Author: Jason Zingale

While fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” patiently await the release of Guillermo del Toro’s big-screen adaptation of the beloved fantasy novel, Pandemic Studios has stepped in to save the day with “Lord of the Rings: Conquest.” At least, that’s what they think. Following the success of the developer’s “Star Wars: Battlefront” games, Pandemic’s latest team-up with Electronic Arts is designed to replicate the experience by giving fans the chance to play through some of Middle-earth’s most memorable battles. Unfortunately, as cool as that may sound, “Conquest” is but a shell of that experience – a “Dynasty Warriors”-styled hack and…

If Katherine Heigl can score big at the box office in a wedding-themed comedy during a season best known for its cinematic duds, then surely so can bigger stars like Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. At least, that’s what 20th Century Fox is banking on when “Bride Wars” rolls into theaters, but while “27 Dresses” proved far better than expected, the studio’s latest wedding comedy regrettably lives up to the negative perception of its January release date. Most women will still want to see the film because, well, they’re the same people who keep shows like “Bridezillas” on the air,…

It’s a shame that the holidays coincide with awards season, because as my colleague David Medsker pointed out in his review of “Revolutionary Road,” this December is home to some of the most depressing movies of the year. Edward Zwick’s “Defiance” isn’t quite as melancholy as some of the other Oscar hopefuls, but despite its somewhat uplifting ending, it’s kind of difficult to classify a film about World War II as being “feel-good.” The fact that there are two other WWII dramas (“Valkyrie” and “The Reader”) being released around the same time makes it even more difficult for a movie…

To say that there’s no such thing as Oscar bait would be to admit that John Patrick Shanley’s “Doubt” doesn’t exist. This is a film that doesn’t just expect its share of the spoils come awards season, but practically demands them. Of course, when you have Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman going toe-to-toe for most of the film, it’s easy to see why their respective nominations would appear to be a lock. Still, despite strong performances from both actors, “Doubt” never really achieves anything beyond serving as the backdrop for a series of electrifying face-offs between its contrasting lead…

Over the last few years, San Diego Comic-Con has become the go-to venue for studios looking to earn a little extra buzz for their films. Both “Sin City” and “300” flourished thanks to the advanced support of thousands of fanboys, but if there’s one movie that experienced an adverse reaction to this strategy, it’s Frank Miller’s big-screen adaptation of “The Spirit,” which was so poorly received that it became the laughing stock of the convention. The comic book legend’s experience with film is minimal. He acted as co-director on “Sin City” (though it’s doubtful as to how much he actually…

Most people would probably agree that Jim Carrey’s last great comedic performance was in the 2003 flick “Bruce Almighty,” but I would venture to go even further back than that – as far back, in fact, as 1997’s “Liar, Liar.” Though Carrey has grown as an actor in that 10-year span (with dramatic roles in “The Truman Show,” “Man on the Moon” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), “Liar, Liar” was the last movie to feature Carrey the comedian at the top of his game. How ironic, then, that his new comedy, “Yes Man,” is so similar to that…

If there’s one movie that I was looking forward to more than any other this season, it was Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.” Having already won top honors at the Venice Film Festival, Aronofsky’s latest may not be as conceptually brilliant as his other work, but it’s just as good. The film also represents a big maturation for the director – not only because it marks the first time he’s helmed a movie that he didn’t also write, but because for once he’ll be lauded not for his visual style, but for the performance that he gets out of his lead…

Films as slow and uneventful as “Chungking Express” would usually have no place on my list of all-time favorites, but Wong Kar-Wai’s minimalistic tale of romance is so strangely captivating that it’s hard not to be entranced. None of his other films speak to me quite as strongly, though “Chungking Express” has one thing the others (save for “2046”) don’t: Faye Wong. Already a massive star on the Hong Kong music scene when the film was first released, Wong is so refreshing in her breakthrough role that it doesn’t even seem like she’s acting. This is exactly the kind of…

Spoilers are the bane of any moviegoer’s existence, but you can’t avoid them all, especially when dealing with a film that’s 60 years old. Take, for instance, my virgin viewing of Carol Reed’s “The Third Man,” which I went into with the knowledge that Orson Welles played a character named Harry Lime, only to then witness his funeral without ever seeing him on screen. Knowing that Lime wasn’t really dead didn’t necessarily ruin the film for me, but it did take a bite out of the experience. Still, despite his limited appearance, Welles has remained the face of “The Third…

Every year, it seems like the same Christmas movie is released under a different title and with different actors making up the same one-dimensional family of characters. 2007’s “This Christmas” tried to modify that formula by making the family in question African-American, but while the movie may have reached a new audience, it was still like all of the others. The same strategy has been employed with Alfredo De Villa’s predominantly Latin “Nothing Like the Holidays,” but while the story still follows an all-too-familiar premise, the movie succeeds thanks to its talented cast led by screen veterans Alfred Molina and…