Movie Reviews from Creators Syndicate

Scott Conducts Virtuosos Travolta, Washington in Hard-Driving 'Pelham 123' for 06/12/2009

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

"The Taking of Pelham 123" is a glossy reflection on a murky world — New York City's dank subway system, a maelstrom of noise, nuttiness and danger.

It's also an old-fashioned, crackling thriller in which a crazed ex-con (rambling, riotous John Travolta) and an everyman civil servant (cool, clever Denzel Washington) face off in a challenge of wills.

This is an acti ...

Updated: Fri Jun 12, 2009

Impact of 'Outrage' Remains in the Closet for 06/13/2009

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

"Outrage," a documentary, fails to outrage. Instead, it takes on a provocative theme — closeted homosexual politicians who vote against gay rights — and presents it in a manner that doesn't quite deliver a movie, more a visual term paper. For that, give it a C (plus).

Director Kirby Dick berates those closeted in public life with the power to influence legislation p ...

Updated: Sat Jun 13, 2009

Director Mendes Has Another Beauty of a Film for 06/19/2009

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

"Away We Go" is way cool.

Check it out for Maya Rudolph's extraordinary breakout performance. The gifted sketch comedian from "Saturday Night Live" is warm, subtle and substantive as Verona, pregnant and in a relationship with a man (John Krasinski) who loves her.

And Krasinski, romantic sales rep Jim Halpert on TV's superb "The Office," moves into mo ...

Updated: Fri Jun 19, 2009

'Public Enemies' is Like 'Heat,' but Without the Heat for 07/03/2009

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" seems initially crafted as a retro version of his 1995 crime drama "Heat," which pitted Robert De Niro and Al Pacino against each other as criminal and lawman, hunter and hunted, ham and wry. Like "Heat," the two stars of "Public Enemies" — Johnny Depp and Christian Bale — come face to face just once, otherwise ...

Updated: Fri Jul 03, 2009

Baron Cohen's Latest Prank Scores Without the Cruelty of 'Borat' for 07/16/2009

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

If you look up the word "prank," among the older definitions is this one: "A trick to make people stare." Thanks to movies like "Bruno," comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's follow-up to "Borat," a newer definition would have to add "or look away." Prepare to squirm, or worse: As one of the subjects/victims in the film's myriad setups says after falling ...

Updated: Thu Jul 16, 2009

Harry Potter's 'Half-Blood Prince' Jumps the Track a Bit but Delivers for 07/17/2009

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

J.K. Rowling's imagination, like Pandora's clown car speeding out of a cornucopia, seems endless. With "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the movie series has now matched the "Star Wars" saga, doubled the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and officially passed the 15-hour mark in total footage (adapted from over 3,500 pages of text).

All that, and the teen ...

Updated: Fri Jul 17, 2009

'Soul Power' has Shortcomings, but When the Music's on, the Surge is All-Powerful for 07/24/2009

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A flawed film, but a frequently stunning big-screen concert experience, "Soul Power" ignites with a series of electrifying 1974 performances by James Brown, B.B. King, Celia Cruz, Bill Withers, The Fania All Stars, The Crusaders, The Spinners, conga master Big Black, and such African music greats as Franco, Miriam Makeba and Tabu Ley Rochereau.

The visceral power they create on ...

Updated: Fri Jul 24, 2009

'Funny' Thing Happens for 08/06/2009

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

According to theory, a stand-up comic's boast of "I killed out there" isn't mere metaphor; rather, comedians are incurable malcontents who use laughter to keep the homicidal demons at bay. That's the starting point for writer-director Judd Apatow's "Funny People," an epic-yet-intimate comedy that doubles as a treatise on the comedic psyche.

Our subject: George Simmons ...

Updated: Thu Aug 06, 2009

Welcome to Meryl's Kitchen for 08/07/2009

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

"Julie & Julia" is a real-life fairy tale, times two. With food.

Lots and lots of food.

Nora Ephron's adaptation (she also directed) of blogmeister Julie Powell's memoir and legendary chef Julia Child's "My Life in France" is delicious fun. It spares no lip-smacking, cooing over cassoulet or near-orgasmic reactions to chocolate. The calorie count on this fi ...

Updated: Fri Aug 07, 2009

Hayao Miyazaki's 'Ponyo' gives 'The Little Mermaid' a Green Twist for 08/14/2009

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

"Ponyo," the latest visual treasure from Hayao Miyazaki, is a super-cute movie about super-serious issues.

The animated adventure, which has grossed $160 million in its native Japan, explores themes of pollution, global warming, personal responsibility and the balance of nature.

