HollywoodandFine.com Right from the start, let me stipulate that, when it comes to most comic-book movies, I turn into Anti-Man. I believe comic-book movies — and the overweening Comic-Con mentality that has consumed the Hollywood studios — are strangling the movie industry, in part because these movies are so generic. …
HollywoodandFine.com Let me start by saying two things: I think Amy Schumer is one of the funniest humans around. I also think Judd Apatow is one of the most overrated comedy directors of our time. To my mind, “Trainwreck” is both a very funny movie — and yet another example …
HollywoodandFine.com The idea of human consciousness going mobile is an intriguing one: What if you could actually trade minds with another person? That’s the premise of “Self/less,” a disappointing mind-transfer tale notable for its performances if not its dramaturgy. Writers David and Alex Pastor and director Tarsem Singh take a …
HollywoodandFine.com The creators of “Minions” obviously never heard either of two complementary expressions: “A little goes a long way” and “too much of a good thing.” If they had, there would be no “Minions” movie. Except, of course, what am I saying? This is a Hollywood studio, where too much …
HollywoodandFine.com The wish of a terminally ill child as the subject for a documentary? I know, cue the cliches: strength in the face of tragedy, laughter through tears, the whole “Steel Magnolias” shtick. Except that Dana Nachman’s touching, funny nonfiction film, “Batkid Begins,” is sheer delight. Instead of something maudlin …
HollywoodandFine.com It is the rare movie comedy that can encompass the wild events of a single night and keep you both squirming and surprised into laughter for its full running time. Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” is an example of the style done well; so is Greg Mottola’s “Superbad.” And now …
HollywoodandFine.com I’ve heard Rick Famuyiwa’s “Dope” referred to as “Nerdz ’N the Hood,” which is apt – although a better comparison would be “Risky Business.” Set in the Inglewood section of Los Angeles, the film’s central character is Malcolm (Shameik Moore), bespectacled and unathletic, a nerd who is both intelligent …
HollywoodandFine.com I remember my elation when I saw the first episodes of HBO’s “Entourage” in 2004. Here, at last, was a situation-comedy about backstage life in Hollywood that seemed to have it all: venality, outsized egos, even greater insecurity, greed and self-interest. If that wasn’t a recipe for comedy, what …
HollywoodandFine.com We live in a media culture which constantly insists that we should look and feel better than we do. We try to mimic the images we see, but it’s an impossible task. Obviously, you can never reach your ideal; no one is ever exactly the way they think they should …
HollywoodandFine.com “San Andreas”? I thought we critics drove a stake through this film’s heart when it came out 40 years ago under the title “Earthquake.” But each generation of special effects creates its own avalanche of disaster films: movies about disasters that are themselves disastrous. The latest iteration of cutting-edge …