Ah, summer. Remember how endless those school-free months used to be?’s Adventureland, set in the late ’80s, nails that humid, crickets-chirping, restless feeling, revealed through the eyes of James (The Squid and the Whale’s Jesse Eisenberg), who finds out that his post-graduation Europe trip is off due to lack of funds and his graduate school Read More
Just when you think you have a handle on how bananas 1970s New York City was (Studio 54! CBGB! Mustaches as far as the eye can see!), along comes a documentary like American Swing to further blow your mind. Directed by Jon Hart and Matthew Kaufman, the film examines the infamous heterosexual swinger sex club Read More
It’s pretty hard not to fall for Paul Rudd and Jason Segel in just about anything either of them do (go rent Role Models to see what we mean—or Forgetting Sarah Marshall). In I Love You, Man, co-written by Larry Levin and director John Hamburg (Along Came Polly), Mr. Rudd plays the endearing Peter Klaven, Read More
Is there a conspiracy out there among filmmakers to ensure that none of us will leave the city for a quaint country house ever again? Last year we got scared into the next horizon watching The Strangers (random people coming to a young couple’s house in the middle of night, terrorizing them, and then the Read More
The one word—however made up it may be—we would have to use to describe the new film Crossing Over is Crash-tastic. Much like the 2004 film we have ridiculed over and over (and over) again, Crossing Over takes place in Los Angeles and features a giant ensemble cast tenuously linked together. But this time, instead Read More
Has anyone else noticed that Project Runway tends to be the acceptable exception for reality show snobs who usually sniff at such things? An it’s-O.K.-to-watch-this-it’s-about-talent-not-drama rationale has made the (former) Bravo show increasingly popular since it first aired in 2004. Jay McCarroll, the winner of that debut season, set a high bar when it came Read More
We’ve found ourselves spending an awful lot of time lately wondering just what the heck is happening with Joaquin Phoenix. Much has been made of the so-called retirement and maybe rap career and is-it-a-hoax-or-is-he-a-genius-or-has-he-just-lost-his-mind status these days. For the record, we’d like to note that we’re celebrating our 20-year anniversary of digging this weirdo, which Read More
Here’s the thing: We know we saw Fanboys last week, but as we sit here (just mere days later!), we find ourselves having trouble remembering specifics. But perhaps that’s not so surprising, considering this movie isn’t really meant to be weighty or thought-provoking, but rather zany and fluffy—tasty as an Easter-colored Peep. In fact, if Read More
Sometimes we dump all over Renée Zellweger, and honestly, we’re not really sure why. We loved her in Jerry Maguire and Bridget Jones’ Diary—even her small role in White Oleander. But our feelings for her turned—perhaps it was more all that red carpet mincing in Carolina Herrera gowns than any particular role … though Cold Read More
In theory, we’re totally for the idea of kids’ movies working as propaganda for reading, as the thought of a generation of children getting really good at wrist-flipping their Wiis rather than discovering the joys of Little Women or The Hardy Boys makes us feel sad inside. But Inkheart, based on the best-selling 2003 novel Read More
