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Articles by SONNY BUNCH

Taking a chance on war films

Some argue that the public simply has "Iraq fatigue," while others suggest that the public isn't interested in entertainment that disparages the military.

March 13, 2009

TV casts diversify as black shows dwindle

At the same time many in Hollywood are celebrating the election of President Obama and the racial healing it signals, some in the entertainment industry have turned a critical eye on themselves, noting the disappearance of several minority-oriented television programs from the airwaves.

March 6, 2009

MOVIES: ‘Watchmen’ leap into action

Considering that we're in a golden age of comic-book movies, a time when titles such as "Spider-Man 2," "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight" wow audiences and critics alike, it's no wonder that "the most acclaimed graphic novel of all time" - if "Watchmen's" advertising campaign is to be believed - is hitting the big screen.

March 5, 2009

EDGE: JFK’s assassination, through filmmakers’ lens

James Piereson's 2007 book "Camelot and the Cultural Revolution" featured an intriguing look at the liberal slide from progressive patriotism into anti-imperialist self-loathing during the 1960s and beyond in the wake of John F. Kennedy's assassination. It's a text to keep in mind as you watch the new D.C.-based romantic thriller "An American Affair."

February 27, 2009

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ nabs 8 Oscars

UPDATED: "Slumdog" is "top dog" at the Oscars as the cast and crew brought home the best picture, best directing and six other awards at the 81st annual Academy Awards.

February 23, 2009

2009 Oscar Picks: Sonny Bunch’s head/heart choices

"Slumdog Millionaire" is the only transcendent film in a field of "Forrest Gump" knockoffs like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," cliched biopics like "Milk" and glorified TV movies like "Frost/Nixon."

February 20, 2009

MOVIES: ‘Fanboys’

Imagine a film centered around a quartet of astrophysicists making a trans-Atlantic journey to break into the Large Hadron Collider and conduct an experiment. During their wacky trip to the Franco-Swiss border, they crack wise about muons, quarks and the vagaries of string theory.

February 20, 2009

EDGE: Outsider, insider vie for Oscar gold

Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke are locked in battle in the best-actor category. Will Hollywood rally around an industry favorite or put aside its biases to celebrate a longtime outsider prone to gaffes?

February 20, 2009

MOVIES: ‘Friday the 13th’

This week's "Friday the 13th" is the latest update of a classic horror franchise from action master Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes imprint. The trend started in 2003, when Marcus Nispel directed an update of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" to mixed reception.

February 13, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: Coraline

With "Coraline," Henry Selick and his team of stop-motion animators have created a real wonder, one that will entertain children for years to come.

February 6, 2009

MOVIE REVIEW: The Pink Panther 2

"The Pink Panther 2" is intended as an inoffensive family comedy, and in that it (kind of) succeeds. Unfortunately, it's unlikely that anyone over the age of about 10 will find much to cheer in this film.

February 6, 2009

BOOKS: Blacklisting Myself

In the pantheon of Great Screenwriter Memoirs, there is only one name — William Goldman.

February 1, 2009

MOVIES: ‘Taken’

"Taken" is the grown-up, more mature brother of the "The Transporter" series. Both were fathered by Luc Besson, but "Taken" is a fast-paced, high-octane action movie that, unlike its younger sibling, has the decency to take itself seriously.

January 30, 2009

MOVIES: ‘Wendy and Lucy’

Wendy is a homeless woman trekking to Alaska in search of a job. Lucy is her dog. Director Kelly Reichardt spends the 75 minutes of "Wendy and Lucy" narrative weaving an intimate, narrowly focused story of unanchored life on the road and just how tenuous such an existence is.

January 30, 2009

‘Che’ spurs debate, Del Toro walkout

UPDATED: A controversial new biopic about Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara is awakening old passions and provoking vigorous defenses and denunciations of the iconic revolutionary and - in the case of an interview with The Washington Times - a dramatic walkout.

January 27, 2009

Del Toro walks out of ‘Che’ interview

"I'm getting uncomfortable," Benicio del Toro says after fielding a question on his new movie's portrayal of the Bolivian and Cuban revolutions. "I'm done. I'm done, I hope you write whatever you want. I don't give a damn."

January 27, 2009

Streaming past Blu-ray?

UPDATED: It's been less than a year since Blu-ray triumphed over HD-DVD in the high-definition home-theater sweepstakes, and already the next generation of technology is shaping up:

January 23, 2009

The first ‘Waltz’

Beware the critic who describes a film as "challenging." What he really means is that the work in question is pretentious -- if not pointless -- and oftentimes the worst type of art-house fare.

January 23, 2009