Author: Jason Zingale

“Happy, Texas.” “Tadpole.” “The Tao of Steve.” “Wet Hot American Summer.” Not every Sundance hit finds commercial success on the other side of the road, and while some indie comedies (like “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Garden State”) have experienced life after the festival circuit, most audience favorites see little more than a paltry limited release. Such is the case with “Safe Men” – the 1998 directorial debut from John Hamburg (writer of “Meet the Parents” and “Zoolander”) – which failed to charm anyone in theaters outside of Park City, but managed to earn a small following during its arrival on VHS.…

The marketing campaign for the new comedy, “The Switch,” proudly declares that it’s from the makers of “Juno” and “Little Miss Sunshine.” Of course, while that may be true, having the same producer on a project isn’t exactly like having the same director or writer. What it does share with those films is a decidedly indie flair that is never as slapsticky as its trailers seem to indicate. “The Switch” certainly has a few outrageous moments, but it’s mostly a surprisingly heartfelt comedy in the same vein as “About a Boy” that succeeds thanks to the great chemistry between Jason…

When Zack Snyder announced that he would be adapting Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” for the big screen, many people didn’t think it was possible, claiming that the source material was unfilmable. The same could probably be said of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” books, a six-volume comic series loaded with quirky characters, geek-friendly pop culture references, and the kind of ADD-style pacing that only a kid who eats Ritalin mixed with his sugar-coated breakfast cereal could follow. Filming one volume would be hard enough, let alone adapting all six into a single movie, but that’s exactly what Edgar Wright has done…

When you’ve reviewed a franchise like “Madden” for as long as I have, you eventually run out of things to say. After all, Electronic Arts has been pretty consistent over the last few years when it comes to their flagship sports title, and although the “Madden” games continue to get an annual facelift, there’s not a whole lot that really needs improving. That was probably one of the biggest issues with last year’s installment – while features like Pro-Tak, The Extra Point and Online Franchise were welcome additions, they didn’t exactly change the way the game played – so it’s…

On paper, Adam McKay’s buddy cop comedy, “The Other Guys,” sounds like a real winner. McKay has a pretty good track record when it comes to working with friend and writing partner Will Ferrell (“Anchorman,” “Step Brothers”), and the idea of pairing him up with a more natural leading man like Mark Wahlberg was ripe with potential. But just like last week’s “Dinner for Schmucks,” two great performers don’t always make a great movie, and although “The Other Guys” is considerably funnier, it never regains the energy of its first act due to a limp story and some terrible pacing.…

The trailers for Lisa Cholodenko’s new film, “The Kids Are All Right,” would have you believe that it’s a laugh-out-loud comedy about two lesbian lovers raising a family in suburban L.A. That description almost makes it sound like some kind of horrible TV sitcom – one in which the lesbian relationship is exploited for laughs – but fortunately, that’s not the case. Instead, it’s a charming, incredibly down-to-Earth portrait of a not-so-typical American family that, while funny at times, isn’t afraid to get its hands a little dirty by exploring more serious issues, either. Though it stumbles a bit in…

If the holiday season is the game industry’s busiest time of year, than the summer months that precede it are undoubtedly the slowest. With most students on break from school, and everybody else taking time off to enjoy the warmer weather, video games tend to take a back seat to more outdoorsy activities like picnics, theme parks and family vacations. But for those who refuse to put down their controller just because it’s sunny outside, Microsoft has you covered with their third-annual Summer of Arcade. Featuring five exclusive XBLA titles ranging from quirky indies to revamped classics, this year’s collection…

Super producer Jerry Bruckheimer has spent the better part of the last decade creating some of Disney’s biggest family-friendly blockbusters, but his track record isn’t completely flawless. The massive flop that was “Prince of Persia” notwithstanding, Bruckheimer has built a pretty successful career around what is essentially the same generic adventure movie, only with different characters and settings. His latest team-up with “National Treasure” director Jon Turteltaub isn’t any different, but although it follows the same basic formula of Bruckheimer’s other productions, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is a fun slice of escapist entertainment that’s teeming with the kind of creativity Disney…

There’s a joke somewhere in the fact that the Hughes brothers’ first film in nine years takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but while the sibling directors don’t exactly have the best track record in town (their only hit remains their 1993 debut, “Menace II Society”), “The Book of Eli” will still find an audience thanks to the involvement of Denzel Washington. It’s not that the veteran actor delivers a particularly memorable performance as the title character, but rather he makes sitting through the film a lot more fun. And “The Book of Eli” is definitely fun at times, but…

It’s been 23 years since John McTiernan’s “Predator” was released in theaters, but it looks like fans of the sci-fi horror classic have finally been given the sequel they deserve. That’s not to say that “Predators” (a fitting title considering the franchise’s history with a certain other sci-fi horror series) is as good as the original, but it’s a major improvement compared to the flat and uninspired sequels that preceded it. Producer Robert Rodriguez has even admitted that he wrote the film so he could forget the dismal “Predator 2” was ever made, and if that’s not enough to win…