It might seem like damning with faint praise to say that Kung Fu Panda 2 plays and feels like a "real movie." But in truth, I am using that phrase in the context of how most adult audiences will view the film....... more »
FilmCritic entries tagged "Angelina Jolie"
Danger, intrigue, suspense, romance - all characteristics you'd expect of cops and robbers mystery starring two of Hollywood's hottest heartthrobs, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. But there is no urgency, no smoldering passion and no excitement in The Tourist. While...... more »
Salt may be the first truly successful launch of a female secret agent franchise since Renny Harlin tried to turn his then-wife Geena Davis into a simmering CIA assassin with the under-appreciated The Long Kiss Goodnight. In Angelia Jolie's delightful...... more »
Fit snug into the mother superior of self-reflexive roles, Angelina Jolie once again finds herself the eye of the storm in Clint Eastwood's epic melodrama Changeling. Armed with her thick, crimson lips, period duds, and that ever-present cloche, Jolie goes...... more »
A scrawny, self-loathing office drone gets plucked from his humdrum existence by a steely, gun-wielding super babe, is mentored by a Zen warrior with limitless intelligence but limited patience, then endures harsh physical training to prepare for a deadly mission...... more »
It's surprising that Hollywood has taken until 2008 to come up with Kung Fu Panda. Taking your factory-issue period-piece martial arts plot -- wherein schlubby protagonist finds his inner warrior as a means of expressing filial piety and ensuring the...... more »
From the advent of sound with 1927's The Jazz Singer to the computer-generated effects breakthrough of 1989's The Abyss -- advancements in technology have had a major impact on cinematic storytelling, for better and worse. New technologies open up more...... more »
It's a sign of filmmaking prowess, and occasionally genius, when a director can hand viewers a scenario with a foregone conclusion and make them get lost in the story anyway. In A Mighty Heart, Michael Winterbottom shows that he is...... more »
Starting in the hot mess of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, reaching back to the 1930s and then hopscotching back and forth between those dates whenever the mood strikes it, the pleasingly complex espionage epic The Good Shepherd tries...... more »
-thumb-555xauto-24871.gif)
It will go down in infamy as the film that split up Brad and Jen -- assuming that 10 or 20 years from now people still remember the headline-making legacy of the ill-fated Pitt-Aniston marriage. Unfortunately for gossip fiends, Mr....... more »
