“Ben-Hur” The new adaptation of Lew Wallace’s novel sees a titular nobleman (Jack Huston) placed into slavery by his adoptive brother, Messala (Toby Kebbell). So begins Ben-Hur’s journey to settle the score that will involve encountering Jesus (Rodrigo Santoro) and winning a deadly chariot race. Not sure if this is the...
Game developer Square Enix’s latest filmmaking attempt misses full potential again. But, again, the effort they have invested to get there is most admirable. Like 2001’s “The Spirits Within” and 2005’s “Advent Children,” the film pushes the boundaries of how stories can be told across media forms and, especially,...
Welcome to the first installment of “In the Frame.” This is a biweekly series that will feature a cast or crew member working in a new release this weekend who, despite not necessarily being high-profile, deserves attention. Read on! It took him two-and-a-half minutes to rekindle everybody’s fear of the dark. That amount...
“Coming from a marketing background, one of my obsessions is studying user behavior—how do people interact with something,” Nguyen said. | Courtesy of Tri Nguyen If you lure them, they will come. Besides concerts and New Year’s Eve, Pokemon Go can prompt the masses (of customers and Pokemon) to gather at certain...
For his entrance into a kitchen full of people, Jared Leto’s Joker opens the scene saying, “blah, blah, blah.” Not exactly the right way to start a conversation, but that is the quintessential Mr. J. Also not right, and much less forgiving, is the film’s opening. There’s little logic in introducing characters A and B,...
This weekend two weird films will grace moviegoers — a House of Cards star is transformed into a fluffy house cat and a band of villains starring as protagonists. “Nine Lives” After “Wild Wild West” and the “Men in Black” series, director Barry Sonnenfeld decides to up his wacky filmography game further. Billionaire Tom...
Who needs the gym when this week’s new releases can get audiences moving? The hard decision lies in choosing what to run toward: wealth, truth or all-out fun. “Nerve” See a new, sinister, spin on “Truth or Dare?” when Vee (Emma Roberts) and Ian (Dave Franco) become players of an app in which audiences challenge them to...
Thanks to characters that dare to face a childhood terror, uncharted space and an Earth-shattering event, moviegoers have three potential box-office hits to look forward to this weekend. Lights Out After David F. Sandberg created a YouTube short that caught the attention of the YouTube community, James Wan came...
It’s OK to be shaking in your boots when facing 1,000 ghouls or ruthless drug lords. The key to beating both, however, is keeping cool—something the characters in this weekend’s two new releases are plenty good at. “Ghostbusters” Physicist Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) and paranormal researcher Abby Yates (Melissa...
Apparently, animated fish invade theaters better than aliens from outer space. While there’s no harm to visit (or revisit) Dory’s waters, this weekend sees the arrival of three worlds that promise a thrilling time—if you don’t mind the risks, that is. The BFG After a row of political dramas, Steven Spielberg returns...
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