James Newton Howard

[6] Pierce Brosnan (Goldeneye) and Linda Hamilton (Terminator 2) star in this old-fashioned disaster flick about a volcano that’s about to wipe a small town off the map. Brosnan plays a volcanologist who, in Jaws-like fashion, warns the town of impending doom after discovering a pair of hot spring bathers boiled alive. His boss (The Thing‘s Charles Hallahan), however, doesn’t want to freak out the …

[6] Dustin Hoffman and Renee Russo star as an estranged married couple both working government jobs in the area of infectious disease control. When a fast-acting deadly virus begins spreading in America, the two find themselves working together to control the spread and locate the source of the outbreak — an African monkey let loose in suburban California. The screenwriters weave in a layer of …

[7] Christopher Nolan successfully reboots the Batman franchise by taking a cue from Bryan Singer (X-Men), who showed the world how much better a comic book movie could be by taking its subject matter seriously. While the approach works for this Batman film, I must admit that I personally prefer my Batman movies to be hyper-stylized and gothic as all get out, which Tim Burton …

[8] This ensemble drama from Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan is perhaps the most metaphor-laden movie I’ve ever seen. The screenplay (cowritten by Kasdan and his wife, Meg) gets pretentious and overreaching at times, but a well-meaning message and a strong cast do a lot to compensate for it. Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Mary McDonnell, Steve Martin, Alfre Woodard, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeremy Sisto are …

[7] J.K. Rowling takes a more firm hand with her franchise moving forward, both screenwriting and co-producing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The new movie takes place 70 years before the events of the other Harry Potter movies, centering around an odd-ball magician named Newt Scamander (Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne) and his misadventures in New York City, where several mischievous and magical creature …

[6] A small, isolated village of puritan-like people come under siege by a killer in their midst, as well as woodland monsters that may not be what they seem… Whether or not you like M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village ultimately hinges upon two big conceits (or twists, if you will). I’m okay with the first, as it comes organically from the hopes and fears of …

[7] Angelina Jolie headlines in this pleasantly surprising revisionist version of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Jolie plays Maleficent, the dark fairy villain of the original fairytale. But in this new version of the story scripted by Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast), she’s both the villain and the hero — and Jolie is fantastic in the role. You see Maleficent as the glorious creature she once …

[5] Even when a movie doesn’t come together, I sometimes admire the effort and ambition so much, that I have to give a little extra credit. Waterworld is one of those movies. First let’s focus on the positive: The atoll sequence is great, the boat and airplane battle is pretty good, James Newton Howard’s score is awesome, and Dennis Hopper steals the show. On the …

[9] Julia Roberts stars in this devilish romantic comedy from director P.J. Hogan (Muriel’s Wedding) and writer Ronald Bass (Rain Man) about a jealous woman who tries to stop her best friend from marrying another woman. Dermot Mulroney plays the best friend who invites Roberts to be his ‘best man’. She is quickly adored by the fiancée’s entire family, but that doesn’t detract from her …