LUCY WRESTLES WITH BIG IDEAS
By Greg Popil You have to give director Luc Besson this much credit: He never, ever feels like he’s on autopilot. If Besson were a baseball player he would be one of those frustratingly inconsisten...
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“PURGE” SEQUEL SMARTLY EXPANDS PREMISE
By Greg Popil Ever since the rise of blockbuster culture in Hollywood in the 1980s, the “hook,” or basic premise for a film, has largely taken precedence over characterization, plotting or even story...
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EPIC “DAWN” CONTINUES STUNNING “APES” RESURGENCE
By Greg Popil There are many wonderful pleasures to being a filmgoer, but perhaps the greatest joy someone that really cares about movies can experience is the all-too-rare sensation of watching a mov...
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UNPLEASANT McCARTHY CHARACTER DOOMS “TAMMY”
By Greg Popil Ever since her breakthrough performance in 2011’s surprise smash “Bridesmaids,” Melissa McCarthy has carved out a comfortable niche for herself as America’s anti-sweetheart, playing boor...
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BAY HITS NEW LOWS IN “TRANSFORMERS” SEQUEL
By Greg Popil At this point, criticizing the work of Michael Bay, particularly when he’s playing with his giant robot toys, is kind of like screaming at a hurricane or nitpicking the destructive capab...
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BRUTAL “ROVER” AN OVERDUE SHOWCASE FOR PEARCE
By Greg Popil Post-apocalyptic movies, regardless of the size of the budget or general tone, have always been a showcase for costume designers, set designers and art directors. The very mention of th...
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DARKER, MORE MATURE “DRAGON” SEQUEL SOARS”
By Greg Popil Since “Toy Story” debuted in 1995, Pixar studios has claimed the title of not only the greatest animation studio in the world, but possibly the greatest studio of the modern era. For th...
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MacFARLANE’S “A MILLION WAYS” TAPS UNEXPECTED INFLUENCES
By Greg Popil Let’s get this out of the way: Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of cinematic history is going to hear the term “comedy-western” used to describe Seth MacFarlane’s second feature...
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JOLIE’S STRONG PERFORMANCE FAILS TO PROP UP “MALEFICENT”
By Greg Popil Ever since Disney inexplicably received a billion dollar return on Tim Burton’s painfully dull reimagining of “Alice in Wonderland,” remakes of fairy tales with a modern sensibility have...
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“FUTURE PAST” ELEVATES X-MEN FRANCHISES
By Greg Popil There are compelling arguments to be made for naming any number of movies the “greatest” of the 21st century thus far (I personally would go with “The Prestige.” Feel free to rant at th...
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