Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – Movie Review

As a big Harry Potter fan, there was little question of whether or not I would enjoy the fifth movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. However, I have to say that I found it even better than the previous film, Goblet of Fire. This time around, Harry returns to Hogwart’s School of…

Transformers – Movie Review

Whenever Hollywood decides to adapt an existing pop cultural franchise for the big screen, I hate to hear that this adaptation will appeal both to die-hard fans as well as to the masses. With the possible exception of the Harry Potter films, that statement is almost never true. What it usually means is that they’ve…

Ratatouille – Movie Review

The movie’s been out for a while now, and the verdict is already in regarding Pixar’s latest movie, Ratatouille. Critics and audience are proclaiming it a great animated masterpiece, possibly the best Pixar movie so far. For my money, that honour still goes to The Incredibles (also written and directed by Ratatouille creator Brad Bird)….

Ocean’s Thirteen – Capsule Review

This is the fourth three-quel that I’ve seen so far this summer. While most of them seem to follow the law of diminishing returns (I just don’t know how many more Shrek stories they can come up with, really), 13 actually brought better luck than 12 for the Ocean’s franchise. That being said, Ocean’s Thirteen…

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – Capsule Review

As the summer of sequels continues, it take more and more blockbuster magic to impress. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer already had a knock against it, being the sequel to an incredibly mediocre super-hero first installment. While all the same actors are reprising their roles for the sequel (even the terribly miscast Jessica…

2007 Season Finales

Another television season has ended, and on some cliffs we’ve been left hanging–but nothing to make me crave next season. Alias, Battlestar, Lost, X-Files, and even Friends was always good for some major game-changing in the last episode, but this year’s shows aren’t quite stringing me along for next fall. Heroes – “How To Stop…

3 x 3 – Capsule reviews of Pirates 3, Shrek 3 and Spidey 3

You know it’s summer when the blockbuster sequels come out to play. Already the news stories have trumpeted which movie had the biggest opening, and which one came along to knock it off the top. In a three-in-a-row trifecta, this summer sees the return of the third installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek,…

Waitress – Movie Review

When you see what looks like a romantic comedy, with lead actors possessing a lot of charm and good comic timing and what looks likeĀ a pretty good script, what’s not to like? Keri Russell (TV’s Felicity herself) takes the lead again as a cute Southern waitress with a genius for making pies (one of the…

Hot Fuzz – Movie Review

After making a successful rom-zom-com (that’s a “romantic zombie comedy” for the unenlightened) in Shaun of the Dead, where do collaborators Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and (director) Edgar Wright head next? Hot Fuzz is a buddy cop movie. However, this isn’t just any ordinary Bruckheimer/Bay-type movie. In fact, it pays homage to those movies (including…