Author: Jason Zingale

For the follow-up to their 2004 zombie comedy, “Shaun of the Dead,” director Edgar Wright and star Simon Pegg had some pretty big shoes to fill. Not only was the British import one of the best movies of the year, but it also grabbed the attention of every film geek in the business. The message was clear: Hollywood was listening, and the industry was anxious to see if the duo’s sophomore effort would make or break them. What many don’t realize, however, is that “Shaun” was their sophomore effort (their first project together, the television series “Spaced,” already secured their…

Another year, another round of golf with Tiger Woods, but while the annual changes have been kept to a minimum since the pro sensation first hopped on board, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still one of the best games amid Electronic Arts’ near-invincible arsenal of sports titles. The 2007 version of the game has actually available for other consoles for quite some time now, but with its recent release on the Nintendo Wii, the world of virtual golf has never looked so promising. It’s actually been a while since I last sat down to enjoy a round of…

It’s a rare feat to produce a film that successfully mashes several different genres into one – let alone be able to satisfy both rabid fanboys and the hypercritical art-house crowd – but Joon-ho Bong’s “The Host” does just that. A throwback to the classic monster movies of yesteryear, the film takes a very real event and transforms it into a brilliant what-if tale about a family that is torn apart by a horrific monster, all while stirring in some snarky political commentary along the way. The film opens in the year 2000 at a U.S. military facility in Seoul,…

You’ve no doubt watched the trailer for “Wild Hogs” and immediately thought to yourself, “Okay, I see how the other three guys got involved in this, but what the heck is William H. Macy doing in such a lowbrow comedy?” Well, allow me to explain. Macy may be considered a more respectable actor than John Travolta, Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence (especially Martin Lawrence), but he’s certainly not immune to signing up for his share of questionable film roles. In fact, with the exception of Macy’s humiliating turn, “Wild Hogs” is actually a mildly amusing road flick that will surely…

It may be too early to say, but when all is said and done, “Reno 911!: Miami” might go down as one of the biggest disappointments of the year. Forget that the series, which has been a critical success since it first aired on Comedy Central, packs more wit and zany behavior into a single episode than most shows these days, because you simply wouldn’t believe it after sitting through this spotty 84-minute feature. Everything that’s great about the small screen version has been replaced with the kind of dumb jokes and missed opportunities that you’d expect from a direct-to-video…

Despite having only played bits and pieces of the previous “Tenchu” games before picking up the latest installment, I was more than familiar with the basic framework of the series. One part hack-and-slash and one part stealth-based, “Tenchu Z” feels a lot like playing as Sam Fischer in feudal Japan, except with a much weaker story and a clunky fighting system that never really grows on you. In fact, with the exception of cutscenes that introduce the mission at hand, there’s no underlying story or purpose to the game. Simply complete one mission and move on to the next, taking…

Watching two U.S. government spy thrillers in almost as many months has led me to a very interesting theory: FBI and CIA agents are the world’s most boring human beings. Despite a large number of films and TV series that would love to prove the American public otherwise, the sheer fact that “Breach” and “The Good Shepherd” are both grounded in reality all but confirms my suspicions are true. How else can you explain my desire to take a nap through the middle of both films? If not from a complete lack of interest, then certainly from a flawed execution,…

Not to be confused with Samuel L. Jackson’s other snake movie, “Black Snake Moan” is the sophomore effort from writer/director Craig Brewer, whose debut film “Hustle & Flow” (another movie about a Southern musician battling his inner demons) earned the director critical acclaim in 2005 as one of the generation’s most promising young talents. This time around, Brewer really goes for broke with a pulpy tale that isn’t afraid to push a few boundaries and raise a few eyebrows, but while its strong sexual and racial themes will no doubt turn many people away, remarkable performances by the film’s two…

There aren’t enough words in the English vocabulary to describe just how painful it is to sit through a movie like “Norbit.” On one hand, it’s certainly better than most of the other films in the newly christened Black Comedians in Drag sub-genre (like “Big Momma’s House” and “White Chicks”), but on the other, it’s utterly depressing to think of all the dough this is going to make at the box office. And for anyone who’s unsure as to how much that really is, let’s just say that the studio might as well start printing money with Eddie Murphy’s face…

Let’s get one thing straight: this critic does not support the annoyance that is the DVD double-dip. With two or more releases of several classic films currently on the market, it can become quite a bear on the consumer’s wallet to continuously repurchase new versions of their favorite films simply for an improved digital transfer, added special feature or even worse, nothing at all. In spite of being against this sort of greedy behavior, however, it would be positively careless of me not to recommend the new, four-volume ultimate edition of the popular James Bond series, which isn’t necessarily overdue…