It’s the thrilling climax of the “Fifty Shades” series — mainly because it’s so deliriously bonkers and unintentionally hilarious. My dear friend and former fellow school mom Jen Wang came with me to see the original “Fifty Shades of Grey” — and, like me, she was masochistic enough to read...
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Reviews
RogerEbert.com — The Female Brain
Whitney Cummings tries to breathe new life into the tired, men-are-like-this, women-are-like-this style of romantic comedy both in front of and behind the camera with “The Female Brain.” But the stand-up comedian’s feature filmmaking debut is frustratingly hit-and-miss. My mixed review, at RogerEbert.com. Read the review here...
Read moreRevisiting Syriana
People often ask me if, after all these years of covering entertainment, there’s a celebrity I was especially nervous to interview. It wasn’t a superstar like Chris Evans or Penelope Cruz. It wasn’t an influential filmmaker like Clint Eastwood or Noah Baumbach. (Although I will say that Tommy Lee Jones...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Bilal: A New Breed of Hero
“Bilal: A New Breed of Hero” tells an inspiring story from a cultural perspective we don’t hear from enough in film, especially in animation. If only it were good. The narrative jumps all over the place in tone, and with its PG-13 rating, “Bilal” is really too intense and violent...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Supposedly, the maze running is over. We’re out of the Glade and the Scorch, and we’ve escaped the flailing, gnashing zombies. The third and final installment in this particular dystopian Young Adult franchise is now complete. While its action sequences are strong — as was also the case in director...
Read moreOscar Nominations 2018
It’s felt like a pretty wide-open awards season so far, but this morning’s Oscar nominations helped it take some shape — “The Shape of Water,” that is. (Yes, I hate myself, too, for that pun.) But Guillermo del Toro’s dark and swoony retro romance becomes even more of the favorite...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — 12 Strong
“Understated” isn’t a word you’d ordinarily use to describe a Jerry Bruckheimer production, but that’s surprisingly what “12 Strong” ends up being. Director Nicolai Fuglsig, making his feature filmmaking debut, draws on his photojournalism background in telling this story of real-life heroism. Chris Hemsworth stars as the leader of a...
Read moreWine the Flick?! — The Commuter
Liam Neeson brings his very particular set of skills to yet another January action movie. You can set your watch by them, they’re so reliable. And that’s true once again with “The Commuter,” which is essentially “Taken” on a train. It’s a lot of fun for a while, and then...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Paddington 2
“Paddington 2” is completely charming and exactly what we need right now. And it proves that the wonderful, original “Paddington” was no fluke three years ago. Maybe it’s not the revelation that the first film was, but its central message of being kind to others, even during the most troubling...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Dark Meridian
Welcome to the cinematic dumping ground that is January. My first review of 2018 is of the utterly forgettable crime thriller “Dark Meridian,” a title that says nothing at all. It could be a high-octane action flick about extreme sports enthusiasts. It could be a supernatural thriller about hopeful fools who...
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