This section is home to columns from our chief movie reviewer, Chuck Vinch. Not sure if the latest arrival at the googleplex is worth seeing? Before you go, read Chuck’s reviews. If you’re in the mood to camp out on the couch instead, check out our reviews of the latest DVDs.
Exploding movie clichés
The actor Ben Foster, who stars in the unflinching war film “The Messenger,” was at an airport bar recently when he spotted a uniformed soldier on layover and bought him a beer.
A purpose-driven life
A troop plane is due to land at Bangor International Airport in Maine and Bill Knight is pacing the airport hallway like an expectant father. When the soldiers finally file off the aircraft and onto...
From service to silver screen
Imagine the next big action-comedy produced by Clint Eastwood, directed by Oliver Stone, written by Alan Alda and Drew Carey, starring Chuck Norris and Bill Cosby with a soundtrack laid down by...
‘G.I. Joe’ fans report for duty
Real American heroes met realer American heroes July 31 when the cast of “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” dropped by Andrews Air Force Base, Md., for a screening of the movie and a special...
Smithsonian gets top billing
WASHINGTON — Hollywood doesn’t always do real life real well, but it’s also true that reel life can be faster, better, cooler —and way more lucrative.
Screened for war: GI film fest
A hefty lineup of films is set for the third annual GI Film Festival, scheduled for May 12-18 at various venues around Washington. The festival, which has grown quickly in its brief existence, will...
Tatum rolls with punches
LOS ANGELES — If you coax Channing Tatum, he will admit he has had his fair share of fistfights.
Downey digs the Oscar adulation
NEW YORK — Robert Downey Jr. is grooving on the great irony of being nominated for a supporting Oscar for his “Tropic Thunder” character, Kirk Lazarus, a pretentious Aussie actor...
Controversy for Rock’s ‘Hair’ documentary
Secrets, comedian Chris Rock declares slyly, are bad for the human spirit. That’s why he’s gleefully talking out of school in his new documentary, “Good Hair,” which has some...
Hollywood gushes bloodsuckers in vampire boom
LOS ANGELES — Vampires have been an eternal force in Hollywood horror since silent-movie days, yet they have risen to new heights as the “Twilight” franchise, TV’s “True...
Jackie Chan to star in new Shaolin movie
HONG KONG — The king of kung fu cinema is set to star in a new movie about China’s famed shrine of martial arts, the Shaolin Temple.
Swank finds her next thrill in ‘Amelia’
NEW YORK — If you’re planning a long-distance rendezvous, don’t tell Hilary Swank. She might show up and fly you there herself, as she did recently with her wary boyfriend, film...
Film review: ‘Edge of Darkness’
Like it or not, violence is a ubiquitous constant in the movies. But there’s violence, and then there’s Mel Gibson.
Feeble ‘Measures’
Many movies try to do too much out of abject fear that if they stop pumping out head-splitting levels of sensory stimuli for even a second, they’ll lose the audience.
‘Book of Eli’ needs rewriting
Hollywood is feeling rather post-apocalyptic these days. Hard on the heels of “The Road,” a starkly beautiful film about the strength of the human spirit, comes “The Book of...
Return of the undead
Blame it on Wesley Snipes. Vampires never truly go out of fashion. But we’re now awash in the undead, including the latest feature film, “Daybreakers.”
Big & beautiful
When Hollywood people talk about writer-director James “King of the World” Cameron, the words most often heard are usually along the lines of arrogant, egomaniacal, tyrannical, caustic,...
‘Christmas Carol’ holds up fine without 3-D specs
Even Disney can’t muck up “A Christmas Carol” — Dickens’ enduring and endearing tale of redemption remains as charming today as when it was written more than 160 years...
Stunning effects, stunted people
How many different ways can one man destroy the planet? After triggering a new Ice Age in “The Day After Tomorrow” and unleashing an alien invasion in “Independence Day,”...
Hope amid the apocalypse
A man walks through a flower garden outside a large farmhouse on a gorgeous spring day. He strokes the muzzle of his horse as his pretty young wife looks on. It’s a bucolic scene of serenity in...
Film review: ‘Brothers’
A hard-charging Marine officer goes down in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan and is presumed dead. He leaves a beautiful, loving wife, two adorable little girls — and a younger brother just...
