Author: Jason Zingale

It goes without saying that any movie based on a toy line is going to face an uphill battle. Michael Bay may have proved with 2007’s “Transformers” that there is such a thing as big dumb fun, but he quickly invalidated it with a sequel that embraced the Hollywood ideology that more is better, and pushed it so far over the edge that my head is still ringing as a result. So when Paramount enlisted Stephen Sommers to helm the big screen adaption of Hasbro’s other popular toy line, it was pretty much agreed that the film would suck. Surprisingly,…

With all the actors who’ve appeared on James Lipton’s “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” you’d think that Kurt Russell would be among them. His absence certainly isn’t for a lack of talking points, because although Russell has never been considered a great actor, he’s brought to life some of the most memorable cinematic characters of the last 30 years. You couldn’t even have a discussion about him without mentioning his frequent partnership with director John Carpenter, and though “Escape from New York” and “The Thing” will forever be remembered as the duo’s most famous collaborations, you’d be selling them short if…

It’s hard to believe that it’s taken this long for someone to make another “G.I. Joe” game. After all, the classic 1980s animated series lends itself perfectly to the world of video games, and the industry’s biggest demographic – males aged 18 to 35 – no doubt grew up watching the show and playing with the action figures as kids. Unfortunately, the only reason we’re even getting a new “G.I. Joe” game is to coincide with the release of the Stephen Sommers-directed movie of the same name. And like most other Hollywood tie-ins, “The Rise of Cobra” is yet another…

First it was penguins, then Chihuahuas, and now… guinea pigs? It’s hard to believe that Hollywood has already run out of A-list animals to use in their films, but what other reason could there be for basing an entire movie around the goldfish of the rodent world? Some people might find these bargain bin furballs cute, but whoever conceived the idea of making a movie about a specially trained unit of guinea pigs has clearly never owned one themselves. Guinea pigs are cheap for a reason: they die, quite easily, and I highly doubt any could survive the training it…

It doesn’t seem possible to make a movie called “Funny People” without actually being funny, but writer/director Judd Apatow comes awfully close with his latest film – a mildly dark seriocomedy that is so obsessed with proving Apatow’s growth as a filmmaker that it completely ignores everything that made his previous comedies so enjoyable in the first place. Don’t let the smoke-and-mirrors trailer fool you, either, because while the previews may have promised more of the same Apatow brand of humor, “Funny People” is a surprisingly unfunny film. That doesn’t mean it isn’t any good, but between the lack of…

We all know what happened “When Harry Met Sally,” but what if Sally never fell in love with Harry? That seems to be the main idea behind Marc Webb’s directorial debut, “(500) Days of Summer,” a wildly inventive romantic comedy that flips the genre on its head by way of some rather unconventional means. Then again, when you think about it, the film isn’t really a romantic comedy at all. Some might even be tempted to label it a romantic tragedy due to the story’s somber tone, but that would assume the film is void of any humor, which isn’t…

They said it couldn’t be done. That replicating the monumental success of “Borat” was impossible. After all, now that millions of people had seen (or at least heard about) the guerilla film tactics employed to create one of the funniest social commentaries of the last decade, everyone would be expecting it the second time around. And it looks like they were right. Credit to Sacha Baron Cohen for trying, but “Brüno” just isn’t as funny as its predecessor. While there are definitely some funny moments throughout, most of them are bits we’ve seen so many times in the trailer that…

Much like the App Store for Apple’s iPhone, Xbox Live Arcade has been one of the defining features in helping establish the Xbox 360 as the best all-around gaming console. Nintendo’s WiiWare and Sony’s PlayStation Network certainly have their share of good titles, but they’ve never released a collection of games quite like Xbox LIVE’s Summer of Arcade. Debuting last year with instant hits like “Castle Crashers” and “Braid,” the seasonal event was such a success that Microsoft decided to do it all over again. This year’s offering is pretty similar to the 2008 collection in that it includes both…

Electronic Arts has been making games based on the “Harry Potter” films for almost a decade now, so you’d think that by the sixth installment, they would have finally perfected the formula. After all, the J.K Rowling fantasy series may not be incredibly deep, but it does have an excellent story that’s practically tailor-made for the action/adventure genre. Unfortunately, EA doesn’t appear to be too concerned about making a quality game, because while “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” has some great ideas, they don’t quite add up to a great game, let alone a good one. The story itself…

The testosterone-fueled sci-fi action blockbuster, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” may arrive in theaters a full two days before “My Sister’s Keeper,” but you really couldn’t ask for a more perfect slice of counterprogramming. While millions of teenage boys will be lining up at their local cinema this weekend to watch giant robots battle it out as little Army Men-sized humans run around their feet pretending to help, their mothers will be curling up with a few gal pals and a box of Kleenex to check out Nick Cassavetes’ latest weepfest. Here’s the catch: “My Sister’s Keeper” is actually the…