Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection

No luck: Madea doesn't assume a new identity and disappear. Instead the old gal takes in Eugene Levy, playing an investor implicated in a Ponzi scheme.

"...Perry in drag – to stretch beyond her own family and African-American community for the subjects of her barbs...."

July 6, 2012 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Host

This manic monster party from South Korea cleverly updates the Japanese monster-movie genre while offering a witty and sweet look at what's left of the nuclear family.

"...at what's left of South Korea's post-Atomic Age nuclear family. As the doughy, layabout father, Park Gang-du, Song gives..."

March 23, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Chicken Little

Disney's first all-CGI, made-in-house, animated feature is painful for all ages, despite a voice-talent roster to make the angels weep.

"...Dindal. Boys and girls, here we have an animated family movie about being ugly, being tormented by your peers,..."

Nov. 11, 2005 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Around the Bend

Family elixir is by turns weepy and hilarious, a little bit Caine and a whole lotta Walken.

"...into four generations of the men in the Lair family and a steely meditation on manhood, parenting, and the..."

Oct. 22, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Secondhand Lions

In this unique family film that's also an ode to heroic movies gone by, a boy is sent for the summer to live with his two eccentric uncles in Texas.

"...enjoyable, Tim McCanlies' Secondhand Lions is that rarest of family films, one that encapsulates a mood that can be..."

Sept. 19, 2003 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Time Out (L'emploi Du Temps)

"...position months ago. Yet he returns home to his family of four in a business suit and overcoat, even..."

June 28, 2002 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Lilo & Stitch

"...can make me question my most cynical notions about modern filmmaking. For example, my assumption that all major-studio animated..."

June 21, 2002 Movie Review by Russell Smith

Nutty Professor Ii: The Klumps

"...that film had Murphy portraying the entire Klump extended family -- Mom, Dad, Grandma, et al. -- at a..."

July 28, 2000 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Practical Magic

"...adaptation of Alice Hoffman's bestselling novel deals with a modern-day witch family living in a tiny New England burg..."

Oct. 16, 1998 Movie Review by Russell Smith

Fall Movie Round-Up

Sneaking Into Autumn

"...a Vietnam vet whose traumatic return to his Texas family poses difficulties for all concerned. (Oct.)..."

Sept. 6, 1996 Screens Feature by Marjorie Baumgarten

Cold in July

A dream lineup is one of many treats in this East Texas neo-noir based on a Joe Lansdale book.

"...son. Richard does what he can to protect his family, but soon discovers that the police are the last..."

June 6, 2014 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Monster's Ball

"...potent picture of how race is often experienced in modern-day America. It's an experience that runs deeper than mere..."

Feb. 8, 2002 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Little Vampire

"...clan. In exchange, Tony teaches Rudolph about Nintendo and modern slang. The story is more muddled than is generally..."

Oct. 27, 2000 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

A Simple Plan

"...goodness, it certainly isn't simple. Paxton plays rural Minnesota family man Hank, an upright citizen patiently waiting for his..."

Dec. 11, 1998 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Mighty

"...the Mighty. Sentimental and quixotic, The Mighty is good family fare; it's especially tuned in to the narrative needs..."

Oct. 23, 1998 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Chronicle of a Disappearance

"...holy water. An aunt gossips on and on about family matters. Three men fishing on a motor boat praise..."

Nov. 21, 1997 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Boogie Nights

Boogie Nights gets under the skin of the porn film industry's exuberant burst of public semirespectability in the late Seventies, prior to the home-video revolution that changed the rules of the game forever. The movie is no socio-cultural abstract though; it is at heart the story about a group of characters and the de facto family that emerges from their relationships.

"...about a group of characters and the de facto family that emerges from their relationship. A stunning ensemble of..."

Oct. 31, 1997 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

What's Love Got to Do With It?

Rom-com look at arranged marriage in contemporary Britain

"...and culturally specific look at arranged marriage in the modern west...."

May 5, 2023 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

2018 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Documentaries – Program A

Breaion King arrest doc heads up the Oscar short list

"...broader portrait of King as an African-American woman in modern America. It's a bold ambition, one best executed when..."

Feb. 9, 2018 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Theatre Synesthesia's The Brutes

Casey Wimpee’s original drama is about a Civil War-era family, but it’s deeply relevant to our own fractured time

"...characters, of course) are the new colloquial-speak in this modern age. Some of us have even seen this unrest..."

Dec. 15, 2017 Arts Review by T. Lynn Mikeska

Shot Caller

The metamorphosis of the prison system

"...watchable study of an ordinary man thrust into the modern Californian penal system and what that does to his..."

Aug. 18, 2017 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Lost City of Z

A futile quest for an extraordinary place

"...Z is a journey without a destination, much like modern-day conquistador Fawcett’s futile quest for an extraordinary place that..."

April 21, 2017 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Kedi

The cats of Istanbul shine in this affecting doc

"...of view of some of the inhabitants of this modern-day Catstantinople who have formed relationships with many of the..."

March 10, 2017 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Assassin's Creed

Popular video game series hits the screen

"...again and again. For a movie positioned as a family holiday excursion (with the engine-revving sound of a franchise..."

Dec. 23, 2016 Movie Review by Josh Kupecki

On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter

Everything you wanted to know about riding and racing motorcycles is revealed in this encyclopedic doc.

"...The Next Chapter spans the globe, thoroughly covering the modern-day motorcycle from every angle to a fault. An update..."

Nov. 7, 2014 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Blancanieves

A period piece about two generations of matadors is fused with the Snow White fairy tale in this black-and-white Spanish charmer.

"...film Blancanieves follows French production The Artist as another modern silent mostly skipping talk to tell a story. (Occasional..."

May 3, 2013 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Lather, Repeat: British Sudser 'Downton Abbey' Returns

Season 3 debuts Sunday with a two-hour episode

"...Grantham, American-born Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern). Titled Europeans, their family fortunes long-spent, trolling American shores for an heiress is..."

Jan. 4, 2013 Screens Post by Anne Harris

Arthur

The bubbles have gone out of Russell Brand's remake of the 30-year-old original.

"...so that Arthur’s mother (James) now heads up the family enterprises. Garner, in an uncharacteristic turn, plays the emasculating..."

April 8, 2011 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers

Dan Merchant seeks to uncover why the gospel of love is dividing America.

"...Merchant’s wildest episode include a religious game-show parody of Family Feud, but his most eye-catching stunt is his trek..."

Oct. 2, 2009 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

TV Eye

What's In and What's Out

"...block of new comedies on Wednesdays: Hank, The Middle, Modern Family, and Cougar Town. The new drama Eastwick (based..."

May 22, 2009 Screens Column by Belinda Acosta

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