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Indiana Jones and the Fortress of Sad Decline

Its very own temple of doom, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull digs Indy into a deep hole.

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: May 21, 2008

Here's your hat, Indy, but, really, what's your hurry? Because 19 years after the Last Crusade that clearly wasn't, and 15 years after the old man joined Young Indiana Jones on the small screen to...

Film

Here Comes the Bride. Yawn.

McDreamy tries to win over his engaged gal pal in My Best Friend's Made of Honor Wedding.

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: April 30, 2008

In Made of Honor , Patrick Dempsey plays a conveniently rich and willfully single serial "fornicator" slowly but surely domesticated by his unspoken love for longtime BFF Hannah (Michelle...

Film

Baby Mama Needs a Diaper Change

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: April 23, 2008

Could have sworn I've seen this episode of Baby Mama before — like, sometime in January 2007, when it was originally titled "The Baby Show" and aired on the other prime-time series...

Film

Let's Go to Prison

Harold and Kumar get shipped to Gitmo in this forced act two.

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: April 23, 2008

Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg wrote Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle with the novel idea: What if you made a John Hughes movie, but instead of writing garishly caricatured bit players...

Film

Sad Sack Extraordinaire

Jason Segel uses his balls to great effect in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: April 16, 2008

Jason Segel is responsible for two of the most cringe-inducing, hands-in-front-of-your-face moments in the recent history of television, both of which occurred during the sole season of NBC's...

Film

Smart People Depicts Dumbass Brainiacs

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: April 9, 2008

Smart people got no reason to live — and, sure, that's not quite how Randy Newman sang it, but the point still stands. Because in Noam Murro's directorial bow — one of those Sundance...

Film

Counting Sheep

21 doesn't hit the jackpot. It doesn't even come close.

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: March 26, 2008

Ben Mezrich's 2002 best-seller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions was a smart narrative about ... well, you did see the subtitle, right?...

DVDish

Three the Hard Way

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: March 12, 2008

No Country for Old Men (Paramount) "A horror comedy chase" is how a grinning Tommy Lee Jones describes No Country for Old Men in the making-of — meanwhile, his fellow actors...

Film

Finally, a Jason Statham Movie Not Headed Straight to DVD

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: March 5, 2008

"Based on a true story," The Bank Job brags before diving into the clear blue water of the Caribbean, where, in 1970, a topless woman frolics with two swimming mates — just another day in...

DVDish

Oscar-Starved

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: March 5, 2008

Into the Wild (Paramount) Sean Penn waited a good decade before adapting Jon Krakauer's book about Chris McCandless, who graduated college in 1990, then disappeared into the American...

Film

Personal Foul

Will Ferrell's umpteenth sports comedy is only half bad. His half.

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: February 27, 2008

Semi-Pro is much better than Blades of Glory , which wasn't nearly as good as Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby , which was a little better than Anchorman: The Legend of Ron...

DVDish

Move Along, Kids

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: February 27, 2008

Justice League: The New Frontier (Warner Bros.) Based on Darwyn Cooke's comic-book miniseries — a masterpiece starring all of DC Comics' major-leaguers at the dawn of their...

Film

Be Kind, Rewind Not Worth Renting

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: February 20, 2008

The pleasures of Be Kind Rewind do not extend far beyond the promise of its premise: Jack Black, magnetized and manic ( yawn ), erases every single video tape in the rental store where he hangs...

DVDish

American Gangster: Unrated Extended Edition Among This Week's DVD Releases

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: February 20, 2008

Margot at the Wedding (Paramount) Margot (Nicole Kidman, or someone who looks just like her) is a fiction writer whose tales are based, uncomfortably and unkindly, on the real-life...

Film

Definitely, Maybe Rejects the V-Day RomCom Bliss

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: February 13, 2008

Sandwiched somewhere between the American Spirit commercials and the Clinton campaigning that comprise Definitely, Maybe is a surprisingly rewarding romantic comedy — one worth the effort,...

DVDish

Chafing Dishes

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: February 13, 2008

No Reservations (Warner Bros.) From its cheap, mid-'90s-looking package to its woefully scant extras (one pre-chewed Food Network behind-the-scenes, blech) to its wide-screen/full-screen...

DVDish

How the West Was Wasted

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: February 6, 2008

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Warner Bros.) Beautifully shot, masterfully acted, and 19 hours too long, Assassination is an uneven mix of the artful and...

DVDish

Donkey Punch

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: January 30, 2008

The King of Kong (New Line) Seth Gordon's best-of-2007 documentary, about the battle for Donkey Kong supremacy, remains a work-in-progress: Billy Mitchell, the longtime title holder...

DVDish

Super, Thanks for Asking

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: January 23, 2008

Confessions of a Superhero (Arts Alliance) As one of those quoted on the package ("A more beautiful documentary you're unlikely to find"), I can only reiterate my earlier praise: Matt Ogens'...

Film

Chick Flick, Two Ways

In Keaton vs. Heigl, girl power (Mad Money) trumps bridesmaid fashion (27 Dresses)

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: January 16, 2008

If Diane Keaton were an up-and-comer in 2008, she'd likely be stuck in romantic comedies cooked up in movie studio test kitchens. No Godfather for her. No Annie Hall , no Shoot the Moon , no...