How much you enjoy Pineapple Express may depend more on how charmed you are by the chemistry between James Franco and Seth Rogen and less on how funny you find pot jokes. Don't get me wrong, marijuana jokes abound in this comedy written by Rogen and his frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg, and they are funny. But I was surprised by how much more Pineapple Express falls into the category of buddy movies like Lethal Weapon, rather than the stoner category like Half Baked. I guess I'll put it this way: You don't have to be high to be entertained by this.

I've been feeling fatigued by some of cinema's leading funny men these days who keep pumping out the same old comedies left and right, and Rogen's shtick is definitely pushing it for me. But I was pleasantly surprised to see how well he plays the straight man (no pun intended) to Franco's snuggly drug dealer. They strike a hilariously delightful chemistry together, which I kind of didn't want to end. But there's more going on here besides the two lead actors. To see why I think the director of this movie was a cool choice and which scene-stealer I think earns himself a place in the Apatow kingdom, read more

At one point in the second installment of the stories surrounding girls who have pants and will travel, an exasperated Carmen (America Ferrera) says something like, "Can we just please focus on the pants?!" And yet, that's the thing I find most refreshing about this sequel: there's not really a focus on the pants. The fact that Carmen has to remind her friends to think about the pants is a good sign in this case; the focus should be on these girls and their friendships, not two tubes of faded, magic denim. And as the girls have grown older and more mature, in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 they're centering on the important stuff: their relationships, their goals, finding themselves and supporting each other.

Like the first movie, this one consists of four separate storylines that occasionally intersect. When we are reintroduced to the four friends, they're all in college: Tibby's (Amber Tamblyn) making movies at NYU, Carmen is at Yale and does backstage work at Yale's School of Drama, and Lena (Alexis Bledel) is painting (and cavorting with the insanely hot model Leo, played by Jesse Williams) at Rhode Island School of Design. Bridget (Blake Lively) doesn't yet know her major, but she decides to try her hand at archeology for the time being. After spending the year at their respective schools, Carmen, in particular, is anxious to have some good sisterhood time together over the Summer — only to find out the other three won't be in town at all. So, Carmen decides to do her own thing and goes to work backstage at a theater in Vermont.

For more of my take on the movie, read more

Full disclosure: I've never paid too-too much attention to these Mummy movies starring Brendan Fraser, but I know they're meant to be fun action-adventures that we shouldn't take too seriously. For this third installment, I thought it would be a good idea to take my manfriend along with me to see The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Sometimes instead of spending brain power on a review of a movie like this, it's more helpful to just talk it out with someone who's more likely than I am to passingly enjoy this kind of Summer action flick.

But as generous as my boyfriend can be about action movies and CGI, even he wasn't swayed by the "charms" of Brendan Fraser, and came away feeling like the movie's kind of a mess. I don't want to give away too much of our conversation before the break, other than the big takeaway: he really likes the Yetis, and I don't think he'd object if the fourth movie were to star them instead of the humans.

To check out our review discussion, read more

Step Brothers is yet another entry into the canon of movies that have resulted from the collaboration between director Adam McKay, star Will Ferrell, and (. . . wait for it) producer Judd Apatow. After mining all kinds of scenarios for comedy (anchormen, race car drivers, the '70s in general, etc.), even these funny guys have to hit the bottom of the barrel sometime. I imagine the concept that would result from that rock-bottom brainstorming session would go something like this: "How about instead of making a movie about a guy who has a grownup job but sometimes acts like a childish loser, we literally just make a movie about a childish loser?" In other words, it would look a lot like Step Brothers.

And so it goes, with Ferrell of course taking the overgrown-child role. Add to the mix a crew of esteemed supporting actors including Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins, and you end up with a familiar comedy that explores some unfamiliar territory (Ferrell's private parts — I'm not even joking). The movie had me buckled over in my seat laughing about half the time, but I spent the rest of it horrified and a little bored with how standard it all felt. To see what I loved and what I'm tired of, read more

You can count me among the fans — but not the super-fanatics — of The X-Files when it aired in the '90s. I may not have been as insane about it as others, but I kept up with the weird, spooky drama and I looked forward to new episodes. Plus, Gillian Anderson's character, Dana Scully, is a strong, female sci-fi heroine of sorts, and I really looked up to her at the time. Oh, and of course David Duchovny's Fox Mulder was definitely crushworthy so all in all, it was a highlight of my TV-viewing universe. This is why I had nothing but high hopes for X-Files: I Want to Believe, and I tried to ignore those pesky questions during the build up to the release like: "Really, ten years later?" and "Will people still, in fact, want to believe?"

