One of my numerous character flaws is a tolerance for cheap laff-a-minute parodies, which is why I sat through two parodies of The Hunger Games. This one is slightly worse than The Hungover Games, though it has its moments and … Continue reading
Category Archives: Movies and television
This is the sort of film that’s more fun for the cast and crew than the audience. The premise: What if the characters from The Hangover and its sequels suddenly found themselves competing in The Hunger Games against their counterparts … Continue reading
The first film in the series was an OK dystopian science fiction adventure aimed (like the trilogy of novels the films are based on) primarily at an adolescent audience, but this sequel is quite a lot better, with more depth … Continue reading
This is the first of a series of movies adapted from a popular trilogy of young adult science fiction novels by Suzanne Collins, who co-wrote the screenplay with Gary Ross and Billy Ray. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) lives with her … Continue reading
James Franco plays the not-very-bright host of a popular celebrity interview show. Seth Rogen is his producer and best friend but regrets not having followed his dream of being a serious journalist. But then he scores a journalistic coup: It … Continue reading
Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are writers who met, fell in love, and got married in New York and now live in Missouri, where he teaches creative writing and helps his twin sister run a bar. They’re just about to … Continue reading
This rather strange television series, a mixture of Western, comedy, and science fiction, was steampunk before steampunk was cool. It ran only 28 episodes over a single season. Bruce Campbell plays the title character, a graduate of Harvard Law School … Continue reading
This is a fun space opera with a nice sense of humor and flashes of humanity, but it has so many characters and such a convoluted plot that it would have helped if the film had come with orientation briefings … Continue reading
A few decades in the future the Earth is suffering serious environmental problems and an associated economic depression. Diseases wipe out entire food crops while dust storms sweep across the landscape. Matthew McConaughey is a former astronaut now trying to … Continue reading
Jimmy Stewart is a successful Indianapolis surgeon happily married to Doris Day. They and their young son have been in Paris for a medical conference and are playing tourist in Morocco when a murdered man whispers an urgent message warning … Continue reading