Screen

Though an obscure class or two on film studies or screenwriting sometimes appears on the course list at Naropa University, the Buddhist-inspired Boulder school has no film studies major. However, since 1999, Naropa has enjoyed the presence of the novelist, singer-...

Just when I thought that the summer was going to be defined by great films, I watched Green Lantern. Based on a storyline that’s more suited for Saturday morning cartoons than a cinematic production, the film had the awkward feel of a children’s made-for-TV ...

The Art of Getting By is a screen romance that echoes its title: It gets by. Barely. It’s another wan tale of an anti-social teen who finds himself irresistible to the sweetest, prettiest girl in school. But the film has flashes of wit and some interesting teen ...

Bad Teacher...

I feel like the Parisians kind of get me,” says Gil Pender in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, an early clue to this character’s cluelessness...

Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams know how to craft a splendid story, and Super 8 was a joy to watch. There were great special effects, but the characters were also delightful and the story unfolded slowly and intriguingly...

Primarily for dues-paying “X-Men” club members in good standing, rather than anyone wandering by a multiplex wondering if the prequel stands on its own, X-Men: First Class settles for moderately engrossing second-class mutant super-heroism. Plus it includes January...

T.J.needs a friend. His mom has just died in a traffic accident. His dad, Paul, has withdrawn into a haze of tranquilizers and group-therapy blather. His grandma is kind but housebound. The school bully likes pushing him facedown onto urinal cakes. The woman in his...

Nick Prueher would never wish his career on anyone...

It takes somewhat longer for the awesomeness to turn all that awesome. And you can’t really replicate that element of surprise that the first movie had going for it: a fan boy panda that gets to team up with his martial arts heroes...

For some movies, seeming funny is enough. The Hangover Part II only has to show up to succeed. At once pushy and lazy, the sequel follows the 2009 smash, which has become the most lucrative R-rated comedy in history. Isn’t that depressing? I find that depressing...

At one point in Meek’s Cutoff, set in 1845, the frontier settler played by the excellent, plain-spoken Michelle Williams fires two warning shots after an alarming encounter with a Native American. Hurriedly she loads the rifle with gunpowder and ammunition, while ...