Film review: ‘Amelia’
The adventure-crammed life of Amelia Earhart seems like rich raw material for a biopic. And casting the great two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank as Earhart seems like a double-down bet on a sure...
Zombie flick is a wild ride
When you find yourself one of the apparently last few human survivors of a ravenous global zombie plague, it can’t hurt to develop a game plan to help you stay un-undead. For example:
Film review: ‘Surrogates’
The first thing you notice about Bruce Willis as FBI Agent Tom Greer in the opening sequence of the sci-fi thriller “Surrogates” is how good he looks these days.
Here’s to you, ‘Road House’
The blizzard of tributes to the late Patrick Swayze, who by all accounts was one of Hollywood’s good guys, understandably focuses on his big hits “Dirty Dancing” and...
Wintry mix
There are some early tip-offs that the new action thriller “Whiteout” is drawn from a graphic novel.
Film review: ‘Extract’
In 1999, writer-director Mike Judge, known far and wide (and not always fondly) as the auteur behind “Beavis & Butthead,” unveiled a modest little feature film called “Office...
War of words
As anyone who routinely haunts the octoplex is aware, movie trailers have become a con game in which studios pluck the juiciest moments from a film — often its only juicy moments — to...
Sci-fi with a social conscience
‘The X-Files” on heavy steroids with a deep social conscience: For dedicated fans of alien/sci-fi flicks, that’s the irresistible lure of the tautly gripping “District...
‘A Perfect Getaway’ from overhyped blockbusters
Amid the brain-rattling cacophony of high-profile blockbusters that assault our senses each summer, a few stealth films carrying low expectations slip in the octoplex side door when no one is looking.
Tragic comic
Hit machine Judd Apatow has served as producer, director and/or writer on some of the most memorable comedies of the young millennium.
A half-baked ‘Half-Blood Prince’
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is a fine argument for a theater policy that would let viewers leave and return at will during a film screening.
Danger: IEDs
Films about war have been a mainstay of the movie business since its inception. But for whatever reason, the Iraq war has proven to be stubbornly barren ground for Hollywood.
A very bad ‘Year’
When the outtake flubs that run during the closing credits of your film are way funnier than anything in the film itself, you have a bit of a problem.
Off the rails
“The Taking of Pelham 123” is actually two movies — one in which Denzel Washington, John Turturro and James Gandolfini do their usual engaging work, the other in which John Travolta...
Lost in Vegas
A live chicken clucking in the kitchen. A still-smoldering couch. A blowup sex doll floating in the Jacuzzi. A cranky tiger prowling in the bathroom. An unidentified baby in the closet. A beer...
Resistance reborn
Just a few weeks ago, the grand and glorious “Star Trek” gave a steel-toed reboot to the butt of that beloved but timeworn brand and got Trekkers and Trekkies alike as fired up as drunken...
Film review: ‘Angels & Demons,’ 2½ stars
Many people like parsing clues to solve puzzles and riddles. But few would call it a particularly action-packed pastime.
Stellar journey
After 43 years, seven television series and 10 feature films, it’s a lot tougher for the legendary “Star Trek” franchise to continue boldly going where it has never gone before.
A cut above
Show of hands: Who wouldn’t like to have retractable, razor-sharp, indestructible claws, instant healing powers that make you virtually invulnerable to injury, and really cool sideburns?
Cinematic broccoli
Aside from paying $6 for a tiny bag of stale popcorn, nothing at the octoplex can make you feel guiltier than a painfully well-meaning message movie that garbles its message.
When life was an adventure
Greg Mottola made his big-league directorial debut with one of the most uproariously raunchy comedies of the millennium (“Superbad”), which ensured that his sophomore effort would draw...
Psycho drama
For fans of really trashy B-movie splatterfest horror, one of the greatest and most disturbing double features imaginable would be 1972’s “The Last House on the Left” and...
Complex crusaders
The fragile nature of friendship. The eternal search for love. Loss of innocence. Our need for heroes in dark times, and our disdain for same in less-dark times. Nuclear annihilation. The banality of...
