For many leading roles, especially those written for females, likability is key, and their ability to charm is pivotal to their film’s opening weekend. For Jessica Chastain, who plays determined...

Few shows last year drew more insipid criticisms than Lena Dunham’s “Girls,” which burst out of the gate with a roaringly funny pilot and charges varying from nepotism to racism. No matter...

The first film I saw in 2012 was Joe Carnahan’s riveting “The Grey,” and the last was Gareth Evans’ action masterpiece “The Raid: Redemption.” In between, an extremely...

Surrealism is usually a cinematic touch that rubs me the wrong way; something about the level of self-indulgence and intentional audience disconnect is simply grating. But Leos Carax’s “Holy...

Horror films have to choose a style and stick with it. It is tough to navigate between the jump scares of slasher lore, the slow burn or the haunted house jamboree, but “V/H/S” makes full use...

All of the best films are, in one way or another, “about something.” Not content to simply tell their stories, the movies work in some sort of thematically sound message or moral about today’s...

As someone whose experience with the “Universal Soldier” franchise is limited to 3 a.m. channel-surfing and Wikipedia, I feel qualified to say that the seventh film in the franchise, “Universal...

To call “Life of Pi” a challenging novel to adapt would be an understatement. It is a deeply emotional work where much of the conflict is internal and much of the action consists of a boy and...

“Twilight” is the kind of franchise whose success simultaneously makes zero sense and all the sense in the world. It’s an exercise in horrible, horrible writing and characterization,...

Steven Spielberg has made plenty of films about war, films like “Saving Private Ryan”  and “War Horse” that have painted alternately horrifying and moving pictures of the great...

Fifty years after the iconic secret agent ordered his first martini, shaken, not stirred, we find the Bond franchise at an impasse. “Casino Royale,” Daniel Craig’s series debut, was one...

November is apparently the month of the alcoholism message movie, and between last week’s harrowing “Flight” and Sony Pictures Classics’ unsettling “Smashed,” the topic...

Ever since 2000’s “Cast Away,” director Robert Zemeckis has stuck to developing motion capture cinema, most notably with 2007’s preposterously violent adaptation of “Beowulf.”...

Video games are the biggest time suck a college student can encounter. Facebook and the demands of maintaining a decent GPA are reason enough to let your consoles collect dust. However, everyone remembers...

“Cloud Atlas” isn’t a film that can be assessed on any sort of traditional scale. It has half a dozen protagonists, scoffs in the face of three-act structure, and spends the majority...

David O. Russell is one of Hollywood’s most unpredictable working filmmakers. Russell’s journey from war comedy “Three Kings” to Oscar-winning boxing drama “The Fighter”...

Of all the major film festivals that occur in Austin every year, the 19th Austin Film Festival & Conference is the most distinctly Texan. From its sponsors (including the delectable Salt Lick BBQ)...

The idea of an action franchise driven by Tyler Perry is nothing short of hilarious. Perry is famous for cross-dressing in stereotype-driven adaptations of his own work. The poster for “Alex Cross,”...

Found footage is a genre that’s always been problematic, and this year, the idea of casting your camera as a character in a narrative has extended beyond horror to comedies (“Project X”)...

At this point in his career, any avid moviegoer is actually looking forward to Ben Affleck’s films. If you’d told me that 10 years ago, I would have laughed in your face. After all, Affleck...

Once upon a time, Luc Besson was the crown jewel of French action cinema. Works like “La Femme Nikita,” “The Fifth Element” and “Léon: The Professional” are memorable...

Every year around this time, the Austin film scene wakes up with stomachs full of pizza and beer as well as minds weary from the injection of cinematic insanity that is Fantastic Fest. This year’s...

Time travel is tricky. The intricacies of it, the endless possibilities for paradox and timeline diffusion, can wreak havoc on a narrative, and the most brilliant touch of Rian Johnson’s “Looper”...

The great thing about film is its subjectivity: the variety of ways to view a movie depending on the personal lens you bring to it. That being said, if the idea of the “Indiana Jones” films...

“Dredd 3D” is a film of simple pleasures. Blood, guts and bodies stacked as high as the 200-story ghetto where the majority of the film takes place are prevalent and make for an entertaining,...

There is no film festival in the world quite like Fantastic Fest. Every September, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on South Lamar is taken over by the festival for a week, and this year, the exterior of the...

