Some movies are in-your-face bad. Others are bad in such a clueless, woolly way that by the end of 110 minutes you may feel like hugging all the actors and craftspeople involved, as if they were grade-schoolers who just gave their all to an endearingly terrible class play. Then you remember their “play” cost $100 million.... Read more

Todd Phillips has made nine movies and he will make many more, but no matter what he does for the rest of his professional life, he will forever be remembered as the director of 2003’s Old School. It is his Citizen Kane, his Godfather, his Raging Bull.... Read more

It’s no surprise that the guy who wrote Scorsese’s Taxi Driver has things to say about how movies depict the American experience. But it’s not often that you can drop in on a quiet resort town and hear him say them in person.... Read more

Thirtysomething writer-director Rian Johnson came on the scene in 2005 with the one-of-a-kind Brick, a noir drama with vintage Hammett- or Chandler-type dialogue set in a modern L.A. high school. His new movie, The Brothers Bloom, shows us how an international caper film might look directed by hipster darling Wes Anderson.... Read more

I can sum up everything wrong with this movie in two words: gypsy curse. Gypsies and their curses are the kiss of death when it comes to horror films. To my knowledge, no one has ever made a good one propelled by this particular plot device. It is itself a kind of curse; stick a gypsy in your picture and face the fact that it’s doomed to blow.... Read more

The original Night at the Museum (2006) took place in the American Museum of Natural History. Its sequel is set in the galleries of the Smithsonian. Together, these two frantic, pandering productions could easily outfit a third repository: The Museum of Stupid Movie Clichés.... Read more

You may not know Todd Schneider’s name, but he appears in five films that have played local theaters in the past month — as a stunt man. The graduate of Waitsfield’s Green Mountain Valley School and UVM has taken (premeditated) tumbles on the sets of everything from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to The Soloist since starting his Hollywood career in 1999.... Read more

A funny thing happened to the Terminator franchise on the way to 2009; it turned from unabashed campy fun into humorless, gritty science fiction. Weekend box-office figures for Terminator Salvation suggest this was not a smart business move.... Read more

At 151 minutes, The Secret of the Grain is the longest film about couscous you’re ever likely to see. And the best. But is it … good? Let’s put it this way: Writer-director Abdellatif Kechiche seems to love his scenario and his actors the way some people love their mom’s cooking — without reservation. We’re the guests, and he doesn’t want us to miss a single bite.... Read more

Did you know that Tom Hanks appeared in an episode of “Happy Days” in 1982? I wonder whether the actor’s recent performances in the Dan Brown adaptations The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons resulted from his crossing paths all those years ago with Ron “Richie Cunningham” Howard.... Read more