Movies
Cantankerous Critic: ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ A Warp Speed Thrill Ride
This sequel to director J.J. Abrams 2009 reboot is part homage, part thrill ride, and part morality play. It’s much like the best episodes of the TV series that inspired it, only with much much better special effects.
Cantankerous Critic: ‘The Great Gatsby’ A Grand Spectacle
This latest version of “The Great Gatsby” isn’t weighted down by its status as “The Great American Novel.” Instead, director Baz Luhrmann seems inspired by it.
Cantankerous Critic: “Iron Man 3″ Smart, But Tony Stark Growing Stale
Iron Man 3 is both a step up and a step down from the now much maligned (however unfairly) Iron Man 2.
Cantankerous Critic: ‘Pain And Gain’ Is All Pain, No Gain
“Pain And Gain” is an aggressive, unrepentantly block-headed black hole of a movie that sucks all intelligence and talent into its vortex leaving only a vacuum of stupidity behind. I felt like I was a little dumber just for having spent two hours in its presence.
Cantankerous Critic: ‘Oblivion’ Not Very Original, But Steals From The Best
“Oblivion” is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller with a few tricks up its sleeve. Unfortunately those tricks have all been stolen from other much better movies.
Cantankerous Critic: ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ One Of Dumbest Movies Of The Year
“Olympus Has Fallen” would have to get a lot smarter just to be charitably called dumb. It is in fact one of the mind numbingly inane movies of the year, and this year that’s really saying something.
Cantankerous Critic: ‘Oz The Great And Powerful’ An Entertaining Journey
“Oz The Great And Powerful” isn’t in the same category as the timeless “Wizard Of Oz,” (what is?), but it’s a reasonably entertaining reinterpretation of the classic tale if you can take it on its own terms.
Cantankerous Critic: ‘Jack The Giant Slayer’ Is A Giant Bore
“Jack The Giant Slayer” seems destined to be the Hollywood blockbuster that nobody really likes.
Satirical Newspaper Apologizes For Vulgar Tweet About Child Actor
The Chicago-based Onion newspaper is apologizing for calling the 9-year-old star of “Beasts of the Southern Wild” a vulgar and offensive name on Twitter, an attack that led to a firestorm online.
Cantankerous Critic: Beautiful Creatures
“Beautiful Creatures” owes its existence to the unfortunate Twilight phenomenon, and suffers because of it.
Cantankerous Critic: ‘A Good Day To Die Hard’
The Die Hard series reaches its “nuke the fridge” moment in “A Good Day To Die Hard-” easily the worst entry in the long running franchise.
Cantankerous Critic: Identity Thief
Melissa McCarthy showed what she can do with a really great script in “Bridesmaids” and “This Is 40.” In “Identity Thief” she shows she can wring a laugh even out of a really bad one.
Cantankerous Critic: ‘Warm Bodies’
“Warm Bodies” is about a zombie who wants more out of life than just braaaaiiiinnns. He’s shuffling about slowly groping for love. And while the idea of a zombie love story is inherently silly, it’s just entertaining enough to be fun- for a while anyway.
Cantankerous Critic: Bullet To The Head
“Bullet To The Head” is a macho, meathead monstrosity that stands out as another low point for Sylvester Stallone in a career that is already chock full of them. This movie isn’t just incompetent, it’s not even trying.
Cantankerous Critic: ‘The Last Stand’
Well old Arnold comes back one too many times in “The Last Stand,” a Jean-Claude Van Dame level actioneer unbefitting of the Governator.
Cantankerous Critic: Violent ‘Gangster Squad’ Enjoyable, Mindless
The ensemble action flick “Gangster Squad” has quite a cast going for it, but little brains behind it, CBS 2′s Michael Walters says.
Cantankerous Critic: Cringe-Inducing ‘Parental Guidance’ More Like Punishment
Parental Guidance Rated PG Grade D+ BY MICHAEL WALTERS CANTANKEROUS CRITIC The best thing that can be said for “Parental Guidance” is that it’s not quite as awful as it appears. In his years […]
Cantankerous Critic: Jackman Stands Out In ‘Les Miz’ Adaptation
Hugh Jackman, the multi-talented actor known for playing Wolverine in the “X-Men” movies, knocks it out of the park in “Les Miserables.” The rest of the cast, not so much, says CBS 2′s Michael Walters.
Cantankerous Critic: ‘This Is 40′ One Of Year’s Funniest Films
If you don’t laugh at “This Is 40,” you just might cry. It’s one of the funniest films of the year, but also an unvarnished and brutal look at just how hard a relationship can be. An undercurrent of bittersweet pragmatism runs through it.
Cantankerous Critic: First Installment Of ‘The Hobbit’ A Journey Worth Taking
It may be a little overstuffed, but director Peter Jackson lovingly revisits the Middle Earth he created for the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, film critic Michael Walters says.
Photo Galleries
Hunger Games Red Carpet: Who Looked Best?
Who looked best on the red carpet for the premiere of The Hunger Games?
Summer may have most of the blockbusters, but there are also a number of highly anticipated movies coming to theaters this spring. We take a look at the must-see films of the season.
Most Popular News
- Jail Inmate Charged With Previous Murder, Shooting In RobbinsA Cook County Jail inmate faces new charges in connection with a 2012 murder and a separate 2011 shooting in south suburban Robbins, the Cook County Sheriff’s office announced Saturday.60
- Teen Hurt In Little Village ShootingA 14-year-old boy was shot in the arm Saturday afternoon in the Southwest Side Little Village neighborhood.86
- Man Charged With Videotaping Women In Hospital WashroomA poorly secured cell phone in a west suburban hospital washroom that a man had allegedly set up to secretly videotape women in the toilet area was discovered by a woman when the phone fell to the washroom floor on Friday. She alerted police, who then arrested and charged a 49-year-old Franklin Park man with unlawful videotaping.156
- Young Man Shot Outside Old Orchard Shopping CenterA young man was wounded in a shooting in north suburban Skokie Friday night, outside the Old Orchard Shopping Center.227
- 3 Dead, 8 Shot In Citywide ViolenceThree men were killed and at least eight other people were wounded in violence around the city since Friday night.167
- Orange Line Service Resumes After Train-Pedestrian IncidentCTA commuters were temporarily stymied on the Orange Line during the Friday rush hour after a train fatally struck a man on the tracks.401
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- Marquette County Convention & Visitors Bureau Post Game Show Giveaway May 10, 2013Listen to The Score’s Baseball Post Game Show for your chance to win a $100 lodging gift certificate from the Marquette County Convention & Visitors Bureau!
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Twitter Updates
- RT @48hours: What's being done to stop the murder rate in #Chicago? See what #48Hours learned tonight at 10/9c on #CBS http://t.co/dEWRWI63… 5 hours ago
- Teen hurt in Little Village shooting cbsloc.al/15WYcxC 9 hours ago
