Movies
‘Man of Steel’ takes flight with $125M debut
By The Associated PressLOS ANGELES — “Man of Steel” leaped over box office expectations in a single weekend. The Warner Bros. superhero film earned $113 million in its opening weekend at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. The retelling of Superman’s …
‘Man of Steel’ not that super, storywise, for some in audience
By Cary DarlingFor its first half, “Man of Steel” is well on its way to superhero-movie greatness. Dark, turbulent and not at all campy, it casts the …
Superman: Deconstructed but still strong
By Barry KoltnowIf Batman suddenly gave up crime-fighting to join a rock band, that band probably would be the dark-and-menacing Rolling Stones. Superman would be a Beatle. Everybody loves the Beatles, and everybody loves Superman. The Beatles started the British Invasion, and …
Delpy and Hawke hit the relationship wall ‘Before Midnight’
By Roger MooreThey met on a Vienna-bound train, and fell in love with each other over a long night’s talk “Before Sunrise.” Nine years later, they reconnected in Paris and fell in love all over again, no matter how much more complicated …
DVD reviews: ‘Oz the Great and Powerful,’ Hansel & Gretel’ and ‘Snitch’
By Garrett Conti“Oz The Great and Powerful” (2013, PG, 130 min., $29.99) Returning to the magical land of Oz can be a difficult task for any director, …
‘The End’ could be the last word in apocalypse comedy
By Roger MooreThe lads of Hollywood’s “Pot Pack” get together for a riotous riff on The Rapture in “This Is the End,” an often-hilarious and generally irreverent comedy about the Biblical apocalypse as seen through the windows of a movie star’s mansion. …
Rogen brings about star-studded ‘End’
By John HornThe music is blaring inside James Franco’s house and there’s booze — and drugs — everywhere. Actor Michael Cera is snorting lines of cocaine, while comedian Aziz Ansari is trying (and failing) to hook up with Rihanna. Dozens of scantily …
Gerwig: ‘Frances Ha’ faces human journey
By Gary ThompsonIn “Frances Ha,” Greta Gerwig creates a character who’s heir to the tradition of Annie Hall or Mary Richards. Frances can turn the world on with her smile, etc., and, if the character’s profile continues to rise (an Oscar nomination …
Workplace movies: Watch these 10, but skip internships
By Bill Goodykoontz“The Internship” re-teams Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, who were so funny in “Wedding Crashers.” They play two salesmen who lose their jobs, thanks to advances in technology, but manage to land internships at Google. Which put us in mind …
Duo ‘Jay and Silent Bob’ on tour at Oaks Theater with animated film
By Michael MachoskyJason Mewes and Kevin Smith — aka Jay and Silent Bob — aren’t for everyone. They’re two smart guys, who specialize in making movies that …
Google this ‘Internship’ and you might get ‘uninspired’
By Bill GoodykoontzIn “The Internship,” Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play two aging guys who have lost their old-school sales jobs but manage to finagle coveted internships …
‘The Purge’ binges on violence
By Roger MooreJames DeMonaco’s “The Purge” is a bloody-minded, heavy-handed satire of life within these violent United States. It’s a horror film with the occasional visceral thrill. …
‘Love Is All You Need’: feel-good vibe, real-life problems
By Steven ReaSusanne Bier, the Danish director who emerged from Lars von Trier’s militantly minimalist Dogma school, is hardly known for her rom-coms. Damaged war veterans, paralyzed accident victims, dark family secrets ... not exactly a laugh riot. And so, while “Love …
‘Frances Ha’: Warm and laugh-out-loud funny
By Ann HornadayIf “Frances Ha” is what nepotism looks like, let’s hear it for family trees. Consider: The writer-director of this small, gemlike coming-of-age comedy is Noah Baumbach, son of former Village Voice film critic Georgia Brown and author Jonathan Baumbach. Three …
‘Maisie’ knows a child’s-eye view of dysfunction
By Ann HornadayIf Baz Luhrmann’s flamboyant 3-D version of “The Great Gatsby” left you wondering about the state of cinematic adaptation these days, hie yourself to “What Maisie Knew,” Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s tone-perfect, modernized re-telling of Henry James’ novel. “What …
DVD reviews: ‘Identity Thief,’ ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ and ‘Warm Bodies’
By Garrett Conti“Identity Thief” (2013, R, 111 min., $29.98). Director Seth Gordon, who rose to prominence after his 2007 documentary “The King of Kong: A Fistful of …
Apocalypse now? If not, wait until June, July, August ...
By Sharon HoffmannThe Mayans were apparently wrong about a 2012 doomsday. So Hollywood is busy trying to end the world in 2013, over and over and over again. We’ve already faced Tom Cruise’s sci-fi “Oblivion” and alien and zombie incursions in “The …
‘Band of Sisters’ shows fights without and within
By Tribune-ReviewFrom sheltered “daughters of the church” once swathed in medieval dress, to activists on the front lines of social justice, this stirring documentary tells the …
‘After Earth’: More yawns than twists
By Roger MooreThis sci-fi adventure about a boy who must become a man to save himself and his wounded-warrior father on a hostile world is a corny, generally humorless M. Night Shyamalan picture without his trademark surprises and twists. It’s a straightforward …
‘Kon-Tiki’ swells with the journey of Heyerdahl
By Colin Covert“Kon-Tiki” might as well open with “Once upon a time …” This handsome dramatization of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s 1947 raft voyage from Peru to Polynesia …
