Movie review: Love & Friendship’ a charming mashup of manners, manipulation
If you have any sense or sensibility, you'll rush to see "Love & Friendship," the best and funniest Jane Austen adaptation in years. Ironic since its source, "Lady Susan," is considered one of...
View ArticleMovie review: The Lobster’ is a Kafkaesque critique of love, loneliness
If you tossed the eccentric imaginations of David Lynch, Charlie Kaufman and Franz Kafka into a boiling pot of water, something like "The Lobster" would emerge. It's a murky soup of commentary and...
View ArticleMovie review: Neighbors 2’ has more lulls than laughs
The two takeaways from "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising" are Zac Efron's abs never cease to amaze and someone needs to give Rose Byrne the lead in her own comedy. She is no one's bridesmaid anymore —...
View ArticleEd Symkus: WWE’s Sheamus smoothly transforms into Ninja Turtles nemesis...
When Stephen Farrelly, under the moniker of Sheamus, the Celtic Warrior, enters a WWE ring these days, ever ready to deliver a vicious Brogue Kick to the face of some unlucky opponent, he's met by both...
View ArticleEd Symkus: Game of Thrones’ Mother of Dragons likes to laugh
British actress Emilia Clarke wasn't supposed to be Daenerys Targaryen (you can also call her Mother of Dragons or Khaleesi) on "Game of Thrones." The part was originally played, on the show's unaired...
View ArticleMovie review: Newest X-Men’ hits all the right spots
The 47th entry in the "X-Men" franchise (just kidding, but it's easy to lose track) stays with the younger series of actors playing the Marvel mutants. You know, the ones with James McAvoy and Michael...
View ArticleMovie review: Dark Horse’ brings a ray of brightness to the screen
Move over, Seabiscuit. Take a back seat, Secretariat. Here's a real down-home, rags to riches, shaggy horse story. It's a documentary on the feisty runner named Dream Alliance who today enjoys a...
View ArticleMovie review: Weiner’ documentary frighteningly honest
House Speaker Dennis Hastert molested high school students, Senate Whip Ted Kennedy drove off a bridge and left a woman to die, Sen. John Edwards funneled campaign funds to provide for his baby mama...
View ArticleMovie review: Whimsy, magic missing from this Alice’
Disney's bastardization of classic children's literature reaches its nadir with "Alice Through the Looking Glass," a headache inducing menage of Lewis Carroll's beloved Underland characters tossed into...
View ArticleMovie review: Take two of Ninja Turtles’ is a triumph
The surprisingly good sequel to the 2014 hit reboot of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" does a few really impressive things. It smartly picks up the strings of the first film in order to move the story...
View ArticleMovie review: Me Before You’ manages to stay mostly upbeat
"Me Before You" is definitely not the sort of movie to recommend to the "Game of Thrones" crowd. Oh, the script has people keeping dark secrets from one another, and there's a generous share of...
View ArticleMovie review: Tale of Tales’ benefits from warped sense of humor
Before falling apart in its final reel, Matteo Garrone's imaginative "Tale of Tales" proves a visually arresting, narratively captivating rendering of the 17th-century works of Italian folklorist...
View ArticleMovie review: TMNT: Out of the Shadows’ wears out its welcome
In "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows," you can take the fab four out of the sewers and into the light of New York City, but too much dumbness still lurks in the dark. Like its 2014...
View ArticleMovie review: Me Before You’ sends ugly message
It's rated PG-13, but "Me Before You" is inarguably obscene in its superficial portrayal of the disabled, arguing that when your limbs are useless, you're useless, too. Try selling that nonsense to...
View ArticleMovie review: The magic is back in Now You See Me 2’
Bad news first. If you haven't seen the precursor to "Now You See Me 2," the 2013 film "Now You See Me," there's no sense trying to watch this one. Though the story about a crafty and evasive group of...
View ArticleEd Symkus: Harrelson has twice the fun in the Now You See Me’ sequel
Woody Harrelson has never gone out of his way to repeat a role he's already played. On TV, the few exceptions include playing Woody on "Cheers," Nathan on "Will & Grace," and Detective Hart on...
View ArticleEd Symkus: Director James Wan chats about The Conjuring 2’ and Aquaman’
Australian director James Wan kick-started his filmmaking career with the surprise smash hit "Saw," stayed in the horror genre to make a couple of "Insidious" movies and "The Conjuring," then jumped to...
View ArticleEd Symkus: Farmiga, Wilson reprise their demon-hunting roles in The...
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, both in the middle of busy film and TV and, in his case, stage careers, had only worked together once. They costarred as real life demon hunters Lorraine and Ed Warren...
View ArticleEd Symkus: Between the Rock and a Hart place
The basic premise of "Central Intelligence," the action-comedy starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, is role reversal. In the introductory flashback, geeky high school senior Bob is bullied by nasty...
View ArticleMovie Review: Conjuring 2’ summons up some strong scares
There's no way around it. When a sequel to a successful mainstream movie is made — and the 2013 fright fest "The Conjuring" was a big success both critically and at the box office — there are going to...
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