I think it’s fair to say that the comedian Louis CK is squandered in The Secret Life of Pets, but the frustrating thing is, he’s not squandered right away. The opening holds such promise: a …

I never had to tell my daughter to read the book before seeing the movie. All she needed was to see the first film adaptation of her beloved Percy Jackson novels. Now she makes a …

David Farrier is a New Zealand journalist who set out to do a human interest story on the world of competitive endurance tickling videos. But the nasty and virulent resistance he encountered made him think …

Writer-director Todd Solondz’s Wiener Dog follows the titular animal through four stories with four different owners: a sweetly curious boy (Keaton Nigel Cooke), a compassionate young woman (Greta Gerwig), a frustrated middle-aged man (Danny De …

What a week. Aliens from outer space (again). Ravenous Vampires. Man-eating sharks. Bloodthirsty beauties. Good times. But maybe you're looking for something a little more...human? Something a little bit haunting? A little bit profound? A …

Twenty years ago, my new wife and I stood in line for what seemed like hours at Horton Plaza to see Independence Day. Why? Because of those fantastic teasers that showed the shadow of a …

I was one of the very few critics who had anything nice to say about obvious cash-grab sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass, mostly because I was able to enjoy it as a children’s story …

Vanity Fair film critic Richard Lawson did not like the based-on-a-video-game fantasy pic Warcraft. I know this because of the headline: “Game Turned Movie Warcraft Fails on Every Single Level.” But his review is actually …

A couple of grudging two-stars from me this week, first to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows for its tonal achievements — it's a lot like the old Saturday morning cartoon, with just …

I think I was maybe 12 when I first saw Citizen Kane. Here’s what I knew going in: Orson Welles had been the voice of the Shadow in my brother’s beloved collection of old radio …

Francofonia Credits normally withheld for a closing crawl open Aleksandr Sokurov’s (Russian Ark) latest self important hymn to the importance of art museums. Listen as the disembodied voice of the documentarian expresses disappointment over his …

One film, two critics and a world of disagreement. Lickona hung on every turn of the page in Whit Stillman’s variation on Jane Austen, Love & Friendship, while Marks wanted to tear out a row …

Well, drat. A tough week at the movies: I managed to miss the screening for Love & Friendship, so my membership in the Whit Stillman enthusiast society has been temporarily suspended. But I hope to …

A Bigger Splash tells the story of Paul and Marianne — he’s a filmmaker recovering from a suicide attempt, she’s a rock star recovering from damaged vocal chords — and their quasi-reluctant hosting of old …

At its worst, an aggregator like RottenTomatoes.com can be horribly reductive, mashing delicately constructed critical confections into a sort of uniform sludge for easy consumption. Sort of like Patton Oswalt’s account of KFC’s bowls. (Language …

High-Rise, adapted from the novel by J.G. Ballard, begins as its story ends — with the handsome, introspective lead character (Tom Hiddleston) picking through the rubble of a broken building, finding a dog, bringing it …

The good readers at RottenTomatoes.com are once again accusing me of whoring for clicks by giving only one star to a highly anticipated blockbuster. It’s happened a number of times before, most notably with Star …

Allow me a moment to speak in defense of a man who needs no defending — or rather, whose music needs no defending. Keanu marks the second movie this year that has employed George Michael’s …

Next time I see Mr. Marks, I’m gonna check his medication. How else to explain his recent run of rapturous ratings? Remember and Cemetery of Splendor pulled back-to-back five stars, and now, after a brief …

The Miles Davis moment continues. The jazz (sorry, social music) trumpet legend and subject of director, star, and co-writer Don Cheadle’s Miles Ahead already showed up for a sort of preview appearance in last week’s …

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned much in the yawping about the huge week two dropoff (69%!) for Batman v Superman: Yawn of Justice: there was practically nothing else to see last week — at …

You know what was almost as exhausting as watching (and then having to think about) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? Reading all the Fans v Critics: Dust of Cheetos thinkpieces and rage-comments in the …

Nadia Hilker and Bill Skarsgård join the YA dystopia franchise for its third installment, playing two residents of the cheerfully named Bureau of Genetic Welfare who find themselves watching over fugitive lovers Four (Theo James) …

Matthew Lickona: You told Awards Daily, “I spoke to so many Taliban warriors, soldiers, prosecutors, and lawyers, as well as wives and children to try to get the logic of the story.” Were there particular …

The Finest Hours’ director Craig Gillespie and one of its producers, James Whitaker, were in town recently for the Coronado Island Film Festival and were kind enough to sit down for a chat about their …

