Movie Reviews

Shrek, Donkey and Princess Fiona are hardly missed in “Puss in Boots,” the “Shrek” spin-off featuring Antonio Banderas as the cunning feline hero. It doesn’t match the wit of the first two “Shrek” movies, but there’s enough fresh humor and colorful action for it to overtake “Shrek the Third” and “Shrek Forever After” in the […]

In politics, loyalty is more important than doing the right thing. So says “The Ides of March,” the political thriller directed, co-written and co-starring George Clooney.  Set during a Democratic presidential primary race, “Ides of March” doesn’t have a positive opinion on the business of politicking. Even the players who work with a self-established ethical

There are two halves to “50/50” that wouldn’t be very entertaining if they each expanded into its own full-length movie. A movie about fighting a rare form of cancer isn’t many people’s idea of escapist entertainment. And watching Seth Rogen laugh through yet another raunchy stoner comedy wouldn’t be so annoying had he not already

Any movie that makes villains out of the New York Yankees is good in my book. “Moneyball” is about much more than baseball, though the central premise is excellent movie fodder: A small-market baseball team finds a unique way to compete against the high-payroll juggernauts of the league.  Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (Brad

The moody, violent “Drive” begins with the best single sequence on film in 2011. Ryan Gosling plays an unnamed driver for hire on what is, for him, a routine evening of evading police helicopters and squad cars. This isn’t a fast cutting car chase out of the “Bourne” franchise. The Driver takes the most logical

Considering the “Planet of the Apes” franchise basically fizzled immediately following the 1968 original (then hit rock bottom 10 years ago with that atrocious Marky Mark remake), I was expecting “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” to be this summer’s most colossal bomb. Color me surprised. The new “Apes” film, technically a prequel to the original film, is one of the season’s most compelling spectacles. Using its special effects to compliment a story rather

You definitely get cowboys and aliens in the science-fiction/Western mash-up “Cowboys & Aliens.” You just don’t get much else. Despite a promising nighttime alien attack in the opening act, the movie stumbles into the dullest cliches of both genres. Harrison Ford, at least, brings his towering charisma to the proceedings.

After “Thor,” “X-Men: First Class” and Green Lantern” this summer, moviegoers might be experiencing a bit of superhero fatigue. Understandable, but “Captain America: The First Avenger” provides a fresh enough take on the genre to make one more trip to the big screen worthwhile this summer. Set during World War II and doused with the

In comedy, chemistry matters as much as the script. The dark comedy, “Horrible Bosses” has a the kind of thin, broad premise that wouldn’t work without the right group of actors. Luckily, comedy team-ups don’t get much better than Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day. “Bosses” focuses on three horrific boss-employee relationships. Nick (Bateman)