I should also point out that this movie has been promoted as a stand-alone story, meaning that even folks who have little knowledge of the series would be able to get on board and enjoy a dark thriller with a compelling mystery. In fact, details of the plot have been kept so tightly under wraps my assumption was that they must have thought of something really awesome to hinge a new movie around — hence everyone's willingness to get back together years after the series left the airwaves.

Which brings me to the bad news first (and I won't give away spoilers): the so-called "mystery" that has been so shrouded in secrecy is truly nothing very exciting. In fact, it hardly stands up to the most mediocre of episodes, which only adds to my perplexity over this movie. Truth be told, I'm pretty bummed out. To see why, read more

In select cities, a little indie thriller titled Transsiberian quietly opened over the weekend and did fairly well in the indie market (despite the long shadow cast by The Dark Knight's opening), which frankly surprises me. With some folks calling the movie "Hitchcockian" in its suspense, and featuring a cast that includes the enigmatic Emily Mortimer and a shape-shifting Ben Kingsley, I was interested in seeing it myself. But now I kinda wish I hadn't.

Emily Mortimer and Woody Harrelson play Americans Roy and Jesse, who are taking a train through Russia after completing a missionary assignment teaching English in China. Roy is your typical all-American tourist, boisterous, over-eager and naive, while Jesse has worked hard to get over her bad girl past, in which she struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. They meet another young couple, Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara), who turn out to have some shady secrets of their own, and Carlos manages to rope Jesse into a dangerous world of drug trafficking. Enter the two-faced Russian cop Grinko (Ben Kingsley) who has interests in Carlos's activities extending beyond official police work. When Carlos goes missing and Jesse was the last to see him, Grinko focuses all his energies on the American couple, and the movie kinda derails from there. To see what I mean, read more

If there were a family get-together with all the slick, recent Broadway-to-film productions, like Hairspray and Dreamgirls, Mamma Mia! would be the drunk older aunt whose clothing doesn't really match and who says all the wrong things but you love her and her kooky, off-kilter self anyway. The movie is, like that aunt, all over the place: Only a third of the cast can actually sing, the plot is thin, and the characters are — with the exception of a few moments — as one-dimensional as it gets. Oh, and there are hardly three minutes between one ABBA cover and the next.

In place of the large-scale choreographed dance productions of other musicals, Mamma Mia! chooses to go heavy on stuff like arms waving in the air, frolicking through streets, and bed bouncing. It has all the girlish exuberance of a slumber party, the sweaty debauchery of a bachelorette party, and the spectacle of a big fat Greek wedding. The movie — and all the actors in it — so unabashedly embrace a spirit of innocence and joy that it's hard to imagine a more perfect form of escapism.

To see why, despite filming in a stunning sun-drenched location, the cast is the real reason this summer movie shimmers, read more

"This town deserves a better class of criminal." – The Joker

Indeed. And by extension, audiences deserve a better class of villain. In The Dark Knight, we get one. Director Christopher Nolan seems to have a keen understanding that we want our heroes to be badass — but we want our villains to be way badder. The movie tells a story about Batman, sure, but really, this is The Joker's tale. Even when it's Batman's story. . . The Joker owns it.

The Dark Knight is unlike almost any other superhero movie that came before it. It's insanely dark, it's melancholy, it doesn't leave you with a great sense of peace. But the thing is, we can handle it. I think this is Nolan giving audiences some credit. And every superhero tale has these themes of good vs. evil, order vs. chaos, hero vs. villain. It's just that this one doesn't sugarcoat these things at all. And why should they be sugarcoated? The superhero's tale is actually the perfect vehicle for exploring these things, and explore them we do. Nolan brings us an affecting, disturbingly dark tale, and one that could easily be seen as an allegory for the goings-on of today's world (terrorism vs. peace, cowardice vs. heroism, etc.). To see more what I mean (and I promise — no spoilers), read more

So, full disclosure: I dragged myself to this movie with the lowest of expectations. Things like Norbit and The Adventures of Pluto Nash danced through my mind and I prayed to the comedy gods to spare me a numbingly unfunny experience. I mean, I've just barely recovered from The Love Guru.

