Author: Jason Zingale

It was only a matter of time after the events of 9/11 that movie studios would contrive a drama that celebrated the courageous heroics of firefighters. Jay Russell’s newest film, “Ladder 49,” is a frat-like melodrama about the lives of firemen, but by embellishing their spur-of-the-moment firefights and unyielding brotherly love, the film ultimately fails to tell the story of the real men underneath the uniform. Highlighting the life of the main character through a series of flashbacks that are draped in sappy masculinity, “Ladder 49” offers no character development and becomes extremely predictable. The film starts off with a…

America is the largest (and fattest) of the fast-food nations, but no one seems to take notice as our country slowly becomes littered with millions of Big Mac chompers and Triple Thick Shake gulpers. With any luck, those numbers will change when American moviegoers see Morgan Spurlock’s hilarious and educational documentary about the fast-food addiction that has become a serious risk to our health. “Super Size Me” uncovers the truth behind the fast-food industry (led with inequitable force by McDonald’s) and confirms the irreversible damage that fast food has on one’s health. In his film, Spurlock vows to eat only…

Unlike most zombie films that either push social reform (“Dawn of the Dead” and “28 Days Later”) or exploit teenage male hormones (“Resident Evil: Apocalypse”), “Shaun of the Dead” is delightfully simple. Co-written by director Edgar Wright and star Simon Pegg, this gory zombie satire is filled to the brim with charming English wit, but even though the comedic duo (best known for the hit Brit TV show “Spaced”) tirelessly pokes fun at their favorite zombie flicks, they still respect and follow every one of the genre’s rules. Shaun (Pegg) has been sleepwalking through a lifestyle of tediousness for years,…

Compared to the golden days of baseball comedies like “Major League” and “Mr. Baseball,” filmmakers have finally run into a giant green wall. “Mr. 3000,” the latest sports film to hit theaters, strikes out as many times as the film’s retired power hitter during his one-month comeback. Unlike box-office contender “Wimbledon,” “Mr. 3000” has nothing extraordinary to contribute to the ever-growing pile of sports movies with an ineffective artillery of weak comedy and romance. Bernie Mac stars as Stan Ross, a legendary ballplayer for the Milwaukee Brewers who is best known for his cocky attitude and dislike of the media.…

The biggest honor in any tennis player’s career is making an appearance at Wimbledon, and while it shares the honor as the sport’s World Series with three other grand slam tournaments, it is one of the most talked about sporting events of the year. It seems only fitting that the British grand slam act as the focal point for one of the few tennis films ever made, and although tennis is about as popular as soccer in the States, the film provides a brilliant insider’s look at the adrenaline-threaded action of the sport. Paul Bettany steps up into leading man…

At a time when the zombie genre is experiencing a renaissance with past winners like “28 Days Later” and the soon-to-be-released “Shaun of the Dead,” the cartoon-like sequel to “Resident Evil” proves that it’s still easier to make a bad movie than a good one. Pasting together two-dimensional characters with an endless montage of fast-paced shootouts and flesh-eating bio-zombies, the events that occur throughout “Apocalypse” would be ridiculous even it was the latest installment in the video game series. Only days after the gruesome events of the original film, the dim-witted scientists of the notorious Umbrella Corporation reopen the Hive…

There’s one film for every generation that sums up an entire decade of social angst and eventual maturity that twenty-somethings believe their parents would never understand. Zach Braff’s Sundance surprise, “Garden State,” may not be that significant for Generation Y, but it comes pretty damn close with director/writer/actor Braff’s keen eye for filmmaking and a simple, truth-be-told story that’s more realistic than any other Hollywood joint. Braff, “J.D.” from NBC’s underrated comedy “Scrubs,” stars in the semi-autobiographical story as Andrew Largeman, a struggling actor in Los Angeles who has come back home after nine years for his mother’s funeral. Emotionally…

Watching director Steven Brill’s new comedy without the sweet, finger-plucking sounds of “Dueling Banjos” in the background just doesn’t feel complete. In fact, the producers of “Without a Paddle” managed to fulfill nearly every homage to “Deliverance” – including a cameo by Burt Reynolds – except for the heart-racing jungle tune. Don’t start comparing the two films so quickly, though, because “Without a Paddle” just isn’t up to par, censoring a group of talented young actors in place of a weak, been-there-done-that buddy flick that fails as an enjoyable visit to the movies. Ten years after graduating and parting ways,…

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: some classic movies are damn near impossible to review years after they’ve been released, and Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” sits high on top of that list. It’s not only the greatest gangster film ever made, but it’s also one of the most glaring omissions in the history of the Oscars. The sheer fact that the Academy selected Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves” for both Best Picture and Best Director should produce more than a hint of skepticism in the public’s faith for the system. But perhaps more annoying is the idea that…

In 1990, a group of prankster set designers in charge of “Predator 2” placed an alien skull in the headhunter’s trophy case as a harmless joke. Fifteen years later, that harmless joke has spawned a comic book, a successful video game series and one bad movie. If there wasn’t enough evidence from last year’s monster showdown (“Freddy vs. Jason”) that the movie industry has taken a horrible turn for the worst, look no further than “Alien vs. Predator.” The new film not only insults its loyal fan base by attempting to resurrect two of the greatest monster franchises with a…