There is a phrase often used by script analysts called the “white moment.” It is the crest of the dramatic arc, that brief moment where everything appears to be going well for our hero before...

The beginning of the semester is always brutal for the college student’s wallet. The combination of stupidly expensive textbooks, typically abrasive Texas weather and slim pickings at the multiplex...

The classics of modern comedy are almost universally male-driven — “Caddyshack,” “Vacation” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” are all films defined by...

The true events that “Compliance” is based on — a series of particularly cruel prank calls to fast-food restaurants — call to mind instances like the Stanford prison experiment,...

When the pieces of David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s “Cosmopolis” began to fall into place, the biggest question mark was always Robert Pattinson, who plays billionaire...

The first trailer for “Lawless” looked like a film way too light and action-packed for director John Hillcoat, who relentlessly punished audiences with his last two films. “The Road”...

It’s rare that a film slapped with an NC-17 rating doesn’t opt to defang a bit, since the cultural stigma that comes with the rating can be a death sentence. But thankfully, William Friedkin’s...

Vince Vaughn had something of a hot streak in the early 2000s, and it was one of those rare moments where a star’s schtick is perfectly utilized in several roles in just the right order. Flicks like...

Has there been a film this year more anticipated than “The Dark Knight Rises?” Christopher Nolan’s take on the Batman saga has lent an unprecedented level of prestige to the superhero...

Oliver Stone is a prolific director, but our generation hasn’t been privy to his best work. His unique bits of Americana mostly hit theaters in the ‘80s, with the director doing his best work...

“Magic Mike” is director Steven Soderbergh’s third film in nine months, and it’s remarkable that he hasn’t burned himself out yet. After “Contagion,” a sprawling...

Back when Sony announced “The Amazing Spider-Man” as a reboot of the franchise after director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire bailed on a potential fourth installment, they might have been...

Seth MacFarlane has always had a distinct comedic style, full of non sequiturs, pop culture references and casual tastelessness, developed in his small empire of animated programs broadcast by Fox. With...

A film with a title like “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” is going to have to fight very hard to earn anything but a derisive snort, simply for its audaciously silly title. Fortunately, the...

Many people had no idea who Aubrey Plaza was before she began quietly stealing scenes on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” but once she began popping up in comedy films here and there, her...

There is a certain breed of film that’s never sat well with me: those that value an abstract declaration of style over an emotionally compelling story. Not that every movie has to be flat and melodramatic,...

It’s incredibly easy to hate Wes Anderson. After all, his style is distinct: a pastiche of unfulfilled adults and detailed, almost detached art designs mirroring their inner discontent, and he’s...

HIGH SCHOOL Director: John Stalberg Genre: Comedy Runtime: 99 minutes The theatrical release of John Stalberg’s stoner comedy “High School” has been a long time coming. The...

GOD BLESS AMERICA Director: Bobcat Goldthwait Genre: Comedy Runtime: 105 minutes Few films can call themselves important, and most films that try to earn that title are insufferable. However,...

The summer movie season generally kicks off with a big, explosive event film, and Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers,” out today, is certainly that. For viewers looking for a quieter, more contemplative,...

Brit Marling had two films premiere at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, both of which she stars in and co-wrote: “Another Earth” and “Sound of My Voice.” “Sound of...

Ever since Samuel L. Jackson poked his eye-patched head in for the post-credits stinger in “Iron Man,” audiences have been looking forward to the inevitable “Avengers” movie. In...

So many romantic comedies fail to be engaging, entertaining films all the way up to their final act, when they finally have to acknowledge the romantic portion of their premise. Nicholas Stoller’s...

When one looks back on the work of Jack Black, there’s a tendency for Black to come across as irritating. After all, his work is often one-note, loud and abrasive, and even when Black manages to...

In Richard Linklater’s “Bernie,” Jack Black plays title character Bernie Tiede, a real-life Carthage, Texas, resident who was driven to murder by his increasingly parasitic relationship...

Editor’s note: “The Cabin in the Woods” is a movie best seen with little to no knowledge of its contents going in. With that in mind, this review will be as spoiler-free as possible. There’s...

Ever since Universal Studios announced it was making “American Reunion,” the film had an uphill battle to fight. Since the undeniably fresh and funny “American Pie” came out 13...

There’s no denying that “Titanic” was a genuine cultural phenomenon when it hit theaters, spending a staggering 15 weeks at the top of the box office, and setting records left and right....

