Author: Jason Zingale

At the risk of sounding like a grouchy old man (and for the record, I’m not even 30 yet), “Project X” is hands down one of the most irresponsible comedies that I’ve ever seen. There’s absolutely nothing about this film that could possibly have any sort of positive effect on the high school crowd it was made for – a demo that’s not even old enough to buy tickets to see the movie – except perhaps as a cautionary tale on how not to act like a self-entitled asshole. “Project X” is yet another pointless addition to the found footage…

After Mark Steven Johnson’s disastrous 2007 attempt to bring “Ghost Rider” to the big screen, setting a new low for the comic book genre in the process, it seemed like that would be the last we’d ever see of Marvel’s B-list hero. For some reason, however, Sony has decided to give the character a second chance, handing over the reins to the gonzo directing duo of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, whose work on the “Crank” movies certainly suggests that they would be the perfect guys to take on such an incredibly bizarre superhero. But while they definitely do a…

My job doesn’t really afford me the kind of free time required to get lost in an open world role-playing game like “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” (it’s the main reason I stayed away from “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”), but that didn’t stop me from doing it anyway. It’s incredibly telling as to how much I enjoyed the game that I’d rather be playing it right now than writing this review, especially because I’ve just barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. Although it’s usually ideal to play through an entire game before critiquing it, “Reckoning” is…

With the exception of “The Blair Witch Project” and “Cloverfield,” the whole found-footage craze has generally failed to impress me as a viable storytelling device. Josh Trank’s “Chronicle” is the latest film to utilize this low-budget technique, and though it probably would have worked just as well without the gimmick, it delivers a fresh take on both the found-footage and superhero genres thanks to a smart script and solid performances from its cast. We’ve all seen the superhero origin story played out plenty of times before, but “Chronicle” is the first movie (save for perhaps “X-Men: First Class”) that tells…

The last person that you would expect to have any trouble getting a movie made is George Lucas, but that’s exactly what happened with his World War II passion project “Red Tails,” which was stuck in development hell for the past 20 years. It wasn’t until fairly recently that Lucas decided to just finance the movie himself, but now that it’s finally opening in theaters, he might be regretting that decision. Although the story of the Tuskegee Airmen – the first African-American squadron of military pilots – is one that deserves the big screen treatment, “Red Tails” is littered with…

There was a time not too long ago when all Mark Wahlberg wanted was to be taken seriously as an actor; and now that he’s finally earned that respect (racking up two Oscar nominations in the process), there’s no reason why he should still be making movies like “Contraband.” Although the action thriller is a pretty harmless piece of popcorn entertainment that likely earned him a nice paycheck and the opportunity to work with talented actors like Ben Foster, J.K. Simmons and Diego Luna, his fans have come to expect a certain level of quality that “Contraband” fails to deliver.…

Maybe the winter months have chilled my heart, or I’m just not a big enough animal lover to care, but there’s very little emotion in Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse,” despite the director’s best intentions. That’s not to say that the movie isn’t any good, but when you go into a film expecting the waterworks to flow, only to leave the theater without shedding a single tear, there’s something missing. What it lacks in feeling, however, it makes up for in scope. Based on the children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo and the Tony Award-winning play of the same name, “War Horse”…

Joe Carnahan’s career hasn’t exactly gone the way that many people expected it to after his critically acclaimed debut, “Narc,” and I’d be willing to bet that one of those people is Carnahan himself. Though his last project, the big screen adaptation of “The A-Team,” was a nice diversion that proved a lot more fun than it probably deserved to be, the director looks like he’s finally gotten his career back on track with “The Grey.” A survival horror thriller that’s more serious than it looks, “The Grey” may disappoint those who feel duped by the trailers promising an action-packed…

It’s been four years since “Juno” introduced the moviegoing world to Diablo Cody, and in that time, the writer has gone from adulated new kid on the block to forgotten one-hit wonder. Though I still believe that “Jennifer’s Body” is grossly underrated, Cody was never going to be taken seriously as a screenwriter until she could prove to people that she’s more than just a pop culture vending machine of quirky one-liners. “Young Adult” is that movie – a darkly comical tale about becoming an adult without actually growing up. It probably won’t receive the same kind of praise or…

Any time you bring together a group of actors like the ones featured in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” your job as a director is already halfway done. Comprised of some of the finest British screen veterans and rising stars in the business, the film’s cast is so good that they’d be entertaining to watch even if they just stood around and talked for two hours. And as it happens, that’s basically “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” in a nutshell, although it’s far more interesting than it sounds. An intellectual game of cat-and-mouse steeped in so much deception that even the audience…