2012, you were very kind to me. I got to do more of what I love--saw over a hundred movies this year, many of them entertaining. Sure, the superhero franchises weren’t as great as their predecessors and 2012 had its share of overrated lightweights, and I had to sit through another "Twilight" movie. But on the plus side, there were a lot of really creative, character-driven efforts (“Silver Linings Playbook," “Looper," “Cabin in the

Anne Hathaway appearing in a musical doesn't surprise me. Her entire Oscar hosting gig felt like a four-hour audition for Glinda the Good Witch in the upcoming movie musical for "Wicked." But who knew she could be so devastatingly good as Fantine, a woman struggling through poverty in France's revolutionary days who winds up forced to sell her teeth, hair and self to support her young daughter Cosette. Hathaway is going to

David Chase has gone from “The Sopranos” to taking a sixties-rock nostalgia trip with “Not Fade Away." It’s a film that knows its subject well enough, and even has E-Street Band member Steven Van Zandt to help pick the bluesy rock-infused soundtrack. And yet I don't know what I'm supposed to take away from the band focused on here. Doug (John Magaro) is a New Jersey kid inspired by The Rolling Stones, and girls, to start a band with

Charles Durning left us today. With appearances in over a [...]

“Promised Land” is the movie that Matt Damon and John Krasinski of “The Office” teamed up to write. Damon was even going to direct at one time before scheduling conflicts encouraged them to bring on Gus Van Sant. Damon is Steven, vice-president of a natural gas company who travels with his partner (Frances McDormand) to the rural town of McKinley in order to buy up people’s land and drill for gas. He promises money

Main theme, Caetano Veloso (O Quatrilho, directed by Bruno Barreto), [...]

How do you say "can't we all just get along?" in French? The infamous expression would fit perfectly. A week ago we ran the letter that French actor Gérard Depardieu had published in a French daily in response to that country’s prime minister calling him “pathetic” for emigrating to Belgium over the excessively high tax rate which was imposed on his revenues. Depardieu, who’s been a well-loved