Staff Blog Entries

Black spot/one star

Two sides of a fine line

So I black-spotted Monsters University, in part because of its hackneyed plot: lovable band of losers must rally via their ...

Chilling, exclusive images from World War Z!

Dept. of No, Not Really

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jun/18/47725/ Zombie hordes fill the streets of New York City. Mindless, soulless, bent only on consumption, they prepare their assault ...

The Durex treatment: The Wolf of Wall Street

Because every trailer contains at least one image that could double as an ad for Durex condoms.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jun/17/47616/ Because "Playing games on the floor in the nursery" can mean two very different things. Durex.

"Kane is a comedy."

Orson Welles and Henry Jaglom had lunch. Jaglom taped it.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jun/17/47591/ Okay, so My Lunches with Orson has just gone on the Big Screen Christmas wishlist. In the meantime, you ...

Blockbuster, or, The Modern Prometheus

Did you hear the one about the two directors who bemoaned the state of the industry they helped destroy?

My partner Scott already handled this story about Lucas and Spielberg and the overloaded tent-pole, and you should totally read ...

Hey, everybody, it's Subway Sam!

He's a sewer rat in overalls!

Look for him in the upcoming children's movie, World War Z! Movie on 6-14-13 at 1.49 PM from Matthew Lickona ...

New releases opening this week: Shadow Dancer, Man of Steel, and more

Could it be? Could it possibly be? Could Clive Owen finally be appearing in a good movie again? Yes, yes, ...

Robert Downey, Jr. is looking forward to playing characters who aren't Iron Man

Because then, he won't have to suffer through photo-ops gone bad like this one.

Iron Man 3 was a film about a man who began to identify so completely with his creation that he ...

Interview with The East star and co-writer Brit Marling

(Review and showtimes are here. Opening interview with Marling's director and co-writer Zal Batmanglij is here.) Matthew Lickona: Tell me ...

Interview with The East director and co-writer Zal Batmanglij

The East tells the story of Sarah (co-writer Brit Marling, interviewed here), a rising star at a private espionage agency ...

Man of Steel, Man of God

Sigh.

"Have fun with this!" read the email from my Jewish fellow critic. Good fellow that he is, he was leaving ...

Hi, Brad!

Scott broke the news that Mr. Pitt may decide to grace those present at the fair with his fair presence ...

New releases opening this week: The Internship, Wish You Were Here and more

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jun/07/47031/ Let's start with the good stuff that is going, going...Scott really really really liked Julien Temple's historical documentary London: ...

What is The Internship about?

Art can mean different things to different people.

Okay, so the people at The Verge didn't like The Internship much. Neither did the people at The Onion. Both ...

Oh, come on

I make a pledge to turn movies into Durex condom ads, and you send me a trailer about a girl setting out to lose her virginity? Seriously?

Yes, yes they did - here is the ever so naughty red-band trailer for The To-Do List. Aw, Aubrey Plaza. ...

True story

A little early in the morning, maybe, but I brought this on myself.

So I'm sitting here in a Toyota showroom while my car is getting an oil change down below in Service, ...

What's in a role?

Heath Ledger's Joker diary gives a few clues

I am sort of taken with the notion that Heath Ledger holed up in a hotel room and made a ...

Product placement is so yesterday

"Let's just slap the film into a commercial and be done with it."

Remember that Star Trek-based Esurance ad? It was cute, right? A little Trek riffing right before the real Trek? That ...

OPENING TONIGHT UPDATE: American Mary

Um, my sincerest apologies for not mentioning this sooner, but American Mary is also opening Friday the 31st at the ...

New releases opening this week: Before Midnight, The Matchmaker, and more

Let's get the drunken stumbles out of the way: we have not yet seen the magician caper flick Now You ...