The movies of M. Night Shyamalan have always been steeped in the supernatural and otherworldly, whether they've explored life after death, alien invasions or superheroes.His latest effort, "Lady in the Water," appears to be a creepy fairy tale, but it's really a psychological thriller. Trouble ...
Forget Lassie or Benji or Toto.Gromit is the most reliable canine sidekick of all time.He can cook, do construction work, drive cars, pilot planes. And he's particularly good at rescuing his owner, Wallace, from tricky, possibly life-threatening jams.The dog does that and more in the latest ...
"Oliver Twist" is a tale of survival.Not just because of the travails of its plucky lead character, but in terms of how the story itself has found an audience with each new generation.Between film and television, there have been nearly 20 adaptations of "Oliver Twist," Charles Dickens' 1837 ...
So far, the best and most interesting movies of 2005 have been among the most violent.The hostile comic book fantasy "Sin City," the explosive racial parable "Crash," the Nazi biopic "Downfall" and the gunrunning tell-all "Lord of War" all accentuate on-screen violence in healthy doses.Even the ...
It takes a lot of chutzpah to include the word "exorcism" in the title of a new horror movie."The Exorcist" (1973) is widely regarded as the best and scariest horror flick ever made. Other than the film's various sequels, no other mainstream movie has attempted to commandeer the term.But ...
When Bill Murray replaced Chevy Chase on "Saturday Night Live" in 1977, the move did not go over well with audiences. In fact, Murray was initially considered such a dull, awkward bomb that he appeared in a fake telethon sketch asking viewers to send in money to help him be funny.If he appears ...
If establishing an atmospheric setting is half the battle when making a horror film, then at least "The Cave" gets that part right.The film's visualization of massive caverns situated in Romania are both a combination of outstanding location footage and impressive production design. The setting ...
Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) spends his free time reading comic books, playing his tuba and painting medieval figurines.His apartment is decorated with framed posters of magician Doug Henning and the band Asia, and filled with his most treasured items: collectible action figurines. Among his ...
How refreshing to watch a movie where superheroes revel in their powers rather than mope about them.Don't look for characters more preoccupied with soul-searching like Spider-Man, self-loathing like the Thing of the Fantastic Four or scarred childhood a la Batman. In "Sky High," a tight, clever ...
As they say in baseball, the "Bad News Bears" team sure looks good on paper.Billy Bob Thornton is one of America's finest character actors. He proved in "Bad Santa" that he can play an antisocial loser with little problem.Director Richard Linklater is fresh from his best comedy, "School of ...