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CHRIS WANGLER

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Pilgrims’ progress

Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies
India, 1838. The opium business is booming, and drug money fills the British Empire’s coffers, offsetting a trade imbalance created by imports of Chinese tea and silk. But now the emperor wants the drug trade stopped.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | October 08, 2008

Ghost Town

A fill-in-the-blanks, DOA comedy
As a comedian, Ricky Gervais is like an endangered panda: he can perform only under specific circumstances.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | September 16, 2008

Mirrors

A less gory and more clichéd remake
It would all be funny if it didn’t mirror the same burnt-out ideas every one else is using.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | August 20, 2008

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Empire

A flashy, ludicrous threequel
Lines like “I will crush any idea of freedom!” may or may not be intended to reflect current Chinese leadership.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | August 05, 2008

Slideshow: Found in translation

A new book looks at the golden age of international movie marketing
As movies began to gain worldwide attention, Hollywood studios tailored their marketing to specific geographic locations, allowing local distributors to create their own publicity campaigns.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | August 01, 2008

Swing Vote

Politically neutral father/daughter drama
Some clever scenes lay bare the excesses of campaign TV culture, but overall the humor is as lame as anything on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour .

By: CHRIS WANGLER | July 30, 2008

The Love Guru

Derivative, crass, and boring
Guru Pitka is a self-help mogul with origins in Mike Myers’s now tired vision of the groovy ’60s.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | June 25, 2008

When Did You Last See Your Father?

Much more than a Lifetime Movie for Men
Director Anand Tucker's focus on compromise and memory over pre-fab, end-of-life resolutions is realistic and powerful.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | June 11, 2008

Young@Heart

Pleasantly predictable
The Young@Heart Chorus was formed in Northampton in 1982 by whip-cracking director Bob Cilman.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | April 16, 2008

Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns

Repackaged stereotypes
Brenda is a newly jobless mother of three, and she’s getting no child support from her baby daddies.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | March 25, 2008

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

Hard to knock it
Another shy, fatherless kid in need of a space alien or a pet dragon to help him cope.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | January 03, 2008

Kite club

Simplified Runner not up to speed
In spite of being lovingly realized and creatively cast, The Kite Runner is a simplistic adaptation of a powerful, multi-layered story.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | December 12, 2007

Awake

Incompetent Jessica Alba
“Do you think my new heart will love you as much as my old one?”

By: CHRIS WANGLER | December 05, 2007

Mr. Bean's Holiday

An uncalled-for sequel
He appears to be on a holiday of his own — from any faintly realistic notion about his audience.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | August 22, 2007

Rush Hour 3

Increasingly silly skits
Even those famous outtakes that play during the credits appear labored.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | August 15, 2007

The Ex

The pratfalls of yuppiedum
The premise here is flawed.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | May 17, 2007

After the Wedding

Supreme human drama
Subtle direction from rising star Susanne Bier should keep you guessing about the high cost of family secrets.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | April 18, 2007

The Reaping

Over-serious eye candy
Mixing CSI talk with a lot of evangelical mumbo-jumbo, this over-serious eye candy keeps you on the edge of your seat but never freaks you out.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | April 11, 2007

Are we done yet?

A brain-dead sequel
Is there a slapstick conspiracy in Hollywood?

By: CHRIS WANGLER | April 04, 2007

The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Shakes class lines
The Palme d’Or winner at Cannes 2006, Ken Loach’s drama explores the tensions within an IRA guerrilla unit during the rebellion of 1920-’21.

By: CHRIS WANGLER | March 15, 2007

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