Saturday movie review: 'The Awakening'

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Come the Halloween season, I crave a spooky movie. Not a scary-as-all-get-out movie, you know, the sort so evil one fears they've surely opened the gates of hell simply by watching it. And not the violent, gory, bloody yuck fests, either. And definitely not the poorly written, poorly acted scream fests featuring babbling blondes running from madmen in masks.

No, I like a good old-fashioned, suspense-filled ghost story. One with just the right amount of startles and chills yet one that allows me to afterward walk — not run! — up the two flights of stairs to my bedroom without having to turn on every light along the way or jump onto my bed in fear of what may be underneath it.

The Awakening

Such quality creepy films are hard to find. So each Halloween season for several years I've...

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Saturday movie review: 'Disconnect'

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My viewing of the film DISCONNECT — which features an ensemble cast headed up by Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Paula Patton and Alexander Skarsgard — began with an "uh oh" spoken aloud and ended with an internal "uh oh" I've carried with me since watching the movie more than a week ago.

My first came within the first scene or two, when a video...

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Saturday movie review: 'Still Mine'

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James Cromwell — whom I've loved ever since "Babe" — may not be the first to come to mind when considering male romantic leads. He sure does a fine job playing such, though, in the touching drama STILL MINE, which also stars Geneviève Bujold as his long-wed love.

Still Mine

Cromwell and Bujold — both Oscar nominees — star as Craig and Irene Morrison. They've been...

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Saturday movie review: 'Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day'

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When I visit my grandsons, we all delight in repeated readings of Judith Viorst's book, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." My husband, though, never read the story, never heard me read it to our grandsons. So when I learned we'd be attending a free preview of the film based on the 1972 classic last weekend, I pulled out my picture book and read it to Jim a few days before.

I read my husband the book so he'd know the real story, as even the television commercials promoting the film made it...

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Saturday movie review: 'The Skeleton Twins'

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The Skeleton Twins

This movie proves it in spades: Kristen Wiig has acting chops and can play more than funny. In THE SKELETON TWINS, Wiig's character, Maggie, shows not one whit of her freaky yet supposedly funny Saturday Night Live characters. No Penelope. No Target Lady. And no Lawrence Welk singer Doonese. Thank heavens for that, as I cannot stand any of those characters.

Considering my dislike for Wiig's SNL...

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Saturday movie review: 'Blood Ties'

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Blood Ties DVD

Films featuring themes of brothers at odds or cops versus robbers abound, yet I've found few as engaging as BLOOD TIES starring Clive Owen and Billy Crudup. In this gritty tale (meaning, expect blood and violence) set in 1970s Brooklyn and directed by Guillaume Canet, Clive Owen stars as Chris, a 50-year-old criminal recently released from prison...

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