As one expects from a comic book movie, most of this one is ridiculously over-the-top action, but there’s more to it than that, notably an underlying theme of the trade-offs between freedom and order. It doesn’t have anything too subtle … Continue reading
In this computer animated fantasy adventure a girl in her mid-teens whose mother has just died goes to live with her father in a rambling old country house somewhere in a northeastern U.S. forest. Her parents had apparently split up … Continue reading
This is the third of a trio of comedies co-written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, with Wright directing and Pegg starring along with Nick Frost. In Shaun of the Dead (2004), a pretty funny and original romantic comedy with … Continue reading
What we have here is a very short cooking show featuring someone trying out the genius idea of making deep frying gnocchi. Gnocchi (singular gnocco) are Italian dumplings, often filled with potato or cheese, and generally quite tasty. Making them … Continue reading
Connelly is an excellent mystery author whose novels are highly readable if not necessarily memorable. In this one his main series character, LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, who’s now nearing retirement and working on the department’s cold case squad, investigates a … Continue reading
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who have co-starred in a series of comedies, are back in a movie they also co-wrote. This time they play a couple of English sci-fi (and I do mean sci-fi) enthusiasts who come to the … Continue reading
Fry is a well-known British actor, writer, and public intellectual as well as the former comedy partner of Hugh Laurie. This is his first novel, a very weird and occasionally very fun cross between a coming of age tale and … Continue reading
Seth MacFarlane — best known for creating the animated series Family Guy and providing the voices of (among others) Peter (the father), Stewie (the baby), Brian (the dog), and Quagmire (the pervert) — directed, co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in this … Continue reading
A number of films and plays have lately looked at classic fairytales from the viewpoint of a villain, including this live-action retelling of the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty, released 55 years to the day after the animated original. It’s … Continue reading
In the clip below, courtesy of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, John Oliver takes on prescription drug marketing in a clip that will leave you terrified, enraged, and laughing all at the same time. At a bit over 17 minutes, it’s … Continue reading