Trollhunter (2010)::rating::3.5::rating::3.5::rating::3.5

T rollhunter is an agreeably daffy little film that lives at the junction of dark comedy, light horror, and high fantasy. It combines the jerky, found-footage feel of The Blair Witch Project with Tolkienesque troll mythology to create an energetic and engaging mockumentary. The resulting film may not be for all tastes, and some viewers…

ByTodd WoffordAugust 30, 20230Comments

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)::rating::4.5

A fter I watched Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, I went back to my review of the first film. Apparently, I gave Into the Spider-Verse 3.5 out of 5 stars. On one hand, that rating seems pretty low. On another, it seems...well, dumb. After all, that film was just the burst of energy and invention that comic book movies needed.…

ByTodd WoffordAugust 17, 20230Comments

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Black Sheep (1996)::rating::1

I f you could program AI to deliver a half-assed sequel to Tommy Boy , it would look a lot like Black Sheep . As with a machine, the filmmakers can’t fashion actual comedy, so they settle for a clattering, mechanized imitation of it. Words get strung…

ByTodd WoffordAugust 15, 20230Comments

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Jaws (1975)::rating::5

I have an informal list of around twenty five perfect movies, and Jaws maintains a permanent residence. Everything about it is a master class in cinema, from the cinematography, editing, directing, to the note-perfect acting. And that's to say nothing of John Williams' score, which economically builds the most terrifying motif this side of…

ByTodd WoffordAugust 11, 20230Comments

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Barbie (2023)::rating::3.5

T hroughout Barbie, two completely different movies jockey for prominence. In one, director Greta Gerwig (who co-writes with her partner, Noah Baumbach) fashions the iconic doll into a walking, talking instrument of satirical destruction. The other is a broad, obvious Message Movie, in which characters carve out time for impassioned speeches, replete with tears and clenched…

ByTodd WoffordAugust 6, 20230Comments

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Oppenheimer (2023)::rating::4

A t first glance, J. Robert Oppenheimer would not seem like an obvious choice for a sprawling, ambitious biopic. As the father of the atomic bomb, his contributions to mankind were as monumental as they were controversial, but Dr. Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) was also enigmatic, eccentric, and prone to bouts of maddening passivity. But in…

ByTodd WoffordJuly 27, 20230Comments

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Clue (1985)::rating::2.5

B y any metric, Clue is the Citizen Kane of movies derived from board games. Of course, to my knowledge, it’s also the only movie derived from a board game, at least until they green-light Hungry Hungry Hippos. Still, this campy, cartoonish romp is probably the best thing you’ll ever get from a macabre whodunit where candyass…

ByTodd WoffordJuly 25, 20230Comments

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The Iron Giant (1999)::rating::4

A s an obvious riff on E.T., The Iron Giant owes an enormous emotional and spiritual debt to Steven Spielberg. You also don't have to look hard for nods to steampunk, pulp novels, and Saturday morning serials. But for all his mixing and matching, writer-director Brad Bird actually works a small miracle with this film: Over…

ByTodd WoffordJuly 19, 20230Comments

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The Negotiator (1998)::rating::3.5

T he Negotiator is a well-acted, well-staged action flick, but its greatest accomplishment is disguising just how preposterous it is. Ninety-nine times of a hundred, nothing about this plot works, and Samuel L. Jackson’s protagonist ends up either locked in the pokey or deader than sweet disco. If you can accept that this is that one-percent…

ByTodd WoffordJuly 13, 20230Comments

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Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023)::rating::3

G uardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 makes it hard to believe this franchise once kicked off with a funky, funny, freewheeling romp. That first film, with its cute pop culture riffs and geeky 70s mixtapes, was the sorbet comic book cinema desperately needed. Now, hither comes movie no. 3, which has the look and…

ByTodd WoffordJuly 12, 20230Comments