Paul Giamatti

"The Holdovers" is one of the funniest, most touching and more enjoyable films of 2023, and a high point of Alexander Payne’s career.

In the vein of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, comes a much feebler and unsuccessful attempt to spin another park attraction into celluloid gold.

I would feel dishonest writing this review if I didn’t mention my attachment to the game series on which this film is based: I am a massive fan and have been playing them since Ratchet and Clank was first released in 2002. I have played every single entry in the franchise and have almost always been completely satisfied with my experience. Naturally, when I heard my beloved duo was making the tran...[Read More]

In the superhero movie genre, the second part in a series is typically better than the original (Iron Man 2 being one of the few exceptions to the rule). That’s because the first movie is burdened with the task of setting up the hero’s origin, while the sequel gets to jump right in. Such is the case with The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The only difference with the Spider-Man franchise is tha...[Read More]

Know that when you go see Saving Mr. Banks, you are not going to see a Tom Hanks film. You are going to see an Emma Thompson film. And you just might be awfully glad you did, my friends. Truth be told, I’m not a huge Disney fan. I enjoy the Disney movies I watch, though I haven’t seen all (or even most) of them. I do, however, admire the story behind P.L. Travers and her treasured Mary Poppins, an...[Read More]

On first encountering the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup, a free black man drugged and kidnapped from an educated, domestic life by opportunistic slave-traders in Washington D.C., director Steve McQueen felt he had read the “[American version of the Anne Frank story]” – two historical people fated to represent institutionalized evils through very personal words and experiences. Northup, as embodie...[Read More]

Dipping into his A-list Rolodex, George Clooney assembles an enviable cast to bring to life his fourth directorial effort – the heated political drama The Ides of March. Clooney has often deflected questions of actual political aspirations while maintaining a strong presence in left-leaning causes which he now voices with plainspoken idealism through his character Governor Mike Morris. On the prim...[Read More]

After watching The Hangover Part II, I think it’s fair to compare it stylistically to a horror movie sequel. For instance, in this installment of The Hangover, the stakes are higher (body counts are always higher in horror sequels), and the death scenes are much more elaborate, dark and brutal (this incarnation of The Hangover loses some of the playful vulgarity of the original and trades it in fo...[Read More]