Print Darin Miller Read Full Bio Direct-to-Video 'Pawn' Squanders Game Cast with Sub-Tarantino Storytelling Not every project which bypasses traditional release methods is a winner. "Pawn," a Quentin Tarantino-esque thriller, boasts a strong cast but can't measure up to the Pulp Fiction brand of storytelling. 5 May 2013 'Kon-Tiki' Review: Sea Saga Inspires Despite 'Life of Pi' Comparisons Just years after the end of World War II, Thor Heyerdahl reminded the world that adventure was not just in destruction on the battlefield, but in conquering nature. That’s the story of "Kon-Tiki," the Norwegian foreign film Oscar nominee. 3 May 2013 'Beyond the Hills' Review: Methodical Swipes at Religion Bog Down Already Inert Story In the final moments of "Beyond the Hills," a passing bus splashes dirty slush onto the windshield of a police van. The van’s wipers smear the grimy water across the windshield. It’s one of the more exciting moments in a drawn-out film that’s more a critique of Romanian society and religion than anything else. It has perhaps the most misleadingly titillating plot synopsis of any film: lesbian nuns and an exorcism. 29 Mar 2013 Warner Bros. Celebrates 90 Years of Sights, Sound In 2012, Paramount and Universal Studios both celebrated their 100-year anniversaries. So it might seem a bit odd, and rather opportunistic, that Warner Bros. decided to celebrate their 90th this year. The studio's reasoning is good, though: The decade that the studio missed was the first 10 years of silent films, a period that the Warner brothers – Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack – helped end with Al Jolson’s iconic line, “Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” from The Jazz Singer. The phrase transformed Hollywood and sparked the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Warner Bros. and audiences. 3 Mar 2013 ‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’ Review: Bloody, Forgettable Fun In Freedom, author Jonathan Franzen compares pop music hits to chicklets: their flavor is easily accessible, and when you’re through with them, you spit them out and move onto something else. He might say the same about the MTV-Paramount-MGM collaboration Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, an explosive, bloody rampage through the dark forests of Germany. 25 Jan 2013 'LUV' Review: Drama Finds Beauty and Pain in Baltimore's Bleak Realities The gritty new drama "LUV" follows a pre-teen's quest for a better life, one made difficult by the cruel realities of Baltimore's urban landscape. 18 Jan 2013 'Barbara' Review: Drama Captures Cold War-Era East Germany's Oppressive Existence “Barbara” details the life of a doctor who has been transferred from Berlin to a regional hospital as punishment for applying for an exit visa from the country. In the remote town, under the ever watchful eyes of the East German secret police, the Stasi and their informants, she desperately plots an escape with the help of her western lover. 21 Dec 2012 'Rise of the Guardians' Review: Silly Santa Saga Recasts St. Nick as Childhood Protector Santa Claus has been brought to the screen for decades as a jolly gift giver making kids' dreams come true, with the occasional divergence as a killer purging his naughty list. In “Rise of the Guardians,” director Peter Ramsey and screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire envision him as a big-bellied, tattooed Russian named North. 21 Nov 2012 'Anna Karenina' Review: Tolstoy's Duplicitous Love Story Given New Life Screenwriter Tom Stoppard, who adapted the script for the most recent cinematic retelling of "Anna Karenina," recognizes both the centrality of love to the story, and the centrality of justice. It’s the intermingling of these two themes that make Tolstoy’s authentic classic endure. 15 Nov 2012 'Pitch Perfect' Review: Like 'Glee' Sans Politics The musically charged "Pitch Perfect" is a girl power "Glee" without the progressive talking points. The mostly female cast could make it this year's "Bridesmaids." 5 Oct 2012 Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next
Direct-to-Video 'Pawn' Squanders Game Cast with Sub-Tarantino Storytelling Not every project which bypasses traditional release methods is a winner. "Pawn," a Quentin Tarantino-esque thriller, boasts a strong cast but can't measure up to the Pulp Fiction brand of storytelling. 5 May 2013
'Kon-Tiki' Review: Sea Saga Inspires Despite 'Life of Pi' Comparisons Just years after the end of World War II, Thor Heyerdahl reminded the world that adventure was not just in destruction on the battlefield, but in conquering nature. That’s the story of "Kon-Tiki," the Norwegian foreign film Oscar nominee. 3 May 2013
'Beyond the Hills' Review: Methodical Swipes at Religion Bog Down Already Inert Story In the final moments of "Beyond the Hills," a passing bus splashes dirty slush onto the windshield of a police van. The van’s wipers smear the grimy water across the windshield. It’s one of the more exciting moments in a drawn-out film that’s more a critique of Romanian society and religion than anything else. It has perhaps the most misleadingly titillating plot synopsis of any film: lesbian nuns and an exorcism. 29 Mar 2013
Warner Bros. Celebrates 90 Years of Sights, Sound In 2012, Paramount and Universal Studios both celebrated their 100-year anniversaries. So it might seem a bit odd, and rather opportunistic, that Warner Bros. decided to celebrate their 90th this year. The studio's reasoning is good, though: The decade that the studio missed was the first 10 years of silent films, a period that the Warner brothers – Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack – helped end with Al Jolson’s iconic line, “Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” from The Jazz Singer. The phrase transformed Hollywood and sparked the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Warner Bros. and audiences. 3 Mar 2013
‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’ Review: Bloody, Forgettable Fun In Freedom, author Jonathan Franzen compares pop music hits to chicklets: their flavor is easily accessible, and when you’re through with them, you spit them out and move onto something else. He might say the same about the MTV-Paramount-MGM collaboration Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, an explosive, bloody rampage through the dark forests of Germany. 25 Jan 2013
'LUV' Review: Drama Finds Beauty and Pain in Baltimore's Bleak Realities The gritty new drama "LUV" follows a pre-teen's quest for a better life, one made difficult by the cruel realities of Baltimore's urban landscape. 18 Jan 2013
'Barbara' Review: Drama Captures Cold War-Era East Germany's Oppressive Existence “Barbara” details the life of a doctor who has been transferred from Berlin to a regional hospital as punishment for applying for an exit visa from the country. In the remote town, under the ever watchful eyes of the East German secret police, the Stasi and their informants, she desperately plots an escape with the help of her western lover. 21 Dec 2012
'Rise of the Guardians' Review: Silly Santa Saga Recasts St. Nick as Childhood Protector Santa Claus has been brought to the screen for decades as a jolly gift giver making kids' dreams come true, with the occasional divergence as a killer purging his naughty list. In “Rise of the Guardians,” director Peter Ramsey and screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire envision him as a big-bellied, tattooed Russian named North. 21 Nov 2012
'Anna Karenina' Review: Tolstoy's Duplicitous Love Story Given New Life Screenwriter Tom Stoppard, who adapted the script for the most recent cinematic retelling of "Anna Karenina," recognizes both the centrality of love to the story, and the centrality of justice. It’s the intermingling of these two themes that make Tolstoy’s authentic classic endure. 15 Nov 2012
'Pitch Perfect' Review: Like 'Glee' Sans Politics The musically charged "Pitch Perfect" is a girl power "Glee" without the progressive talking points. The mostly female cast could make it this year's "Bridesmaids." 5 Oct 2012