Freeze Frame

Melissa McCarthy is a funny lady. Can the force of her personality propel the farce “Life of the Party?” Susan and Russ give the lowdown on this back-to-school comedy about a woman who, after divorce, decides to attend the same …

Can Melissa McCarthy breathe life into a tired comedy formula? Well, she gives it the old college try in “Life of the Party.” When dumped by her husband, McCarthy decides to go back to college, the same school her daughter attends. McCarthy and her director husband Ben Falcone have no one to blame but themselves for the derivative script, but McCarthy nearly saves the soiree by the sheer force of...

Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody is reunited with Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron in “Tully,” an offbeat comic drama about, of all things, postpartum depression. Theron plays a woman who delivers her third child. Because of exhaustion, she agrees to let her …

Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody is reunited with Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron in "Tully," an offbeat comic drama about, of all things, postpartum depression. Theron plays a woman who delivers her third child. Because of exhaustion, she agrees to let her wealthy brother pay for a night nanny, played by Mackenzie Davis. The plot focuses on the relationship that develops between these...

If “more” equals “better,” then “Avengers: Infinity War” is everything a Marvel fanboy could hope for. However, in spite of some impressive scenes and spirited individual performances, “Avengers: Infinity War” is just what you’d expect from a $300 million, 2 …

If "more" equals "better," then "Avengers: Infinity War" is everything a Marvel fanboy could hope for. However, in spite of some impressive scenes and spirited individual performances, "Avengers: Infinity War" is just what you'd expect from a $300 million, 2 hour and 40 minute superhero extravaganza. No more, no less. To call it busy and over-packed with characters would be an understatement. On t...

Amy Schumer takes on the issue of body image in the likable comic fantasy, “I Feel Pretty.” She plays an insecure woman who falls and bumps her head and comes to believe that she’s a raging beauty. Although the screenwriters’ …

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has a knack for making a silk purse out of a cinematic sow’s ear. Can he do the same for the cursed video game genre? Maybe so.  In “Rampage,” based on the Midway arcade game, Johnson …

Amy Schumer takes on the issue of body image in the likable comic fantasy, “I Feel Pretty.” She plays an insecure woman who falls and bumps her head and comes to believe that she’s a raging beauty. Although the screenwriters’ template is pretty obvious, Schumer gives a shrewd performance proving she has real acting chops.   It’s no accident that the stoner comedy sequel “Super Troopers 2” is being...

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has a knack for making a silk purse out of a cinematic sow’s ear. Can he do the same for the cursed video game genre? Maybe so.  In “Rampage,” based on the Midway arcade game, Johnson plays a primatologist who has to figure out what to do when a genetic experiment goes wrong and his favorite albino gorilla grows to Kong size. The ape and a giant mutated wolf and alligator...

There probably isn’t a director better suited to adapting Ernest Cline’s pop novel “Ready Player One” for the big screen than Steven Spielberg. It’s the sort of visual-heavy sci-fi extravaganza that a lesser filmmaker like Michael Bay would have made …

There probably isn’t a director better suited to adapting Ernest Cline’s pop novel “Ready Player One” for the big screen than Steven Spielberg. It’s the sort of visual-heavy sci-fi extravaganza that a lesser filmmaker like Michael Bay would have made a complete mess of. Tye Sheridan stars as a kid who, in the dystopian future, plays a virtual reality game in an attempt to save mankind from an evil...

One day, someone will make a truly good movie based on a video game. We’re still waiting. Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander is the latest to log in for a paycheck. “Tomb Raider” reboots the old Angelina Jolie franchise and the …

One day, someone will make a truly good movie based on a video game. We’re still waiting. Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander is the latest to log in for a paycheck. “Tomb Raider” reboots the old Angelina Jolie franchise and the results are loud, busy and mind numbing. The so-so special effects are a distraction and it lacks the humor that makes its obvious inspiration, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,...

“A Wrinkle in Time,” the classic, 1962 award-winning science fantasy novel has finally made it to the big screen. Director Ava DuVernay’s $103 million adaptation is colorful, well meaning and, ultimately, bland. Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling play the …

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has proven that she’s got the acting chops and personal charisma to elevate so-so material. That ability is sorely needed in the new suspense thriller, “Red Sparrow,” based on the novel by Jason Matthews.   Lawrence …

“A Wrinkle in Time,” the classic, 1962 award-winning science fantasy novel has finally made it to the big screen. Director Ava DuVernay’s $103 million adaptation is colorful, well meaning and, ultimately, bland. Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling play the astral travelers who help a troubled 13-year-old, played by Storm Reid, search for her astrophysicist father who’s being held by an...

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has proven that she’s got the acting chops and personal charisma to elevate so-so material. That ability is sorely needed in the new suspense thriller, “Red Sparrow,” based on the novel by Jason Matthews.   Lawrence plays Dominika, a Bolshoi Ballet artist who suffers a career-ending injury. Her uncle, a Russian Intelligence agent, recruits her to become a sp...

Pulling off a screwball comedy is as difficult as pulling out the last block in Jenga. There’s always a good chance the whole thing will come toppling down. The goofy farce “Game Night” somehow remains standing even though it’s not …

Pulling off a screwball comedy is as difficult as pulling out the last block in Jenga. There’s always a good chance the whole thing will come toppling down. The goofy farce “Game Night” somehow remains standing even though it’s not the most stable of structures. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams lead a gifted cast in the wacky story of a husband and wife who are very active gamers. They meet weekly...

Marvel’s superhero “Black Panther” finally gets his proper feature-length movie introduction and it’s a rousing, involving adventure. The fact that most of the folks in front of and behind the camera are black makes it all the more compelling. Chawick …

Marvel’s superhero “Black Panther” finally gets his proper feature-length movie introduction and it’s a rousing, involving adventure. The fact that most of the folks in front of and behind the camera are black makes it all the more compelling. Chawick Boseman plays the king of a mysterious, highly advanced African nation who must rise to the occasion and save his country, and the world, from a riv...

The final chapter in the big screen adaptation of E.L. James’ kinky S&M bestseller “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy finally hits theaters this week. Like its predecessors, “Fifty Shades Freed” isn’t bad enough to be campy fun and is about …

The final chapter in the big screen adaptation of E.L. James’ kinky S&M bestseller “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy finally hits theaters this week. Like its predecessors, “Fifty Shades Freed” isn’t bad enough to be campy fun and is about as erotic as a cold shower. Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are back in this absurd wish-fulfillment fantasy that’s just a gaudy soap opera dressed up with sna...

February is “Black History Month,” and people have asked me to put together a list of movie suggestions to commemorate the annual observance. So, here are some films that are, I believe, apt viewing choices.   “12 Years a Slave” …