Hollywood Reporter Home > Reviews > Home Entertainment
Full Story »
Aside from a few references to Tyra Banks and Beyonce, "The Longshots" feels like it unfolds in a bygone era.
Exhausted is how many audiences members will feel after squirming through this repetitive, one-joke comedy. Real adolescents might find the whole thing a hoot, but guess what? The filmmakers made an R-rated movie.
The debut American feature by successful Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, this over-the-top, ultraviolent, hyperkinetic action thriller pretty much has it all.
Even more confounding than this mirthless, misanthropic mess is the involvement of such talented people as Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates and Kevin Spacey.
This sci-fi romp seriously skimps on the sort of wacky comedy that should have flown liberally from such an inspired premise -- especially one that was co-written by Bill Corbett, of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" cult renown.
Like most chop-socky movies, "KF Panda" strays not at all from its twin goals of action and comedy
"Space Chimps" is a bright, entertaining package. It simply is too gimmicky and old school to go up against the best of Pixar and DreamWorks Animation
The film is so clever and sophisticated that you worry, slightly, that it might be too clever to connect with mainstream audiences. But like those worries last year that having a rat for a hero in "Ratatouille" might throw off audiences, surely "WALL-E" will make that connection.
Director Ben Stiller sends up all things Hollywood, from pampered actors and outrageous media tycoons to war movies in general. OK, these are easy targets. But Stiller and co-writers Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen hit 'em with a fair degree of accuracy and consistency.
With Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel and Blake Lively also back for the ride, as well as several supporting characters, this perfectly satisfying female teen-oriented summer fling should form a modest bond with its demographic -- in the vicinity of the $39 million taken in by the original -- and again wear particularly well on DVD.
Refreshingly sincere and full of wholesome can-do spirit, the first big-screen incarnation of the American Girl doll-and-book series -- the anti-Bratz of collectibles -- offers solid, kid-friendly storytelling.
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" serves as the maiden voyage for Lucasfilm Animation, but despite the exclusively CG rendering, this anticipated new episode is at best a reasonable facsimile.
Armed with a slightly bigger budget than his 2004 original and with more clout after the Oscar-nominated success of "Pan's Labyrinth," Guillermo del Toro's latest take on the Mike Mignola comic book is uncompromisingly the product of his wildly fantastical imagination.
The film opens in Washington, D.C., where satirical remnants of the old TV series are visible, then expands into a more James Bond second act set in and around Moscow and winds up in a stunt-laden finale in downtown Los Angeles.
Stephen Sondheim's award-winning, savage musical about cannibalism, madness and serial murder, is now Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd." The show couldn't have fallen into better hands.
The New Line & Walden Media presentation, which premiered during the weekend at the Los Angeles Film Festival, should play well with its targeted family demographic, especially in RealD-equipped theaters.
"The Kingdom," about a terrorist attack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, would seem to be another addition to the list of this fall's politically-charged movies. But Peter Berg's movie is no more than an action movie with an exotic backdrop.
Having nicely established her big-screen credibility with the summer hit "Knocked Up," Katherine Heigl tries a little further "Grey's Anatomy" moonlighting on for size with "27 Dresses." But while Heigl is terrific, this uninspired romantic comedy is considerably less so.
Advertisement
Advertisement