'Nanny' Is No 'Devil'

Credits don't see much to like about "The Nanny Diaries"

(Newser) - One-dimensional characters and wooden acting cripple "The Nanny Diaries," critics say, calling the lavishly appointed frustrated-underling tale similar to "The Devil Wears Prada" in everything except quality. "They should've thrown everything away except the title and the outline," writes Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune.

'Superbad' More Super Than Bad

Aug 17, 2007 9:40 AM CDT

'Superbad' More Super Than Bad

Dirty but adorable teen romp looks like a non-sleeper sleeper hit

(Newser) - Superbad, the tale of two high school seniors' attempts to get laid in a single day and night, is an honest teen comedy in the mold of recent movies that are foul-mouthed and raunchy but actually kind of sweet, critics say. Says Carina Chocano of the LA Times, "for...

Americans Race to 'Rush Hour 3'

Aug 12, 2007 7:30 PM CDT

Americans Race to 'Rush Hour 3'

Franchise's third film fails to match second installment

(Newser) - Critics tried to slash its tires, but Rush Hour 3 still raced to the top of the box office this weekend. The Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker vehicle gauged $50.2 million according to studio estimates, though falling short of the franchise’s second installment Rush Hour 2, which earned $67.4...

Rush Hour 3 Runs Out of Gas

Aug 10, 2007 7:07 AM CDT

Rush Hour 3 Runs Out of Gas

Recycled gags fall flat in tired buddy comedy

(Newser) - Legendary martial artist Jackie Chan teams up with peppy funnyman Chris Tucker for the third time since 1998 in Rush Hour 3, but critics are panning the film, opening today, as a flat-tire addition to the buddy-comedy franchise. "It’s a generically crummy action flick. It’s ugly. It’...

'Bourne' Is a Bullet of a Movie

Aug 3, 2007 8:51 AM CDT

'Bourne' Is a Bullet of a Movie

'Easily the best action thriller of the year,' raves USA Today

(Newser) - America's favorite amnesiac CIA agent, Jason Bourne, is caught up again in fast-paced and far-flung action in the thinking-man's thriller threequel The Bourne Ultimatum, which critics gave high marks for both psychological acuity and adrenaline. The New York Post calls Ultimatum a "potent PowerBar of a movie—all protein...

Mmm . . .Good Reviews

Jul 27, 2007 7:55 AM CDT

Mmm . . .Good Reviews

Critics agree The Simpsons Movie is funny, but could have been more daring

(Newser) - Critics are overwhelmingly pleased by The Simpsons Movie, even if they agree it doesn't push the envelope further than usual. By all accounts, rapid-fire sight gags and one-liners keep diehards and casual fans alike in giggles. Even naysayers, like the LA Times, don't argue it's not funny, just that it...

'Hairspray' Sets Critics on Fire

Jul 20, 2007 3:48 PM CDT

'Hairspray' Sets Critics on Fire

High-camp movie version charms even the skeptical

(Newser) - With its cheerfully loony evocation of the 60s, "Hairspray" has scored big with reviewers. "The movie's style and exuberance torpedoed my misgivings within seconds," says the LATimes. The movie-turned-musical-turned-movie is also being praised for its star turns, by a fatsuited John Travolta and plump newcomer Nikki Blonsky....

Mesmerizing Harry Potter Sweeps into Movie Theaters

Jul 10, 2007 5:40 AM CDT

Mesmerizing Harry Potter Sweeps into Movie Theaters

Order of the Phoenix casts a spell on critics—well, most of them, anyway

(Newser) - Holy Quidditch! Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix flies onto the silver screen tomorrow just two weeks before the ballyhooed release of the final book of the wizard saga. It seems to have cast a spell on critics, like Rolling Stone's Peter Travers, who says it will "...