Matt Semansky

The best that can be said for this sci-fi effort about marauding aliens is that it occasionally rises to the level of decent mindless diversion. Only occasionally, though. The creatures are interesting enough, a physiologically varied bunch that descends on Los Angeles and unleashes claws, tentacles and blinding beams of light that vacuum up the […]

This comedy about a low-rated morning television show revitalized by a young producer and a grouchy old news anchor is the finest kind of undemanding Hollywood serotonin-releaser. It’s got a straightforward story and a sharp script that gives headliners Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton plenty of chance to radiate star wattage. Ford is […]

Vocal theatrics have always been a go-to weapon in Will Ferrell’s comic arsenal, and his stentorian phrasing and melodramatic shouting is perfect for the title role in Megamind. Ferrell gleefully overplays an evil genius who quickly gets bored after unexpectedly defeating his saintly nemesis Metro Man (Brad Pitt). He tries to spice things up through […]

Tyler Perry’s adaptation of the 1975 stage play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf is an emotional grindhouse that splatters agony and sorrow across the screen. The film features several women dialoguing and monologuing their way through massive tragedies and moments of hope, with scenes structured around the series […]

Casey Affleck admitted a couple months ago that Joaquin Phoenix’s retirement from acting, pursuit of a hip-hop career and descent into apparent insanity—and Affleck’s filming of this transition—was an elaborate gag. The real-or-fake question is no longer in play, but the duo’s ballsy gamble still yields big results, among them Phoenix’s genuine transformation from super-serious […]

Halifax has a dramatic range that far exceeds its size. While our city and its surrounding area might be best known for playing the role of New England in movies such as The Shipping News and Dolores Claiborne, it’s also stood in for locations as diverse as New York, Amsterdam and even Utah. It stands […]

This adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel gathers momentum stealthily, which makes its ultimate emotional heft all the more startling. Kathy (Carey Mulligan) is the odd girl out in a love triangle that includes childhood friends Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley), but the trio is also bound by a shared, pre-ordained destiny—death via systematic […]

Two horror sequels opening in the next two weeks will, if they follow the lead of their predecessors, take radically different approaches to scaring audiences. The annual Saw sequel (October 29) will aim for the stomach with gross-out gore, the blood spatter flying in 3D this time out. Paranormal Activity 2 (October 21), meanwhile, will […]