SONNY BUNCH

MOVIES: Spy games in ‘Informant!’

Steven Soderbergh's new dramedy, "The Informant!" is funny and delightfully full of twists, the sort of picture that constantly leaves the audience guessing about the true motivations of its characters without whiplash-inducing changes in its plot's direction.

September 18, 2009

MOVIES: ‘Big Fan’

As good as Patton Oswalt and Kevin Corrigan are, their performances can't make up for this film's poor material.

September 11, 2009

MOVIES: ‘The Baader Meinhof Complex’

How does one beat an enemy with no moral compunction against doing violence because they think their victims are less than human?

September 11, 2009

MOVIES: Sum of ‘9’ doesn’t quite add up

The last remnants of humanity aren't even human in "9," the new animated action-adventure flick from director-writer Shane Acker and producer Tim Burton. Instead, they're "stitchpunks."

September 9, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Extract’

Though not quite as funny as "Office Space" and almost certainly less quotable, "Extract" skillfully mines both the workplace and personal space for moments of hilarity.

September 4, 2009

Of mice and X-Men: Disney buys Marvel

Mickey Mouse joins the Avengers. Spider-Man saves Cinderella from the wicked queen. Iron Man gets a Goofy new sidekick.

September 1, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Lorna’s Silence’

"Lorna's Silence" is an interesting and entertaining film that poses a more difficult moral dilemma than its authors might have intended.

August 28, 2009

Hollywood losing grip on big-budget blockbusters?

Hollywood has never had a consistent challenger when it comes to big-budget, action-adventure-type releases. Globalization has spread from industry to industry, however, and moviemaking is no exception.

August 28, 2009

Avatar promo pulls fans into multiplexes nationwide

If you noticed a line of fans buzzing excitedly outside your local 3-D theater this evening and was wondering what all the excitement was about, wonder no more: Today is Avatar Day.

August 21, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Inglourious Basterds’

Quentin Tarantino has pulled something of a bait-and-switch here: The advertising campaign for "Inglourious Basterds" promised audiences a rip-roaring World War II action film, not a talky digression into the politics of Nazi filmmaking punctuated with moments of violence.

August 21, 2009

Tarantino trapped inside own film fetishes?

The originality that so distinguished Quentin Tarantino's films has disappeared somewhere along the line as he traveled further and further inside his own head and cinematic fetishes.

August 21, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Post Grad’

It's not easy to create a movie that captures the zeitgeist just right. But sometimes filmmakers get lucky. "Post Grad" is not one of those times.

August 21, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard’

Time will tell if "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" enters the pantheon of great but ridiculous movies that find second life on HBO, the sort of flick that is eminently watchable for 15 minutes because of its quotable lines and great sight gags.

August 14, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Thirst’

If "Twilight," HBO's "True Blood" and myriad other pop culture touchstones are any indication, vampires have never been more in vogue. But you haven't seen a vampire until you've seen a Park Chan-wook bloodsucker.

August 14, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Ponyo’

After the sheer artistry of Hayao Miyazaki's previous efforts — beautifully animated movies like "Princess Mononoke," "Spirited Away" and "Howl's Moving Castle" — "Ponyo" is something of a disappointment.

August 14, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘District 9’

"District 9" is an odd melange of a movie: part fake documentary, part body horror, part office comedy and part "Mechwarrior." Neill Blomkamp's new film manages to feel fresh and exciting without actually bringing anything groundbreaking to the table. It's a rousing and entertaining film, if a little hollow.

August 14, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’

"The Time Traveler's Wife" is an effective romance film for the ladies with a patina of science fiction credibility to woo their boyfriends into joining. Of course, that patina doesn't stand much of a chance against the floodlights of "District 9," also opening Friday, but this is still a hearty exercise in counterprogramming.

August 14, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘The Cove’

"The Cove" is a two-pronged issue movie — Taiji's dolphin killings and the fact that dolphin meat is incredibly high in mercury, the toxic metal. But in order to win sympathy from Western audiences, it emphasizes the wrong issue.

August 7, 2009

BEYOND: Asperger’s syndrome takes spotlight

Though autism awareness is on the rise, it's not often understood that the disorder comes in a number of varieties; symptoms and severity range from the annoying to the debilitating.

August 7, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Adam’

"Adam," the new romantic dramedy from writer-director Max Mayer, manages to be funny and meaningful at the same time.

August 7, 2009