Cliché Written
Back when Chris Evans was starring in inconsequential fare like the Fantastic Four films and The Nanny Diaries, I dismissed him as some lightweight...
L.A. Lawless
The uneven career of Jack Black has had some delirious highs (The School of Rock) and gruesome lows (Gulliver’s Travels), but this comic actor...
Rebuilding the Shield
Three years ago this week, The Avengers opened. Ultimately, it would become the third-biggest box office hit in movie history. Part of its success...
Getting the Hang
I catch Bill McAdams Jr. during a whirlwind week. He was in Dallas on April 22 for the premiere of Gallows Road, the drama...
End-of-Spring Roundup
Only two movies are opening in wide release this week, and neither of them screened in time for our deadlines. Ex Machina is expanding...
A Doll’s House
Alex Garland’s first movie as a director is Ex Machina, but he has been around the film business a long time. After his novel...
Lie to Me
You may be surprised to learn that True Story is only the second serious collaboration between James Franco and Jonah Hill, two actors who...
Hipster Replacement
I’m so glad Noah Baumbach has lightened up. He spent the back half of the 2000s making a trio of dramedies — The Squid...
Dear John Letter
In this current phase of Al Pacino’s career, when he’s playing broken-down old men with no one to blame but themselves for being broken...
Brett Bentman Goes Big
Five months ago, Fort Worth Weekly mentioned Brett Bentman in a feature story about local filmmakers (“Grappling With the Glitz Machine,” Nov. 5). At...
