Author: Jason Zingale

If there was any cause for hesitation going into “Live Free or Die Hard,” it was the last-minute announcement that the film had been rated PG-13. Surely there had been some sort of typo, since we all know John McClane deals with terrorists the R-rated way, but we also knew the possibility existed that Len Wiseman (director of those ridiculous “Underworld” movies) had castrated the franchise in favor of a teenage-friendly audience. Fortunately, he proved us wrong, because while McClane’s conversational skills aren’t quite as colorful as they used to be, this might just be the most action-packed “Die Hard”…

Whether or not you enjoyed “Bruce Almighty,” the original God-recruits-human comedy starring Jim Carrey and Jennifer Aniston, I think we can all agree that a sequel was completely unnecessary. Of course, money speaks louder than words in Hollywood, and though the film’s stars had absolutely no desire to reprise their roles for a second go-around, Universal moved ahead anyways, choosing to switch focus to a secondary character from the first film and making history as the most expensive comedy ever produced. So, did it pay off? Not as much as they would have hoped, unfortunately, because while “Evan Almighty” may…

There’s no denying that only six years after the fact, Hollywood has practically exhausted their well of 9/11-related material. Some have been great (“United 93”), while others have fallen flat (“World Trade Center”), and though Oliver Stone’s histrionic retelling left a sour taste in my mouth, it’s not nearly as offensive as these 9/11 films that exploit the tragic event as a means of creating complex characters for otherwise shitty movies. Thankfully, Michael Winterbottom’s latest film falls into the first group. Adapted from Mariane Pearl’s memoirs of the same name, “A Mighty Heart” is not only a tasteful docudrama that…

Growing up in the ‘80s usually meant one thing – your favorite movie was “The Goonies.” But for a select few, “The Monster Squad” not only represented a more mature version of the treasure-hunting adventure flick, but was also a far superior film that never got its due. Mere days after watching “Flash Gordon” for the first time in more than a decade, I popped in the newly released 20th Anniversary Edition of the film to discover that, unlike the 1980 sci-fi B-movie, Fred Dekker’s love letter to the Universal monsters of yesteryear was exactly as I remembered it. The…

If you don’t know about the zombie renaissance currently taking place in Hollywood, you probably haven’t been to the movies much during the last five years. It all started with an inception of straight-on horror/action flicks like “Resident Evil,” “28 Days Later” and “Dawn of the Dead,” but the zombie genre quickly broke its constraints when a couple of guys from the U.K. used the flesh-eating somnambulists as the main focus of their romantic comedy, “Shaun of the Dead.” It’s been three years since the genre received such a fresh take, but with Andrew Currie’s “Fido,” the Canadian filmmaker proves…

The ideal movie critic is supposed to be unbiased in his views of whatever movie he happens to be reviewing that day, but that’s complete and utter bullshit. We all have movies we’re looking forward to more than others, and are even willing to cut certain actors and directors a little slack when they fail. Which is why walking into a movie with that certain mindset can lead to disappointment – especially when those expectations crumble within the first thirty minutes. Such is the unfortunate case with “Eagle vs. Shark,” a quirky little romantic comedy out of New Zealand that…

Much like the comic book that it’s based on, “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” plays out a lot like if NBC had turned “Heroes” into a half-hour sitcom. It’s respectively shorter, contains the same lame jokes you could only expect from a team of comedy writers, and it even features a storyline involving the end of the world. Granted, the original “Fantastic Four” made the best of its fluffy qualities as a way of introducing the world’s greatest superhero family, but now that we know who they are and what they can do, it’d be nice to get…

It takes a very talented filmmaker to adapt one of my least favorite novels into a movie I actually enjoyed, but director Joe Wright did just that with his 2005 adaptation of “Pride & Prejudice.” One could probably deduce that Wright chose his latest project based on his success working in the period romance genre – Ian McEwan’s novel “Atonement” is swimming in British aristocracy and sappy relationships – but the film represents so much more. Aside from displaying Wright’s obvious maturation as a director, “Atonement” also offers that rare opportunity for a director to win an Academy Award without…

As the line between child and adult humor continues to be blurred, it’s nice to see at least one animation studio that isn’t afraid of going against the norm. After their last effort (the criminally overlooked “Monster House”) was brutally outperformed by the likes of “Happy Feet” and “Over the Hedge,” it’s a pleasant surprise to discover that Sony Animation’s latest feature continues to target a slightly more mature audience. Sure, they may look like a bunch of sellouts now that they’ve jumped on the penguin train, but can you really blame them? Those little black-and-white fuckers have made enough…

It’s been a long time coming for Judd Apatow. Success, that is. Following his involvement in three of the most critically acclaimed television series of the past 15 years (“The Larry Sanders Show,” “Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared”), Apatow finally struck gold in 2005 when “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” became the sleeper hit of the summer. One would think that for his next project, the in-demand writer/director would play it safe before risking another R-rated comedy, but apparently, he’s waited too long to just play it safe. Now that he’s tackled the topic of sex, Apatow continues his exploration into the…