But let's meet Ponyo before getting into all that.

Ponyo is a goldfish girl with big b ...

Updated: Fri Aug 14, 2009

'District 9' Tackles Bigotry and Racism with a Sci-Fi Twist for 08/21/2009

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It's hard out here for a prawn. Er, excuse my ethnic slur — I mean "alien." It's easy to slip into the old habits ever since the praw ... that is, aliens (sorry!) arrived on Earth 20 years ago. We take them for granted now that they've been rounded up and put into camps, safely behind walls and barbed wire — all 1.8 million of them. At last, no more nonhuman loitering. Wha ...

Updated: Fri Aug 21, 2009

Guitar Documentary's High Points Make up for a Few Missed Chords for 08/28/2009

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Before meeting Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and U2's The Edge for the first time in "It Might Get Loud," suitably awed fellow guitarist Jack White of the White Stripes makes a vow. "I'm going to trick them into teaching me all of their tricks," he says of the two guitar legends.

White doesn't quite succeed in his quest. But he, like the viewers of this documentary, gains ...

Updated: Fri Aug 28, 2009

'Taking Woodstock' Masters the Mud and the Mirth but Misses the Music for 09/04/2009

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

There will be mud.

Any film director tackling Woodstock, the epic 1969 rock music festival that changed popular culture for decades to come, must address the vast expanse of mud that defined this rain-drenched event as much as its budding rock gods musical soundtrack.

Ang Lee embraces the mud head-on in "Taking Woodstock," his lovingly crafted but uneven cinematic valent ...

Updated: Fri Sep 04, 2009

'The Baader Meinhof Complex' is a Complex, Gripping Docudrama for 09/11/2009

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

As an American teenager growing up in the early 1970s in Frankfurt, Germany, it was impossible not to be aware of the Baader Meinhof gang, an extreme left-wing revolutionary group that called itself the Red Army Faction or RAF.

Under any name, Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and their cohorts in increasingly violent crime made their presence felt — often in deadly ways — as &q ...

Updated: Fri Sep 11, 2009

Fleeting 'Fame' for 10/02/2009

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

In these days of Paris, Perez and paparazzi, fame has become the pop-culture equivalent of the penny. With so much of it lying around, how can it be worth anything?

Which is why the new remake of 1980's "Fame" could have been an entertainment gold mine. What better way to snatch fame from the grubby hands of the Kardashians than with a film about a bunch of fresh-faced kids who ...

Updated: Fri Oct 02, 2009

Barrymore is on a Roll with 'Whip It' for 10/09/2009

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

"Whip It," the new comedy about roller derby, is so fun and empowering, of course it was directed by Drew Barrymore.

After spending her life in front of the camera, the former "Charlie's Angels" star found the perfect vehicle to showcase her abilities behind the lens.

The result is a film that's witty, fast-paced and super girly. It's surrounded with the kinds ...

Updated: Fri Oct 09, 2009

"Paranormal Activity": Scariest Thing Is the Unknown for 10/16/2009

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

"Paranormal Activity" begins with a couple moving into a cookie-cutter, master-planned home that lacks history and doesn't feel at all scary. It's not like an old creepy Colonial house on a hill with cracked shutters and a dead tree in the front yard.

Soon after, Katie (Katie Featherston) has memories of being haunted by an ominous spirit. The demon has followed her all the way ...

Updated: Fri Oct 16, 2009

'Things' Visually Dazzles for 10/23/2009

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

When Spike Jonze accepted Maurice Sendak's invitation to adapt the author's classic book into a movie, the award-winning director took on two Herculean tasks: faithfully expand a cherished children's short story into a full-bodied film, and render the unique world of the wild things as realistically as possible.

His interpretation of "Where the Wild Things Are" succeeds in the ...

Updated: Fri Oct 23, 2009

Going out with a Beat for 10/30/2009

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Few of Michael Jackson's fans would cite a sense of humor as one of the late pop superstar's defining characteristics. It is for this reason that some of the most endearing moments in "This Is It," the posthumously released film of Los Angeles rehearsals for his 50 sold-out comeback concerts in London, unexpectedly appear in the movie's most lighthearted moments.

In the first, ...

Updated: Fri Oct 30, 2009

When the 'Moon' Hits Your Eye for 11/20/2009

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Have no fear, Team Edward.

Though your beloved vampire from the "Twilight" series is hardly in the second film, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," you may not even notice.

That's because the "Twilight" movie, based on Stephenie Meyer's vampire-themed romance books, went from being a cultish, low-budget project to a Hollywood powerhouse that earned its dir ...

Updated: Fri Nov 20, 2009