Writer and co-director Charlie Kaufman’s stop-motion animated film Anomalisa is a very fine portrait of the despair at the heart of a comfortable middle-aged white man in America circa right about now. British-born Michael Stone …

In Youth, Rachel Weisz plays Lena, the long-suffering daughter of famous composer Fred Ballinger. She had a rough time of it as a kid, what with Dad always paying attention to the Muse and all, …

To build interest in their latest feature, The Good Dinosaur (opening today), Pixar sent some of the artists involved in its production out into the world to talk about their work. Last month, story artist …

Matthew Lickona: If you had to say, “If The Mockingjay Part 1 was x, then Part 2 is y,” how would you describe that difference? Nina Jacobson: I would say that Part 1 is a …

“No matter where you are on the Boulevard, no matter what part of town, you’re always on the Boulevard,” says Chino. The Boulevard, of course, is El Cajon, and Chino, whose long dark beard sways …

Spotlight, which takes its name from a team of investigative journalists at The Boston Globe, is a touching ode to the old-fashioned notion that some things simply need reporting; never mind the effort, the expense, …

Yahoos and schemers are just the price we pay for living in the Land of the Free.

Partisan tells the story of an urban commune, led by the charismatic Gregori (Vincent Cassel), and supported by its children, who are trained to carry out assassinations in the outside world. (Kleiman, who co-wrote the …

“Today, you can watch a movie in a ton of different places,” acknowledges Adolfo Fastlicht, owner of the LOT, a new premium entertainment and dining venue on La Jolla’s Fay Avenue. “Many people don’t mind …

The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials — part two of Wes Ball’s adaptation of the hit YA trilogy — runs and runs and ultimately stumbles on its way to part three. But first, there’s lots …

Greta Gerwig is the winning costar (with Lola Kirke) and cowriter (with director Noah Baumbach) of Mistress America, the story of two women at opposite ends of the NYC gauntlet. Young Tracy (Kirke) has just …

Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s solid sports documentary Meru takes its name from India’s Mount Meru, which features a fin-shaped granite peak that has thwarted many of the world’s best climbers. It also thwarted …

Actor and stand-up funnyman David Koechner was in town last weekend and took a moment to chat with me about his upcoming film work and some other stuff. Always a pleasure. Matthew Lickona: Last time …

Longer intro: In which a curly-haired journalist (me) interviews a famous person (writer/director/actor Jason Segel) about, among other things, the experience of being famous during the famous person’s publicity tour for his movie (The End …

The excellent documentary Cartel Land gives an embedded view of two vigilante group leaders, one on each side of the US-Mexico border: Tim “Nailer” Foley of Arizona Border Recon, and Dr. Jose “El Doctor” Mireles …

A Little Chaos tells the story of Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet), who convinces Andre Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts) to let her design one element of King Louis XIV’s garden at Versailles, despite her devotion …

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl tells the story of high school film geek Greg and his friend Earl, who spend their free time crafting homemade spoof/homages of classic films. But the two run …

If everybody else jumped off a cliff, you might not follow suit. But Carl Boenish, the subject of the documentary Sunshine Superman, would still have wanted to share the feeling of it with you, most …

Besides his recent role as a wealthy developer on TV’s Mad Men, Bruce Greenwood may be most familiar as the fatherly Captain Pike in J.J. Abrams’ s Star Trek reboots. In Good Kill, he plays …

The battlefield in Andrew Niccol’s Good Kill is within the soul of Major Thomas Egan (a drawn and dead-eyed Ethan Hawke), a former fighter pilot who now spends his days in a metal box on …

Carnitas Uruapan “One ($2.50) crispy carnitas taco, please.” “Crispy taco, or crispy carnitas?” Because when you’re this good with pig meat, it could go either way. I chose the taco, because nowhere else have I …

Matthew Lickona: There are those who say that when a film is set in the past, it’s in order to comment on the present. Was there a particular reason to make this film now? Thomas …

Artificial intelligence — the notion of a sentient machine — has had a bit of a run at the movies of late, with some entries (Her) more successful than others (Chappie). I’m putting Ex Machina …

True Story is a film based on a true story about stories that aren’t entirely true. Namely, the one told by disgraced journalist Mike Finkel (Jonah Hill) — fired by the New York Times after …

The Rabbit Hole What happens when the hipsters go underground. Ha-ha. It’s really more of a solid but slightly self-conscious neighborhood joint. Normal Heights, everybody! Worth a visit for the trippy lapine art alone: murals, …