Iron Man.  The Hulk.  Thor.  After years of lackluster superhero movies (Daredevil, anyone?  Anyone?), Marvel turned the knob up to eleven the past few years, and has kept it there with a string of well thought out films that weave together a shared mythology as well as an ever-growing fan base.  Captain America: The First [...]

Growing up, did you ever hear “why do you think I”m doing this?  I’m doing this for YOU!” from your parents?  In my old neighborhood that was bandied about almost daily.  But kids never listen, never take it to heart.  But with A Better Life, what parents do for their kids is laid out right [...]

Guy gets girl.  Guy loses girl because he’s a zookeeper.  Animals decide to help a brother out.  How many times have we seen that story?  Only this once, thank goodness.  Zookeeper suffers from a serious case of Shot-It’s-Wad-itis; all of the good stuff is in the trailer.  That’s right, everything worth seeing?  You’ve seen already. [...]

Monday Rewind is on hiatus today. Sure, I could tell you that Larry Crowne got his ass handed to him by Transformers, Cars 2 and Bad Teacher this weekend, barely getting one over on Monte Carlo. But that’s just depressing.  (Why the hatin’ on Larry?  Look up “character based story”, people.  Then get back to [...]

“We can’t limit anyone’s movement up the ladder. So we’re firing you.” With those words a U Mart employee is let go from the job that he loves and has to find a way to move on. His shift from employee to community college freshman is the focus of Larry Crowne, a movie that makes [...]

Sometimes hitting the multiplex just isn’t in the cards.  That’s when cable, the web and streaming  step in to provide an instant movie fix.  But how to separate the wheat from the chaff?  I’m happy to help; every week I’ll pick a flick and see if it’s worth your time.  This week? “Exam” How far [...]

Teachers don’t get enough credit.  Luckily, there are movies out there that shine the light on this noble profession…but Bad Teacher ain’t one of ‘em.  This movie goes for the comedic jugular, and gives you a teacher that’s more like a kid in juvie than an adult in the teacher’s lounge.  Thank god. The story [...]

I wanna hippopotamus for Christmas, only a hippopotamus will do….  And that’s what was playing in my head while I waited for the start of Mr. Popper’s Penguins.  Always wanted a cool, amazing animal as a pet?  Well, Mr. Popper’s got six penguins, and he’s turned his condo into a glorious penguin sanctuary.  It’s every [...]