Breaking the bank
What’s the nastiest movie villain you can conjure up these days? Muslim terrorists? Colombian druglords? Asian white slavers? The Russian mafia? African illegal arms dealers?
‘Push’ should be shoved ... off your list
Good concept, lousy execution. That’s “Push,” a new sci-fi/action thriller that evokes strong memories of last year’s “Jumper” in its failure to live up to...
‘Underworld: Rise of the Lycans’
The third installment in this franchise is actually a prequel, going back hundreds of years before the events of the first two films to recount the origins of the bloody vampire-werewolf conflict.
Dangerous dad
Memo to the International Federation of Greasy Thugs: If you’re going to kidnap young female travelers to support a sex-slave business, you should try to avoid girls whose fathers are former...
Soldier Simpson?
Apparently, there is a huge swath of America that has been scratching its collective head over why someone hasn’t done a remake of “Private Benjamin.”
Always the tough guy
Many neighborhoods have a cranky, solitary old man who’s forever yelling at the local kids to get off his lawn. But few do so while aiming a locked and loaded vintage M1 rifle.
Movie review: ‘Revolutionary Road,’ 4 stars
If you’re looking for a feel-good movie, steer clear of “Revolutionary Road,” a new big-screen version of Richard Yates’ 1961 novel.
Film review: ‘Valkyrie,’ 3 ½ stars
“Valkyrie” pits Tom Cruise against Adolf Hitler in what at first blush sounds like a particularly surreal title bout in MTV’s claymation smackdown series, “Celebrity...
Enigmatic redemption
After seeing “Seven Pounds,” it’s clear why a film starring Will Smith would have flown so far under the radar ahead of its opening: Ignorance of what it’s really about is...
It came from Planet Dull
In “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” Keanu Reeves is an alien visitor to our little sphere ... but it’s unclear whether he’s here to save us or destroy us.
Sprawling soap opera
Sweeping in its scope, epic in its grandeur, breathtaking in its expansiveness ...
Mighty dog
Jumping into the make-believe magic world of Disney — a constitutional requirement for every American parent — has always been as much about delusion as illusion.
Muddled menagerie
Pity the poor animated filmmakers who don’t work for Pixar — forever aspiring, if not perspiring, to match that studio’s renowned brand of magic.
Women at war
Near the end of “Lioness,” a new documentary in the PBS “Independent Lens” series, an Iraq war veteran talks about the emotional toll exacted by the act of sighting down the...
Gripping ‘Glory’
The cop drama is one of the most well-worn genres in all of film. So many movies about the Boys in Blue have come and gone that concocting truly novel story lines is almost futile.
Payneful adaptation
If, like me, you’ve been waiting half of forever for a film based on a video game to transcend its wellspring in some significant way, I have news!
Movie review: ‘City of Ember,’ 2½ stars
Adventure movies for kids are hit-or-miss; keeping it moderately entertaining without resorting to poopie, booger or flatulence jokes is a Hollywood skill in short supply.
Old-fashioned Old West
In many ways, “Appaloosa” is an utterly conventional Western straight from our gauzily romanticized image of an Old West where men were men, guns were loud and women of loose virtue were...
‘Miracle at St. Anna’ falls short
When Spike Lee publicly chastised Clint Eastwood for failing to include a single African-American face in his Iwo Jima epic, “Flags of Our Fathers,” and Eastwood told Lee, in effect, to...
Burn after viewing
In recent years, Hollywood has taken the bait-and-switch to soaring new heights when it comes to movie trailers. It’s gotten so you can be forgiven for wondering if the trailer you saw...
Film Review: ‘Traitor,’ 3 stars
All habitual film fans have a list of actors whom they’ll go to see even if the movie in question is outside their usual happy zone.
Car wreck
In the postindustrial wreckage of the not-too-distant future, the U.S. economy is on fumes, unemployment is at record levels, and the teeming masses must be fed lots of raw meat to keep them sated...
Film Review: ‘Tropic Thunder,’ 4 stars
It’s an immutable law of Hollywood that each summer season ends up being defined in large part by one particular silly-funny comedy classic.
Film Review: ‘X-Files: I Want to Believe’
“The X-Files” was one of the few TV series that I have ever gone out of my way to see each week. So I badly wanted to believe that the new film “X-Files: I Want to Believe”...
