I know that The Vow is the movie with the biggest romantic draw right now, but that doesn’t make it any more appealing to me. Thankfully, my wife isn’t the type to be drawn to mawkish, empty, romantic stories either. Something like This Means War, which combines its rom-com tale with a few rounds of fun confrontation between two adversaries who happen to be good friends. Spies? Buddy story? Romance... 

Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) returns to his fire trail blazing days as the Ghost Rider, a fire breathing entity that sucks the souls out of people with his powers that the Devil himself (Ciaran Hinds) bestowed upon him years ago. This time, Blaze has to save young Danny (Fergus Riordan) from having his body possessed by Satan in order to bring hell to Earth. With the help of the boy’s mother (Violante... 

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is full of energy, attitude, and spectacle, and the inspired, insanity of Nicolas Cage. What the film does not have is plot, character development, or common sense. Adolescent and single minded, the movie invites critics and general audiences to scoff and disregard the film as trash. It’s a huge middle finger to the serious cinematic artisans and stiff upper lips.... 

It seems to be kismet that two films centering on the exploration of the primate psyche were released in the same year. Both Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Project Nim feature one of the various species being raised as a human being, isolated from their fellow creatures. They are both taught to communicate with humans using sign language, building a bridge of language which would eventually be... 

Listen up Hollywood directors: we’re tired of the “realistic” approach to action. Cut the crap, get rid of the shakey-cam, knock off the frenetic editing, and pull the damn camera back far enough that we can see what’s going on. You know that person on your staff who choreographs the combat and actions sequences? We want to see their work; you are paying them, after all, so why mar their work... 

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is a perfectly adequate family film, full of adventure, spectacle and Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson’s “pec pop of love.”  In all likelihood, children will enjoy and applaud (thanks to Michael Caine) the film and parents will find enough to make them smile and remain awake and engaged. However, the film never manages to escalate above average. The action is rarely... 

When The Phantom Menace was released in 1998, there was absolutely no way that it could have lived up to the hype. No movie could have. George Lucas could have created the finest film ever placed on celluloid (or, in his case, the digital domain) and it still would have been heavily criticized. Die-hard Star Wars fans had had decades to imagine what a new chapter of the franchise would be like, aided... 

Chronicle tells the story of three teenage boys who have an unexplained experience that leads to them developing super-powers. The three boys come from three different walks of life: Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is a meek, picked on boy who has taken to documenting his own life, Matt (Alex Russell) is Andrew’s more popular cousin who attempts to sound smarter than he is by quoting philosophy at absurd times,... 

Trading gore, madmen and torture for atmosphere, suspense and sheer terror, The Woman in Black proves there’s more to horror than blood and guts. The film is creepy and scary and most of all it provides reason to care, to invest in the characters and the story. Daniel Radcliffe is understated, bringing a determination and bravery to his role that propels the momentum of the narrative. His performance... 

Based on the novel by Janet Evanovich, One for the Money is a lightweight story about an unemployed former lingerie sales girl, Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl), who takes a job as a bounty hunter from her sleazy bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie (Patrick Fischler). With no weapons or training in the field of skip tracing, she sets out to capture Trenton’s most wanted: vice cop Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mara)...