And guess what: They sort of heard my prayers. I'm happy to report that Eddie Murphy's new comedy (that even he couldn't bring himself to watch) isn't all that bad. I wouldn't say it's good, either, but my soul is intact and I'm not as worried about the fate of all that is funny, so those are good signs. What's more, I came away with a renewed sense of Eddie Murphy's talent, and I think it's possible he might be back on that screen making me hurt with laughter one of these days.

To see what I think gets in the way of Murphy's hilarity in Meet Dave, making this another one of his forgettable comedies, read more

I was awed and amazed by Pan's Labyrinth, and I really liked the first Hellboy movie, but I can now say with certainty that I am officially in love with Guillermo del Toro's beautiful brain. Hellboy II: The Golden Army is like being cast back to a time when your young imagination had no boundaries and no inner editor. Del Toro's vibrant, exciting, sometimes nightmarish and often funny work of creative genius is a constant delight. At times it veers into cheesy superhero stuff, and viewers who don't like this kind of thing definitely won't be on board for this movie. But viewers who do like it — and those with a soft spot in their hearts for big Red — may be totally delighted.

When we catch up with our hero Hellboy, he and his lady love Liz (Selma Blair) and their good buddy Abe (Doug Jones) are still working for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, using their superpowers to help people out. But even so, the public gives them no respect, no respect at all. And now they have the problem of Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), a rebellious leader of the creature world who is determined to summon the Golden Army, a vast army of robot-like warriors, to destroy all humans. Hellboy, Abe and Liz are joined by the ectoplasmic Johann Strauss (voiced by Seth McFarlane), along with the leader's twin sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) to stop Prince Nuada's evil plan. Meanwhile, Hellboy and Liz are having issues, Hellboy is struggling with his job, and Abe develops a bit of a crush on Princess Nuala.

For more of my take on the movie, read more

I'm not totally sure who the intended audience is for Hancock. The superhero aspect is campy enough for kids (and sometimes way too campy for adults), but there's definitely language that doesn't seem suitable for youngsters. Perhaps the teenagers will most enjoy the movie, though as an adult I liked it well enough and I certainly applaud what the story attempts to accomplish: tell a superhuman's story with the emphasis on the "human" experience. In a world overly saturated with superhero movies, this angle is actually pretty refreshing.

Also, it's a mainstream movie focused on a black superhero and I gotta say, it's about damn time.

Will Smith is Hancock, a modern-day superhero who's fallen out of favor with the public. For every good deed he does, he leaves a staggering amount of destruction in his wake. Hancock is surly, drinks constantly and has intense anger management problems. But when he saves the life of PR guy and general do-gooder Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), Ray offers to help Hancock turn around his image. He devises a strategy for making the public stop taking Hancock for granted, while coaching him on how to seem more like a hero and less like a careless drunk. As Ray spends more and more time with Hancock, his son Aaron grows attached to the superhero, though Ray's wife Mary (Charlize Theron) seems constantly suspicious of him. Ray helps Hancock change his image, but that's just half the story; Hancock's past includes many more secrets he didn't even know were there.

For more of my take on the movie, read more

Hunter S. Thompson isn't always associated with terms like "brilliant writer" or "inventor of gonzo journalism" or even "patriot." By the time his famous work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was adapted for film in 1998, he was becoming a caricature and a symbol of a bygone era. Just as there is irony in one of history's most complicated revolutionaries, Che Guevara, being boiled down to an Urban Outfitters t-shirt, it is equally reductive to oversimplify Thompson as some kind of drug-addled delinquent without a cause.

Now that I've seen what will likely be referred to as the definitive documentary about Thompson's life by the Oscar-winning director of Taxi to the Dark Side, it's clear that reducing him to a kind of hipster icon who lived only to push the boundaries of consciousness with extreme substance abuse is terribly simplistic and inaccurate. Through the folks who knew him well (Jimmy Carter, publisher of Rolling Stone Jann Wenner, George McGovern, his first wife, etc.) the picture that emerges from this movie is of a man who was a walking, talking challenge to the status quo.

To read what surprised me about the good doctor's life and why this is an entertaining jaunt through recent history, read more