Heart of darkness
A posthumous Oscar nod? Don’t rule it out — the late Heath Ledger is just that freakyscarygood as the Joker in “The Dark Knight,” the second chapter in the Nolan...
Top 10 of ’07
The year just past was a curiously tepid one. Although the movie industry looks like it will end up with a healthy box-office gross, the number of movies that caused measurable, sustained excitement...
DVD reviews
What’s new on DVD for Jan. 5
A low-budget fright feature, an animated look at a bleak future and a demonic horror outing arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on Jan. 5.
Quality, overlooked flicks available on DVD
Last year was a record-breaker for blockbusters, from “Transformers 2” to “Avatar.” But a number of excellent films that flew in under the radar deserve a larger audience and...
5 Halloween treats for home viewers
Think of “Psycho,” “Night of the Living Dead,” the entire oeuvre (and ooze) of Jason and Freddy: It’s the time of year when all get plucked from the pumpkin patches of...
Sci-fi traveling at warp speed to DVD
Sometimes the stars align just right for science fiction fans who seem to devour everything in the genre released on Blu-ray and DVD.
‘Beth Cooper’ paints romance formula by the numbers
Nerdy guy tries to get with high-school hottie, with humiliating and heartwarming results: Hollywood never seems to tire of this formula, probably because so many screenwriters are grown-up nerds...
Give these DVDs a good workout
One inexpensive way to step up your exercise program is to buy a couple of workout DVDs and do them at home in front of your TV. So USA Today’s Nanci Hellmich asked the certified fitness...
It’s ‘Shandling’s Show’ on 16 DVDs
After spurning a regular guest-host gig for Johnny Carson, and before his career-defining role as fictional host of “The Larry Sanders Show,” comedian Garry Shandling starred on one of...
What’s new on DVD for Dec. 29
A low-budget fright feature, an animated look at a bleak future and a demonic horror outing arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on Dec. 29.
More movie reviews
Oscar-buzz war movies explode cliches
Ben Foster was at a bar in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport recently. The actor, who stars in the unflinching war film The Messenger, spotted a lonely, uniformed soldier on layover...
Acting strong, but ‘Lovely Bones’ falls short
When a movie is made from a best-selling novel, expectations often are high — as are fears that it won’t measure up to what millions are anticipating.
‘Ninja Assassin’ sports a dull blade
When considering the meager merits of the bone-snapping, blood-splattered “Ninja Assassin,” it’s best to remember the words of John Goodman’s PC-challenged character in...
Film review: ‘Law Abiding Citizen’
As a social statement, “Law Abiding Citizen” is a flawed attempt at holding the legal system accountable for its shortcomings.
Film review: ‘Paranormal Activity’
“Paranormal Activity,” a film ostensibly made up of video recordings made by a young couple who believe frightening things are happening in their house as they sleep, has been amassing...
‘Retreat’ defeat
“Couples Retreat” plays like the NBA All-Star game: What seems like a dream-team exhibition of pros at the top of their game too often turns into an undisciplined mess.
LeBron & friends
Judging how closely Nike watches over LeBron James, I expected the documentary “More Than a Game” to play more like an extended Nike commercial than a window into his unique childhood.
A very guilty pleasure: ‘Beer in hell’
“American Pie”? Kid stuff. “Wedding Crashers”? Stuck in a ditch. “Old School,” it’s time to meet the new school, because “I Hope They Serve Beer in...
‘Big Fan’ is a vivid portrait of sports geekdom
Patton Oswalt’s character in “Big Fan,” Paul Aufiero, is a portly Staten Island parking garage attendant stuck at age 35 in his childhood home with his mother. Paul lives and dies...
Audience won’t get ‘The Goods’ from this lame film
The people behind “The Goods: Live Hard. Sell Hard” must have believed that someone, somewhere, would think repeatedly referring to Albuquerque as “ ’querque” is funny.
‘G.I. Joe’ captures $56.2 million opener
Much like the dolls on which the movie was based, “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” became a hit by aiming for the middle of America.
