There’s nothing wrong with occasionally indulging in an entertaining film purely because it is an entertaining film. What is the point of a healthy, nourishing dinner if there isn’t any desert at the end? Eagle Eye is a popcorn movie in the very best sense of the word. Don’t go looking for deep commentary. Don’t go expecting an even halfway plausible story. And definitely don’t go if you’re the type of person driven to distraction by gargantuan plot holes and contrived twists of fate. But if you’re looking for a fun film that quickens the pulse and gets the blood racing, Eagle Eye is for you. [read more]

This is an abridged version of a review I wrote for Christianity Today Movies. To read the rest of this review, click here.

Some of my favorite experiences at the movies have come as a result of stumbling across something wholly unexpected. Movies that catch us by surprise often crystallize into some of our most cherished cinematic experiences. Let’s face it, we are all gifted with a certain amount of cinematic ESP. We know, more or less, if the movie we’re about to see will delight or disappoint. Usually it’s just a matter of discovering the degree. But with the new fantasy comedy Ghost Town, the word I keep hearing on everyone’s lips, critics and movie-goers alike, is “surprise.” And indeed it is the best possible kind of surprise — a film at once hilarious and heartfelt. [read more]

This is an abridged version of a review I wrote for Christianity Today Movies. To read the rest of this review, click here.

Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire (Keira Knightly), was the original people’s princess. Like her direct descendent, Princess Diana of Wales, Georgiana was a woman of ravishing beauty, glamorous style, burnished intellect and populist mystique. A political mover and shaker, Georgiana used her popularity with the masses to draw attention to the great social causes of her day, and proved that she was more than a match for the aristocratic, male-centric world into which she was born. [read more]

Believe it or not, the gleefully nonsensical spy caper Burn After Reading is a mirror reflection of the Coen Brothers’ Oscar winner last year, No Country for Old Men. Except this time around they’ve gone back to the beginning with an exceedingly hilarious black comedy. In both films, a small-time loser discovers stolen property and, in an attempt to profit off of it, finds himself in way over his head. Burn After Reading, played for laughs by two directors clearly in prankish moods and never above inflicting their sadism on audiences, is the flipside of the Coen’s existential dread, but no less…serious. Just because you’re laughing doesn’t make their now famous existential nihilism any less palpable. [read more]

Forget McCain/Palin. In Hollywood, the dream ticket has always been DeNiro/Pacino. This is a pairing audiences have been clamoring for after years. Now, finally, it appeared that would get their wish at last with Righteous Kill. If you are one of those audience members, do yourself a favor—stay home. As one of the cops in this awful police thriller might say, “There’s nothing to see here, folks.” [read more]

Traitor isn’t exactly what you would call a bad movie. It’s just not half as clever or intelligent as it thinks it is or tries to be. The film actually makes for some pretty wonky math. One part mindless summer fun plus one part intellectual fall drama equals a whopping zero success. [read more]

Hamlet 2 is deliriously profane and marvelously hilarious, an outrageous, sarcastic satire that uses absurdist humor to confront an age old question — what happens when you love something more than life itself, but are not remotely good at it? Mixing South Park vulgarity with Alexander Payne-esque insight, Hamlet 2 is a pageant film about personal ambition, unfulfilled longing and the blindsiding power of art. [read more]

Death Race is the cinematic equivalent of running your fingernails down a chalkboard — a chaotic, adrenaline infused, unintelligible noisemaker in which every image is crafted to look cool at the expense of actually being cool. [read more]

If The House Bunny is successful, it will be almost entirely because of the vivacious, sexy and downright adorable Anna Faris. Although the film is yet another in a long line of hackneyed, low-brow comedies this year, it is rescued by the witty charms and bubbly personality of its star. [read more]

What is it about sports movies that consistently inspires? The most mediocre sports film can still stir the heart and enthuse the blood, if only for the short span of time in which they flicker in the darkness of the theater. The truly great sports films inspire decades after you leave your seat. The Longshots is not a great sports film. It unquestionably fits snuggly into the middling mold. And yet, even it rouses within the confines of its own inadequate influence. [read more]