The Return of the Popcorn Circus: May 2008

By Bill Gibron

In the first act of this four-part production, Tinsel Town decides to do some unbelievable front loading. Will there be room for independent offerings, or former HBO carnal comedy divas? Who knows? Without a doubt, it's an interesting way to start the season. [28 April 2008]

Future Shock: The Death of Serious Science Fiction

By Bill Gibron

The serious Science Fiction film genre is dead or at least on cinematic life support. As the new millennial marches forward, and an omnipresent production paradigm that substitutes spectacle for smarts, futurist filmmaking is definitely gasping for breath. [29 May 2007]

Oceans of Fear

By Chris Justice

Brace yourself: this is a fish tale that can silence – like the great white shark itself – all of its competitors. [13 August 2009]

(more The Tackle Box)

Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

By Chris Barsanti

There should be room in our collective imagination for a hero who makes mistakes, lots of them, and still saves the day -- these are films that should be owned. [27 May 2008]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

By Cynthia Fuchs

It is a little surprising to see the silliness that leads to Crystal Skull's gargantuan climax, a series of antics simultaneously hyper and enervated. [21 May 2008]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

By Jake Meaney

This is a young man's film, a film with its arms and eyes wide open, with none of the paranoia and xenophobia which plague us today. [17 December 2007]

Munich (2005)

By Cynthia Fuchs

Munich is about the shifting meaning the city's name took on after that dire moment in 1972, the shorthand it became for survivors, historians, and avengers. [23 December 2005]

War of the Worlds (2005)

By Cynthia Fuchs

Both smart-looking and simple-minded, War of the Worlds powers along on visual tricks and the frequent terrorizing of Dakota Fanning. [1 July 2005]

The Terminal (2004)

By Cynthia Fuchs

The saga of Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) is an apt reflection of what might be termed a global fear. [6 December 2004]

The Terminal (2004)

By Cynthia Fuchs

Viktor is pronounced 'unacceptable', a man without nation, identity, or status. [17 June 2004]

Hook (1991)

By Jesse Hassenger

Hook is thoroughly watchable, often amusing, fitfully entertaining. [15 September 2003]

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

By Cynthia Fuchs

Steven Spielberg's zippy new film is about the kind of 'truth' that might only be apprehended in its telling. [26 December 2002]

Minority Report (2002)

By Cynthia Fuchs

Based on a story published by Philip K. Dick in 1956, 'Minority Report' is science-fiction of the sort that Dick preferred to write -- set in the future, but all wrapped up in concerns that are immediately relevant to the present moment (that the same concerns were relevant back in 1956 is not a little unnerving, as will become clear). [20 June 2002]

E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982/2002)

By Mike Ward

The rerelease of 'E.T.' raises questions that underscore the difference between the Reagan-Bush years and the years of Bush Jr. and Dick Cheney. [4 April 2002]

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)

By Todd R. Ramlow

Interestingly, in one of 'A.I.''s inconsistencies, we are shown a society obsessive about controlling consumption and the conservation of resources, which nevertheless is still steadfastly consumer-driven: the answer to all our problems can be found in the perfect product, in this case a robotic child. [1 January 1995]

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)

By Cynthia Fuchs

The nuclear family has never looked so perverse.

‘Indiana Jones’ will open strong, but will it stay hot? [23 May 2008]

Indiana Jones paved the road for dumb box-office thrill rides [20 May 2008]

Harrison Ford returns to the real ‘let’s-pretend’ job that propelled his career [19 May 2008]

Karen Allen is back where she belongs: in an Indiana Jones movie

After 20 years, Harrison Ford returns to his signature role: Indiana Jones