Fans get early glimpse of ‘Iron Man 2’
SAN DIEGO — The buzz for the first “Iron Man” film began at Comic-Con, director Jon Favreau said, so he thanked fans for their support by showing an exclusive clip from next...
Hollywood figures feel energy, passion coming from Comic-Con
SAN DIEGO — Robert Downey Jr. said he wish he could don a Mexican wrestling mask and stroll the Comic-Con floor to check out all the collectible toys and geeky-cool stuff. Peter Jackson joked...
‘District 9’ carries Peter Jackson’s imprint
SAN DIEGO — As director of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and producer of the forthcoming “Hobbit” films, Peter Jackson was given a hero’s welcome Friday when he...
James Cameron wows Comic Con with 3-D ‘Avatar’
SAN DIEGO — James Cameron originally wrote “Avatar” as a way to challenge the special-effects firm Digital Domain, where he served as chief executive. But it took technology 14...
‘G-Force’ shrinks action to rodent size
“G-Force” has been billed as producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s first foray into animation, which suggests his live-action films contain something resembling “reality” and...
Creepy ‘Orphan’ pushes all the right buttons
“Orphan” works because it’s a film that knows exactly what it wants to be — creepy as all get out — and does everything possible to achieve that goal.
Feeling robbed
With “Public Enemies,” all the pieces would seem to be in place for an epic gangster drama: director Michael Mann, who has an affinity for complicated criminals; stars Johnny Depp and...
Robots get revenge at the box office
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” morphed into an instant smash, raking in a record $60.6 million on opening day June 24 and $201.2 million over five days, according to studio...
‘Song of Sparrows’ croons a sweet, gentle tune
“The Song of Sparrows” is a sweet and uplifting humanistic fable that celebrates the joys of community and pastoral life over a harried and materialistic urban existence.
A sweet, funny Eddie Murphy film? ‘Imagine That’
Fans of Eddie Murphy’s previous gigs as an overworked professional who rediscovers his family through supernatural intervention will find nothing unfamiliar as the comic Dr. Doolittles his way...
Soulful look at two very different men whose lives intersect
William’s request is simple: On a certain date in the near future, he wants to be driven one way by taxi from Winston-Salem, N.C., to Blowing Rock. He’s offering $100 down on the $1,000...
In ‘Management,’ love story resonates
There is a sweetness that pervades “Management” so completely that it makes even this a heartwarming moment: a stranger wanting to touch Jennifer Aniston’s butt.
Nimoy passes ‘Star Trek’ torch
For more than 40 years, science fiction fans have known Leonard Nimoy as Spock, the half-Vulcan Starfleet officer who cut his teeth aboard the starship Enterprise. This week, Nimoy, who lives...
‘Next Day Air’ better left for another day
The filmmakers behind “Next Day Air” probably have posters of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino lining their bedroom walls. The movie is like a fanboy love letter, but you end up wishing...
Animated film ‘Battle for Terra’ a minor skirmish
“Battle for Terra” wins the low-expectations game. If you go into the theater expecting little — and if you’ve seen the film’s ho-hum trailer, that will probably be the...
Empty characters slog through ‘Informers’
Bleak, soulless, vapid and more (or is it less?), “The Informers” is a thoroughly depressing way to spend a couple of hours.
‘Lymelife’ is shining, suburban dysfunction
There is no particular reason for “Lymelife” to exist now, and yet, thanks to powerful performances, it’s a good thing that it does.
‘Twilight’ dominates Comic Con, drawing thousands
SAN DIEGO — Most camped out overnight. Some spent two nights outside the San Diego Convention Center. They wore homemade T-shirts, made friends with fellow fans and talked about their...
Film Review: ‘Lying’ lacking
Despite the schlubby, near-pathetic characters he perfected in great series like “The Office” and “Extras,” Ricky Gervais is at heart a supremely confident artist.
Derby girls ‘Whip It’ into lukewarm frenzy
Roller derby is punk-rock feminism, a contact sport that combines sex, violence and tattoos into a campy celebration of girl power.
Review: ‘Astro Boy’ never takes flight
LOS ANGELES — The animated “Astro Boy” is a shiny hodgepodge of “Pinocchio,” “WALL-E,” “Oliver Twist,” “Gladiator” and...
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