Past the Popcorn: Will Smith Turns on the Charm in Warner Bros.’ Focus

by Jeff Walls The con-artist movie has been a popular sub-genre for movie stars to show up in and just be movie stars over the years.  From Paul Newman and Robert Redford in 1973’s Oscar-winner The... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Waterland Home Video Feature

Islander reviewed by Michael Brunk Eben Cole is a lobster fisherman, like his father and grandfather before him. Home is a small island off the coast of Maine where everyone knows everyone else. He puts... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Disney Gets “Team” Right in McFarland, USA

by Jeff Walls Disney has been successful with their inspirational sports dramas since 2000’s Remember the Titans, releasing one just about every year.  They all feature good acting, well crafted stories,... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Waterland Home Video Feature

America’s Heart and Soul reviewed by Mike Smith (with Greg Wright) Cynics, stand aside. This is an exhilarating movie. For those willing to open their eyes to beauty and grace, Louis Schwartzberg’s... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Firth is Crazy Fun in Kingsman: The Secret Service

by Jeff Walls There are those out there who feel that the James Bond franchise has gotten a little too serious, that 007 has forgotten himself in his pursuit to be more like Jason Bourne.  Fortunately,... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Waterland Home Video Feature

Lawrence of Arabia reviewed by Greg Wright When the restored “Director’s Cut” of Lawrence of Arabia played at Seattle’s legendary Cinerama theater in 1989, I was naturally at the first showing…... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: The Wachowskis Go Chaotic in Jupiter Ascending

by Jeff Walls The Wachowski siblings have had a very up-and-down directing career, and there appears to be a direct correlation between the quality of their movies and the amount of freedom/financing... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Bradley Cooper Will Blow You Away in American Sniper

by Jeff Walls American Sniper is a return to form of sorts for director Clint Eastwood, following a couple of underwhelming releases in J. Edgar and last year’s Jersey Boys.  The new film is based... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Waterland Home Video Feature

Undefeated reviewed by Greg Wright This is football, and this is life. Both are games of inches. And if you don’t believe the fate of men and nations alike turn on the simplest of choices and miscues,... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: An Important Story Finally Gets Its Due in Selma

by Jeff Walls It is difficult to believe that there has never been a theatrically released movie about Martin Luther King, Jr.  There have been a few versions on television, but none that have debuted... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Waterland Home Video Feature

Colin & Brad: Two Man Group reviewed by Greg Wright What do you get when two stalwarts from the long-running Improv Comedy TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway? take to the road for a two-man Improv Comedy... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Cumberbatch Stars as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game

by Jeff Walls The characters in the new movie The Imitation Game are constantly reminding us and each other that “sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Waterland Home Video Feature

Elf reviewed by Greg Wright Once long ago, Ethics Daily culture editor Cliff Vaughn and I were sitting in a movie theatre debating radical goodness. I have long believed that love professed but undemonstrated... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

by Jeff Walls The final chapter of The Hobbit trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies is billed as the final film in director Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth film series that included both this trilogy... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Waterland Home Video Feature

The 12 Dates of Christmas reviewed by Greg Wright I first saw Amy Smart in The Butterfly Effect and was blown away by her performance as a young woman traumatized by sexual abuse. With Effect‘s... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Waterland Home Video Feature

This Christmas reviewed by Greg Wright I will confess that I am an opening-credits junkie. I was raised in an era when audiences knew that the actual content of a film started as soon as the overture was... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Warm Holiday Romance in The Christmas Secret

by Greg Wright Have you ever taken a road trip to someplace like the Grand Canyon, or Disneyland? I’ve done both, and have discovered that the journey there can be just as much fun as the destination... [Read more]

Past the Popcorn: Waterland Home Video Feature

The Christmas Hope reviewed by Greg Wright Can holiday tearjerkers be formulaic? Yes, and The Christmas Hope is certainly that. Can formulaic tearjerkers also be effective, both as entertainment and as... [Read more]