Powerful. That one word describes the many and varied facets of Ang Lee’s latest film, the Life of Pi, based on a 2001 novel of the same name by Yann Martel. At its simplest, the movie is a coming of age story about a young Indian boy who survives a shipwreck, lost at sea on a lifeboat with only an adult Bengal tiger as a companion. But, deeper than that, Life of Pi is a tale of faith, survival,... 

The opening of Resident Evil: Retribution has everything backwards. No, literally, for the opening title sequence, writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson presents the events in reverse and in slow motion and in glorious 3D. It is a bizarrely beautiful sequence to watch, reducing the narrative to a series of inventive and evocative images. Then, after a brief recap of the first four films, the scene is... 

Between August 17 and October 5, movie audiences will be treated to a trio of animated spectacles aimed for kids but containing more than a tinge of supernatural movie magic to draw in adults audiences. Each is steeped in movie monsters from ghosts and zombies to Frankenstein to Dracula’s hotel full of cinematic beasties. Decades ago, young audiences were introduced to the world of monsters and... 

Marvel’s The Avengers is extraordinary, a monumental accomplishment of super heroic proportions. Director Joss Whedon has done the impossible, bringing together four independent franchises (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America) into a single cohesive whole. The Avengers is a better film with the heroes together than any single film with the each hero standing alone. It is quite a remarkable... 

James Cameron’s Titanic is one of those polarizing pictures. People either love it or hate it, and it’s very rare to find someone in between. On top of that, after it dominated pop culture for so long in 1997, it has become really popular to dislike the phenomenon – a backlash that seems to rear its head when something becomes popular for too long. The truth is that the movie didn’t... 

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... 

Recently I wrote a glowing review of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, one that not everyone may agree with but one that honestly reflects the effect the movie had on me. In that review I purposely did not reveal the secret of the film. It’s a small secret but one that was important for my immense enjoyment of the film. In this article – a cousin to the Rafe’s many END FAIL articles – I want... 

Hugo is a brilliant, lovingly crafted film, an instant masterpiece. It’s a five star film with no equal. I typically do not write reviews in the first person, but Hugo has touched me in such a profound and emotion way I cannot communicate its affect on me otherwise. Directed by Martin Scorsese and adapted by John Logan from the Brian Selznick novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Hugo the film reaffirms... 

I am a sucker for gimmicks. I rave about William Castle films, Cinema Verite and breaking the fourth wall. I applaud the efforts of filmmakers to broaden the experience of seeing a film in the theater, no matter how cheesy they may be. Does anyone remember “Odorama” from John Water’s Polyester? C’mon, good times. Above all, I love 3D films. The added dimension this technique can bring... 

We’re joined again this week by our own Doc Rotten, who picked out this month’s horror themed Artist of the Month selections. Doc also covered Real Steel for the site, so he chats about that and even issues a challenge to those on our staff who weren’t interested in the robot boxing movie: even those people will enjoy this audience-pleaser. We also talk about The Ides of March, The...