movies
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ turns out to be quite the Enterprise
RICHARD ROEPER: Director J.J. Abrams is a true talent, and he’s also a pop-culture savant who has great respect for the legacy of this franchise as well as a keen understanding of the mega-importance of box-office figures. There’s no better choice to make the best, the purest AND the most accessible big-budget “Star Trek” movie possible. Yet with all the futuristic splendor and the fine performances, “Into Darkness” only occasionally soars, mostly settling for being a solid but unspectacular effort that sets the stage for the next chapter(s).
New on DVD for May 17, 2013
Here is a look at what’s new on DVD this week. Many of these titles were released on May 14.
Lucasfilm: New ‘Star Wars’ movie to be shot in UK
LONDON (AP) — The next “Star Wars” movie will be shot in a galaxy far, far away from Hollywood — Britain.
Ben Kingsley finds great depth in ‘Iron Man’ villain
LOS ANGELES — Iron Man is the first one to admit that even he has his, uh, kryptonite.
“These superheroes are only ever as good as their bad guys,” says Robert Downey Jr. “If you have a lame bad guy then you’re done.”
There is …
Baz Luhrmann gets ‘Great Gatsby’ just right
RICHARD ROEPER: Given the wretched and sometimes wonderful excesses of Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” and “Moulin Rouge,” not to mention a trailer that gave the impression Luhrmann’s interpretation of “The Great Gatsby” would be one extended anachronistic music video, it turns out Luhrmann’s “Gatsby” is first and foremost F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Gatsby.”
Quirky ‘Pain & Gain’ goes on a steroid-fueled crime spree
RICHARD ROEPER: Here’s the mostly true story of three idiot bodybuilders who went on a steroids-fueled, tragicomic crime spree in south Florida in the 1990s, directed by Michael Bay with hard-R, turn-your-head-away violence. Even though the film does mine laughs from real-life tragedy, it refuses to glamorize these meatheads. Kudos to Bay and his screenwriters for making sure we’re laughing at them, not with them.
Review: ‘42’ is classy but tame Robinson tale
★★1/2
Jackie Robinson was the ideal class act to break the barrier and become the first black player in Major League Baseball.
Writer-director Brian Helgeland’s Jackie Robinson biopic “42” is a class act itself, though not always an engaging act.
It’s such a familiar story …
Tom Cruise soars in ‘Oblivion,’ an epic paying homage to sci-fi
RICHARD ROEPER: “Oblivion” is an extremely well-crafted, at times engrossing but ultimately standard-issue futuristic epic with some big ideas and spiritual touches separated by loud and explosive chase scenes, high-powered gun battles and even some good old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat involving Tom Cruise. It’s the sci-fi movie equivalent of a pretty darn good cover band.
Review: ‘The Croods’ is simple but dazzles visually
★★1/2
Cavemen — they’re just like us! — or so “The Croods” seems to be saying with its familiar mix of generational clashes, coming-of-age milestones and generally relatable laughs.
The animated adventure features a strong, star-studded cast and dazzles visually in wondrously colorful, vibrant 3-D, …
‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ isn’t exactly either
★★
“Oz the Great and Powerful” aims for nostalgia in viewers who grew up on “The Wizard of Oz” and still hold the classic dear while simultaneously enchanting a younger audience.
The film never really accomplishes either successfully.
A prequel to the groundbreaking 1939 film, …
New on DVD for May 10, 2013
Here is a look at what’s new on DVD this week. Many of these titles were released on May 7.
Leonardo DiCaprio: I’m Jay Gatsby, and so are you
Like the dreamer he plays in the latest adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, the actor let his imagination shape his identity, and has had moments when he felt he didn’t belong. “That always propelled me,” he says. “It made me want to try harder.”
Summer in the multiplex is for the boys
Who’s the man at the multiplex this summer? In a season of epic showdowns, you have Iron Man and Superman. If that’s not enough testosterone, there’s Wolverine (half man, half beast) and Brad Pitt trying to kill men who aren’t even men anymore, but zombies. …
Lindsay Lohan enters rehab at Betty Ford Center
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lindsay Lohan has checked into a rehab and will not face a probation violation for leaving another treatment facility after a few minutes, a prosecutor said Friday.
A Marvel of a sequel, ‘Iron Man 3’
RICHARD ROEPER: Filled with breathtakingly brilliant special effects, bolstered by excellent supporting performances from a half-dozen other top-tier actors, crackling with sharp humor and working as a story that stands alone while often acknowledging the larger Marvel(ous) universe, “Iron Man 3” is one of the best entries in this modern golden age of superhero movies. Working from a smart if sometimes meandering script, director Shane Black takes us on a 3-D thrill ride in which a LOT of stuff is blown up, and the skies are filled with superheroes and supervillains. It’s a great start to the summer movie season.
‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ approaches greatness
RICHARD ROEPER: A self-confident, self-aware, almost cocky piece of filmmaking from the immensely gifted Derek Cianfrance, centered on pivotal moments in the lives of working-class and fringe-society types who wake up every morning and go to bed each night with the same question hanging over their heads: How are they going to make ends meet? There are small coincidences with huge consequences, as characters struggle to escape their past, to change their seemingly inevitable fates.
