An interesting thing happened as I was watching Epic, the newest animated release from Blue Sky Studios (the house behind the Ice Age franchise): I kept knowing exactly what was going to happen long before it did! Sadly, this is less a testament to any newfound psychic powers I’ve developed ...

Jeff Nichols’s last film as writer-director, Take Shelter, was a masterpiece of paranoia and psychological horror, whose main protagonist was either a prophet of the apocalypse or just plain mentally ill. It was the work of a young filmmaker eager to prove his talent and already confident enough in his ...

As the glut of summer sequels begin screening this month, a sense of dread inevitably falls upon the high-minded adult filmgoer. Not to say that an Iron Man or a Star Trek or a Hangover doesn’t have its pleasures, but these films do serve as a reminder that we’re in ...

What grade should one assign to a likable film that mostly succeeds in accomplishing its goals, but which demonstrates a total lack of ambition or originality? Should it be graded for its own successes, or examined for its relative place in cinema? This is a dilemma that has confronted me ...

When it comes to 3D films, I usually subscribe to the notion that 2D is preferable whenever possible. I have yet to be convinced that 3D is the future of movie-making the way James Cameron would like me to. That said, there have been a few films that I’ve actively ...