A Walk in the Woods doesn’t much rile Redford

At the start of A Walk in the Woods, travel writer Bill Bryson is being interviewed on a Boston morning TV show. The host is a silly man, sure, over-the-top in his pomposity and self-importance, but he sure does drive home his point as he grills his guy living comfortably with his family in New…

In No Escape, a family man faces the worst

If you’re thinking about traveling to Asia, don’t see No Escape. If you’re about to take your family to a different country, don’t see No Escape. If you’ve just taken a new job and are about to relocate to another city, don’t see No Escape. Come to think of it, just don’t go see No…

American Ultra finally allows the haze to clear

At the start of American Ultra, a beat-up and bloody dude by the name of Mike is asked how he got to such a state by an authoritative figure. Wanting to be supportive, he starts to answer. Instead we get quick panels of flashbacks. Sitting in a late Friday afternoon showing in the Regal Cinemas…

No Vacation from the National Lampoon-style humor

If you lived through the 1980s, you know it. If you sat through the 2000s, you know it. That wink-wink through lasviousness and lewdness paired with physical awkwardnes that made the National Lampoon’s … movies featuring Chevy Chase as patriarch Clark Griswold so darn popular in that first decade. That silly-man, try-too-hard demeanor that made…

In Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck, heart beats out rowdy

Amy Schumer’s comic mind surely worked overtime to come up with Trainwreck. The rising star wrote the script, as you probably know unless you’re living in one of the few places where they haven’t beamed her deserving face on a morning or evening show interview these past couple of weeks, and then passed it along…

It’s OK when Pixar plays head games, Inside Out proves

Please do go with your kids to see Inside Out. I spent the pre-lunch hours of my Father’s Day delightfully with my daughter Elisabeth taking in the stark emotions of Joy and Sadness and the many shades in between in the full Regal Cinemas theater for matinée showing of the 15th Pixar picture from Disney.…

Did I mention that they had me from Aloha?

Aloha unwinds during Christmas time in Hawaii. Sun, lots of it, with blue water and pristine sand. Interesting myths from the islands mysterious past play out among the mountains and lush forest. Thoughts flooded my mind about that trip to the islands we took in 2010, Oahu and Kawai and Maui … Volcanoes and lava…