Home movie review THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE Running time: 98 minutes. Rated PG (action, mild violence, and rude humor). In theaters. In a perfect world, fed-up audiences would say, “Let’s-a-go see something else.” Alas, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” the exhausting sequel to 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” will make $1 billion just like its awful predecessor … Read more
movie review THE DRAMA Running time: 106 minutes. Rated R. In theaters April 3. Good thing it’s called “The Drama.” A nice name like “The Wedding” would be extremely misleading. Even “The Couple” could end up a date-night disaster. Titling this oddity “The Drama” is, at least, not a bait and switch. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised … Read more
movie review PROJECT HAIL MARY Running time: 157 minutes. Rated PG-13 (thematic material and suggestive references). In theaters March 20. Now entering the pantheon of lost-and-alone movies is “Project Hail Mary,” a hugely entertaining — and just plain huge — surprise during a depressing month that’s typically Hollywood’s dumping ground for wince-worthy trash. It hits you like an … Read more
movie review THE BRIDE ZERO STARS. Running time: 127 minutes. Rated R (strong/bloody violent content, sexual content/nudity and language). In theaters March 6. Leave her at the altar! She is “The Bride!,” one of the absolute worst movies I have had the displeasure of watching in this job. It’s a struck-by-lightning shocker to see a … Read more
Just when you think Pixar’s petting-zoo cute new movie “Hoppers” is flagrantly ripping off James Cameron, the characters come clean. movie review HOPPERS Running time: 105 minutes. Rated PG (action/peril, some scary images and mild language). In theaters March 6. “You guys, this is like ‘Avatar’!,” squeals 19-year-old Mabel (Piper Curda), the studio’s rare college-age … Read more
movie review SCREAM 7 Running time: 114 minutes. Rated R (strong bloody violence, gore, and language.) In theaters. In the middle of the stupefyingly bad seventh “Scream” movie, Sidney Prescott asks her daughter’s boyfriend, “Do you know anything about AI?” Oh, I screamed all right. Noooo! Anything but another slapdash horror film with a lazy plot that hinges on … Read more
movie review HOW TO MAKE A KILLING Running time: 105 minutes. Rated R (language and some violence/bloody images). In theaters Feb. 20. There are eight deaths in “How to Make a Killing.” Seven are people and one is done-dirty source material. The blood. So much blood. Writer-director John Patton Ford has misguidedly modernized “Kind Hearts … Read more
movie review 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE Running time: 110 minutes. Rated R (strong bloody violence, gore, graphic nudity, language throughout and brief drug use). In theaters Jan. 16. The final scene of last year’s “28 Years Later” was pretty damn demented, even by the messed-up standards of a postapocalyptic horror series in which … Read more
movie review GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION Running time: 98 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some strong violence, bloody images, and action). In theaters. Welcome to “Greenland 2.” No, not the 51st state — the unnecessary bore of a sequel starring gruntin’ Gerard Butler. The Scottish actor with the gravelly growl of an acid reflux sufferer who just got … Read more
Before it became a rom-com classic, “Notting Hill” almost lost its biggest star, Julia Roberts. Roberts, 58, said she initially dismissed the film as “so f–king stupid,” questioning the premise before discovering the charm that ultimately convinced her to sign on. “Gosh, I just remember when my agent called me about ‘Notting Hill,’ and I thought, … Read more
Showbiz is getting ready to pop the cork at midnight on Jan. 1. But first allow me to burst their bubble. Like the schlub who pledges to go to the gym more, the entertainment industry could always use some improvement. Here are my New Year’s resolutions for movies, Broadway and TV. “Stranger Things” returned for … Read more
A line I get a lot is, “Being a movie critic must be the best job in the world.” You’d think! But Hollywood so often has other ideas. Even considering that there are always far more dogs released annually than winners — check out my best-of-the-year list for those — 2025 was a real doozy. … Read more
The year at the movies gets a mixed review. For a hefty chunk of 2025, it felt like one flop after another — and not only at the box office. Hotly anticipated new films from brilliant directors, such as Bong Joon Ho (“Mickey 17”), Kathryn Bigelow (“A House of Dynamite”) and James L. Brooks (“Ella … Read more
movie review ANACONDA Running time: 100 minutes. Rated PG-13 (violence/action, strong language, some drug use and suggestive references). In theaters Dec. 25. Who would have thought that 1997’s “Anaconda,” in which Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube and Jon Voight run from a giant snake in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, would leave a significant enough … Read more
How does your holiday movie taste stack up with the rest of the country? According to new research, “Home Alone 3” was voted as the most hated festive film. The survey of 2,000 Americans tasked respondents to vote on the holiday movies they “love to hate,” and saw the Kevin McCallister-less Home Alone sequel score … Read more
movie review SONG SUNG BLUE Running time: 132 minutes. Rated PG-13 (thematic material, some strong language, some sexual material and brief drug use). In theaters Dec. 25. If there’s one slam-dunk choice in “Song Sung Blue,” Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson’s new romantic movie about a Neil Diamond cover band, it’s the title. “Sweet Caroline” … Read more
movie review THE HOUSEMAID Running time: 131 minutes. Rated R (strong/bloody violent content, sexual assault, sexual content, nudity and language). In theaters Dec. 19. My favorite line from “The Housemaid” was, unusually, not spoken by a character who’s actually in the movie. During a scene in which new domestic helper Millie, played by Sydney Sweeney, is up … Read more
movie review AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH Running time: 195 minutes. Rated PG-13 (Bloody Images, action, intense sequences of Violence, some strong language). In Dec. 19. It’s easy to take Pandora for granted. Moviegoers have now made three trips to director James Cameron’s stunning alien planet, and have scaled the flying mountains, hiked among the bioluminescent … Read more
movie review ELLA MCCAY Running time: 115 minutes. Rated PG-13 (strong language, some sexual material and drug content). In theaters. In the pantheon of James L. Brooks films, “Ella McCay” is far from as good as it gets. That the ingenious and idiosyncratic Oscar winner, who wrote and directed “Broadcast News” and “Terms of Endearment” … Read more
movie review MARTY SUPREME Running time: 150 minutes. Rated R (language throughout, sexual content, some violent content/bloody images and nudity). In theaters Dec. 19. Ping pong tends to be grouped with smaller, niche sports like bowling and badminton; built for basements and ESPN3 at 2 a.m. But tiny table tennis is part of one big … Read more