No one was really asking for a sequel to 2010’s “Clash of the Titans.” After all, that film was an absolute mess; a horrendously written money pit that somehow managed to nail the casting...

When “The Raid” had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, reviews instantly crowned it a masterpiece of the action genre, and from there, the hype machine began churning....

Warning: This article includes spoilers for the first four seasons of “Mad Men.” With “Mad Men’s” fifth season premiering Sunday, The Daily Texan worked through the first...

With any book-to-film adaptation, there’s bound to be lots of disappointed grumbling about how the film doesn’t live up to the book, and “The Hunger Games,” written by Suzanne Collins,...

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum don’t seem like a great comedic duo on paper, but together they make “21 Jump Street,” a film that shouldn’t work, a hilarious, surprisingly touching...

Girls Against Boys Directed by Austin Chick When “Girls Against Boys” opens with a stylish, tantalizing, and intense scene of Lulu (Nicole LaLiberte) seducing and killing a police officer,...

Cabin in the Woods Directed by: Drew Goddard “Cabin in the Woods” was the opening night film at SXSW last night, and there’s only one thing you should know going in. Know nothing....

South By Southwest has assembled an intimidating roster of films this year, including star-studded premieres and a wonderful midnight film program. Here are a few of the big tickets at this year’s...

Every year, the Super Secret Screening is one of the most anticipated and discussed events of SXSW, and this year is no different. Last year, many guessed we’d be seeing “The Tree of Life,”...

Todd Phillips’ entire career has been a long study in male bonding, usually over alcohol, drugs and general debauchery. Phillips has come a long way since his 2003 comedy “Old School”...

Do I hate the Oscars? No. Since 1999, the year that “The Iron Giant,” “Toy Story 2” and “The Sixth Sense” cemented my fate as a film fan for life, I’ve been watching...

The work of “Eastbound & Down” creator Jody Hill definitely has thematic consistency, always focusing on a repulsively crass and arrogant man whose only response to losing control of his...

When “Bullhead” premiered at Fantastic Fest in September, Oscar buzz at the festival revolved around Tilda Swinton in “We Need to Talk About Kevin” and Michael Shannon in “Take...

There’s lots of potential for “This Means War” to be a great time at the theaters. Director McG knows his way around a fluffy, paper-thin storyline, having cut his teeth on the short-lived...

Odds are it’s not easy to find tons of college-aged fans ­— or fans over five years old — of 2008’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Even so, producers have...

“Safe House” stars Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, who are both at odd places in their careers. Washington is in the middle of a Liam Neeson-style career reinvention, lending the charm...

There’s no denying that the found-footage genre is beginning to wear thin. When the genre was getting off the ground, many of the best horror films of their respective years were heralded as examples,...

The evil-little-boy genre is a tried and true offshoot of horror cinema, and films like “The Omen” are classics for a reason. However, “We Need to Talk About Kevin” is a much more...

When the first trailer for “The Grey” hit, the idea of Liam Neeson reuniting with his “The A-Team” director Joe Carnahan for an extended arctic battle with wolves sounded almost...

In the Tuesday announcement of the Academy Award nominees, some of the year’s best films have been left out in the cold as usual. Overall, this year’s race is shaping up to be a bit blander...

“Red Tails” has the potential to be a landmark film for many reasons. First off, it’s a film that George Lucas has been prodding into theaters since the 1980s, and it represents a true...

Since the dawn of cinema, Hollywood has been quick to exploit tragedies new and old for cinematic value, not to mention the occasional awards season boost in prestige. It wouldn’t be too difficult...

Generic action films like “Contraband” are rarely worth getting excited for, as most of them tend to capitalize on their star’s heroic persona while forgoing unnecessary elements such...

Stage-to-screen adaptations are always a tricky endeavor, and it’s all too easy for directors to find themselves restrained by their material’s inherent staginess, which can sometimes result...

The third season of “Archer” resumes tomorrow on FX, and the animated spy comedy remains as ridiculous and irreverent as ever. Although the third season technically began back in September...

Editor’s note: This review contains plot details from tonight’s season premiere of FX’s “Justified.” “Justified,” which begins its third season tonight at...

20. Young Adult – Charlize Theron makes it her mission in “Young Adult” to prove a miserable shrew of a character can be compelling, and succeeds thanks to help from Jason Reitman and...