Movies

The release of both 'Pacific Rim' and 'Grown Ups 2' this past weekend and their respective box office intake raises a growing concern on the current state of not just the film industry, but on those who keep it alive: us.

In a summer where most of the big, event movies have been overly cheerless, 'Pacific Rim' arrives like a titan to defend moviegoers from the gloom of monster blockbusters. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the strength to prevent a' barrage of clichés from beating it down.

Movies featuring bowling are extraordinarily rare. Sadly, the majority of bowling movies are lowbrow comedies such as 'King Ralph' or 'She’s Out of My League,' limited-appeal documentaries like 'League of Ordinary Gentlemen,' or whatever the hell 'Sorority Babes in Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama' is. Still, there are some that not only feature this great sport but are also great films.

Terrence Malick's 'Badlands,' in many ways, feels like the movie that Quentin Tarantino has spent his entire career trying to make. It is an astonishingly confident effort by a first time filmmaker, and one that remains a touchstone for others even decades later.

Once the limitations and quirks of 'Much Ado About Nothing' are accepted, the film’s strengths become abundantly clear. Even within the limitations of a micro-budget and dated dialogue there’s a tremendous feeling of playfulness and freedom within the film.

'World War Z' has the star, the budget, the scope; all it needs is a smarter script and the will to be better. Done correctly, zombie movies don’t need ripped throats and smashed heads to be good, but they do need guts and brains.

The truth is people really don’t love the idea of a zombie apocalypse. They only think they do, and largely because of the way the Zombie Scenario is presented to us. In this post, I’ll talk about the things that make the Zombie Apocalypse Scenario so attractive and more appealing than other apocalyptic scenarios.

Sure, the effects aren’t that great, and the ethics of the movie are questionable at best, but the Apatow crew has never been accused of particularly high quality, socially uplifting humor. That doesn’t make 'This is the End' any less funny in a thoroughly disgusting way.

'Man of Steel' is not a bad movie, it’s just an incomplete one. It’s heavy on the super and light on the man.

'The Little House That Could's narrative structure is rather thin but it provides various interesting perspectives on the various ways in which the House of Field has served as a haven for multiple generations of drag queens, transsexuals, club kids, artists and performers.

If 'The Iceman" is in any way important it’s as proof that the mob/hitman genre already has its masterpieces, and a new entry in the genre should only be attempted if it offers something entirely new.

A recent trip to Disneyworld with my three-year-old daughter hammered home what a major influence the Disney princesses are on her. With so many princesses, all very popular, I found myself wondering, like many parents, what values these movies were instilling in my daughter.

'Frankenweenie' is one of the best movies in recent years to grapple with the many difficult questions surrounding science in our world today, and to quietly suggest a few modest solutions.

Make no mistake: 'Into Darkness' isn’t quite 'Star Trek: The Next Generation.' But it IS Star Trek for a new generation.

In an interview with Spark magazine, Jennifer K. Stuller talks about Wonder Woman, Katniss Everdeen, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the role of superheroines in society.