Spoiler Alert (2022)

Spoiler Alert (2022)

[6] Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) and Ben Aldridge star in this gay twist on Love Story, based on the autobiographical book by Michael Ausiello. Parsons is the shy, awkward guy and Aldridge plays the cool, outgoing one. Somehow,…
Soapdish (1991)

Soapdish (1991)

[8] Sally Field leads a spectacular ensemble in Soapdish, a comedy that lampoons daytime TV melodramas, or 'soap operas'. Field plays an insecure soap star who fears her career may begin to wane as she enters middle-age. Little does she…
Lincoln (2012)

Lincoln (2012)

[7] Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood) won his third Oscar for his convincing portrait of America's 16th president during the final months of the Civil War. Lincoln is a decades-long pet project for director Steven Spielberg,…
Murphy’s Romance (1985)

Murphy’s Romance (1985)

[6] Sally Field and James Garner star in this story of a divorced mother who moves to a small town and tries to open a successful horse ranch. She quickly befriends the town pharmacist (Garner) and the two strike up…
Steel Magnolias (1989)

Steel Magnolias (1989)

[8] The film adaptation of Robert Harling's play is unabashedly melodramatic, nostalgic, and sentimental. Some of those qualities usually annoy the hell out of me, but the ensemble of great actresses and the slew of memorable one-liners make Steel Magnolias…
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

[7] The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was better than I was expecting. Unlike nearly all the Batman movies, the Spider-Man movies -- both the Sam Raimi ones and these new ones from Marc Webb -- succeed in keeping the hero upfront…
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

[6]

Director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) takes on the web-slinging superhero in this hasty reboot of the franchise (just five years after Sam Raimi finished his trilogy). Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, Never Let Me Go) stars as Peter Parker, a high schooler who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and… you know the rest. The approach here is more realistic than Raimi’s, which provides Garfield (one of the finest actors of his generation) the opportunity to sink his teeth into a surprisingly angsty role. I can’t think of another time when a superhero role provided an actor more dramatic range. Emma Stone (Easy A, Zombieland) is given far less to do as Parker’s love interest, Gwen Stacy, but she makes the most of it. Martin Sheen and Sally Field bring gravitas in the roles of Parker’s Uncle Ben and Aunt May, while Denis Leary plays the police chief who doesn’t appreciate Spider-Man’s vigilante antics. Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill) picks up the mantle of super-villain, playing Curt Connors, a sympathetic scientist who’s desire to rid the world of disease leads to risky, gene-splicing self-experimentation. He becomes Parker’s third-act adversary — a raging Lizard monster.