Rating: 2.5 stars

Sadly for me, all the things I liked best about the original Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe—Tilda Swinton’s icily mesmerizing White Witch; James McAvoy’s puckish Mr. Tumnus; the refreshingly realistic sibling rivalry among the Pevensie children; the talking beavers; those crazy-delicious cupcakes (just checking to see if you were paying attention)—are mostly gone in the sequel. Instead, we get more CGI! More battles! More epic grandeur! In this case, more is less—at least for me. I missed the charm and intimacy of the first work. Some, I suppose, will prefer this version, which plays a bit like Lord of the Rings for tweens.
The tween dream factor is certainly provided by our titular hero. British newcomer Ben Barnes looks so much like a young Keanu Reeves, I half-expected him to mutter, “Whoah. Narnia is totally righteous, dude,” but makes an able bodied (and totally hot) Caspian.
As the film starts, the Pevensie children are back in war-torn England. I’m not sure how much “real world” time is supposed to have...

Rating: 1.5 stars

When I saw The Matrix for the first time, I was tempted to give it a one word review: “Cool.” With its fresh use of CGI martial arts effects, dense mythology, and, of course, those billowing leather coats, the movie was cool—and the Wachowski Brothers seemed like a major force to be reckoned with. Well, since then, there were two sequels to The Matrix and neither was particularly good—in fact, they so muddled and over-wrought, they actually made me rethink my enjoyment of the original. Never a good sign.
And then . . . bupkis.
It’s been five years since The Matrix: Revolutions and, except for writing V for Vendetta, a kitschy piece of pseudo-agit-prop, they brothers have been silent. Then I saw the trailer for the Wachowski’s new film, Speed Racer, and my first thought was, “Cool.” By creating a kaleidoscopic, lightening fast, live-action version of the beloved Japanese animé series, it seemed like the boys were ready to make another statement. Oh,  how I wish it were true.
Yup, from the very first frame the film is all...

Rating: 3.5 stars

There are very few super heroes you’d actually want to hang out with. I mean, Batman is all dark and gloomy, and Superman is a bit of a stiff, and Spiderman is way too angst-ridden. However, I’d hit the town with billionaire inventor and playboy Tony Stark, a.k.a Iron Man, anytime. You see, Tony Stark, as played brilliantly by Robert Downey Jr., is a hipster, he’s sexy, he’s resourceful—in short, he’s like one of the Ocean’s Eleven guys, if they were inclined to strap on an armored suit and kick some terrorist ass.
As the film begins, Stark, an arms manufacturer who took over the business from his daddy, is flippantly confident that he’s doing the patriotic thing. It’s only after he’s kidnapped by Afghan warlords who are using his weapons to kill innocent villagers, that he realizes his company is doing more harm than good. He escapes from his captors by creating an ersatz fighting and flying suit. When he gets back to his laboratory in the states, he sets out to perfect it.
Along for the ride are Gwyneth Paltrow in a doting Girl Friday role that is beneath her abilities...

Rating:3]

Hope and Crosby. Abbott and Costello. Martin and Lewis. What do these comedy teams all have in common? Well, they’re all dudes, for one thing. In fact, I can’t think of a single all-female comedy duo for the ages. Until now.
Okay, so it may be a bit premature to suggest that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are the next Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, but so far, these funny ladies are two-for-two. They were, of course, brilliant together on the set of SNL’s Weekend Update—the two smartest girls in the back of the class, cracking wise, throwing verbal spitballs, and making the boys swoon. And now they’re at it again in Baby Mama, playing an odd couple thrust together under unlikely circumstances.
Fey’s Kate Holbrook is an over-achieving VP at a natural food company. She is single, her biological clock is ticking, and a doctor has just blithely reported that he doesn’t like the looks of her uterus. So she hires Angie Ostrowiski (Poehler) as a surrogate mother to fertilize her eggs and bear her child.
Fey, very much to her credit, is playing Felix Unger here: She’s a little uptight, a...