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I should get this out of the way first: I’m an M. Night
Shyamalan apologist. I’ve enjoyed all of his movies except that one with Mark
Wahlberg about the trees — The Happening.
(And it’s not like I hated it). And I
am an especially big fan of Unbreakable
Movies and popcorn go together like … well, movies and
popcorn. It’s really hard to imagine one without the other. And boy oh boy do
we Americans love popcorn, to the tune of over 13 billion quarts consumed per year. (That’s about 42 quarts for each
one of us,
Over the last decade it might have seemed like the Young
Adult (YA) genre — both for books and movies — was exploding, but the reality
is that it’s always been huge. (Another reality is that it’s estimated 70% of
YA books are actually read by people who are
I love it when a movie keeps its characters — and its
audience — on their toes. Cat-and-mouse movies do just that by featuring the
kind of suspenseful plots, protagonists and antagonists that guarantee almost
unbearable tension and jaw-dropping twists.
If you’re in the mood
Ah, the ‘90s. I have much love for the decade during which I
graduated both high school and college. Which means I also have much love for
movies that are set in the ‘90s. Here are 5 that’ll make you say “Dude …
sweet.”
Hackers –
I write a lot about how you can participate in various
unofficial national “holidays,” and so I am majorly excited that we have come
to one of my favorites: National Cuddle Up Day.
It occurs every January 6, and so we are especially lucky
this year,
Several times a year I write about a crop of new movies that
are based on true stories. Because as the saying goes, truth is stranger (and
therefore more entertaining) than fiction. You can definitely expect another
post like this in the new year, since several awards contenders depict
And now it is time for the speech I make every year: What
I’m about to list out are my favorite movies. I’m not saying that these are the
best movies of the year — these are
simply the ones that affected me the most. I feel strongly that
To quote a character from my all-time favorite TV show (LOST), “No one does it alone.” That’s probably why some of the most action-packed movies revolve around teams trying to accomplish a goal. Here are 4 with particularly memorable teams:
The A-Team – I
Karen Allen has played integral roles in some of the most
popular and cherished films of the last 40 years, including National Lampoon’s Animal House, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Starman and The Sandlot, which has become something of a touchstone film for
Millennials. Scrooged,
A journalist becomes the host of an alien symbiote and acquires superhuman abilities – alongside a malevolent and unpredictable alter-ego – while investigating the true nature of the secretive experiments conducted by the Life Foundation, a survivalist group led by an unethical genius.
Want
There are so many beloved Christmas movies. You’ve got your ‘40s classics like It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. Then there are several animated favorites from the ‘60s such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and Frosty the
In anticipation of seeing Mary Poppins Returns, I re-listened to the entire soundtrack from 1964’s Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. Like many people, I absolutely loved that musical and have no idea how many times I saw it growing up — but it was a
What year are we in right now? I feel like I traveled back
in time to the early ‘90s because Julia Roberts is once again everywhere. Not
that that’s a bad thing.
For those of you too young to remember, the A-list actress had her big
It’s important during the busy holiday season to take a little time off and just … relax. A snow day, or a day your family blocks off in order to stay at home and hang together during winter break, is the perfect time to reconnect and unwind.
I don’t know how it is where you live, but here in Chicago my kids get a full two weeks off of school for their winter break. And if we’re not traveling during that time, it doesn’t take too long before everyone catches a serious case of cabin fever.
Yes, you’re reading the title of this post correctly. Even though I write for Redbox, and Redbox in the business of renting and selling movies, and part of my job is to help you find movies you might enjoy, I have my limits. There are some movies I just can’t
If you’re like me, sometimes you want to get the ol’ heart pumping but are too lazy to actually work out. Thankfully we have action movies to assist in such situations. Here are 4 that will satisfy even the most hardcore adrenaline junkie:
Mission: Impossible – Fallout – Any
This is it, guys and gals: the end of 2018 is nigh. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted … and the most intense part of the holiday season isn’t even here yet. That’s why I plan to escape with a good movie or five as often as I
When you’ve been a film critic as long as I have (10 years! WHUT), at the start of every screening you hope — nay, you yearn — for something new. Something you haven’t seen before. It doesn’t have to be a new story or plot, necessarily. It could just be
Temperatures are dropping, leaves are changing color and falling, and there’s most definitely a chill in the air as winter quickly approaches. That’s why the timing is right for a date night — cuddling together during a movie is a surefire way to stay warm.
Here are 3 perfect picks
‘Tis the season to give thanks, and one thing I’m always thankful for is the ability to escape into another world for a few hours while enjoying a movie. Here are 4 I’ve watched recently that I’m especially grateful for.
BlacKkKlansman – This is one of those true stories
When Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them came out in 2016, I have to admit I wasn’t that into it. I was still carrying a torch for Harry, Ron, Hermione and the other characters we’d all come to know and love over the course of a magical (pun intended)
When my son was 4, he was obsessed with sharks. There wasn’t a piece of clothing he owned without a shark on it — he was even a shark for Halloween that year. He had countless books about sharks as well, and that is when he started talking nonstop about
When I learned that Disney’s Christopher Robin was coming to the Box, I immediately thought, “What to do, what to do, what to do?” The movie stars Ewan McGregor and is all about the little boy who used to pal around with Winnie the Pooh — only now he’s all
In The Darkest Minds, a mutant teenage fugitive strives to outwit an oppressive government in a dystopian future where a pandemic has killed most of America’s children and left the surviving children with psychic powers. Sound intriguing enough? We think so. Check out the extended preview below and rent it
As a mom of two young kids, I must admit that whenever I hear a new animated or otherwise family-friendly movie is about to be released, I experience a brief moment of dread. Because with each kids’ movie that my son and daughter are interested in comes the possibility that
Last night I watched our video monitor in amazement while my three-year-old daughter, in bed for the night, rolled around with her stuffed animals singing, “We will … we will… ROCK YOU!” I kid you not. She was mimicking her six-year-old brother, who’s learning the song in his School of
I personally view November as the month that represents the calm before the storm. We’ve got about three weeks into the month before Thanksgiving — and then holiday craziness will kick in full force for the rest of the year. So enjoy that downtime with one of these movies that
Ever since I had kids I’ve had mixed feelings about Halloween. Sure, little ones love to dress up and go trick-or-treating and all that, but what they do NOT love is when someone in the neighborhood chooses to turn their yard into a horrifying scene that looks like it’s straight