Normdog Entertainment

Fans of “The Office” and “30 Rock,” rejoice! The stars of NBC’s Thursday night comedy lineup team up for the action-comedy “Date Night,” a movie with more laughs than its flimsy premise deserves.

Steve Carell (aka Michael Scott of “The Office”) and Tina Fey (aka Liz Lemon of “30 Rock”) star as Phil and Claire Foster, an exhausted married couple with loud kids, time-consuming careers and a limp love life. Their evening routine involves the application of snoring strips and retainers, and their weekly date night typically culminates at a sleepy restaurant serving salmon and potato skins.

Sounds pretty nice, actually.

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The new ‘Clash of the Titans’ gleefully recreates the cheesiest and best elements of the 1981 original film  about bickering Gods and giant monsters. And, thank goodness, the goofy mechanical owl only appears in a single, brief scene.

Directed by Louis Leterrier (“The Incredible Hulk”), “Titans” is one of those rare guilty pleasures: A trashy movie that often succeeds in spite of itself. It powers through a thin storyline and a stiff performance from ‘Avatar’ star Sam Worthington, but at least Leterrier seems to be aware of the film’s obvious shortcomings.

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Dreamworks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon” shares more than a few similarities with a certain blue-man adventure that recently broke a gazillion box office records.

Both “Dragon” and James Cameron’s “Avatar” follow a hero who bonds with a skyscraping lizard, fights against his own people and tries to save a race of misunderstood creatures.

The big difference: “Dragon” is fun, exciting and, thankfully, about an hour shorter than the overrated Oscar nominee.

“How to Train Your Dragon” doesn’t tell a particularly original story beyond its novel subject matter of Vikings vs. Dragons. And while it sometimes resorts to familiar kiddie-movie story techniques, the characters are developed enough to add relevance to the film’s spectacular flying sequences.

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You should probably already know whether or not you’ll enjoy a movie titled “Hot Tub Time Machine.” Depending on your outlook, it’s either the perfect dose of silly 80s nostalgia, or it’s the dumbest movie idea since “Dude, Where’s My Car?”

Consider this critic in the pro-column. Boasting the most literal (and awesome) title since “Snakes on a Plane,” “Hot Tub Time Machine” coasts on several not-so-subtle winks to the raunchy sex comedies of the 80s. It also contains a hilarious tour-de-force by “Daily Show” alum Rob Corddry as a maybe-suicidal guy on the lookout for a good party.

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Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is widely considered to be the Best Batman Incarnation of All Time.  Now, nearly two years after its blockbuster release, it’s time to look at the debate with fresh eyes. If you take away the fanboy fervor, can “Dark Knight” still stack up against previous incarnations of the Caped Crusader?

In a heated battle, at least in my mind, “Batman: The Animated Series” comes out on top. Read on to see how the bracket unfolded.

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While basketball fans have plenty to be excited about this weekend, movie buffs rarely get the chance to make educated guesses about arbitrary bracket rankings.

Not anymore!

In celebration of the theatrical release of Dreamworks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon,” I’ve concocted “The Sweet 16 of (Non-Pixar) Computer Animation.”

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Dreamworks Animation is just about to release “How to Train Your Dragon,” their latest animated film that won’t be anywhere near as good as the Disney/Pixar movies.

Not that Dreamworks cares. The movie is presented in 3D, which is all but a guarantee for big box office these days.

Attention America: 3D movies have been around forever. You are getting duped into paying premium prices for inferior products.

I like some of the Dreamworks movies, notably “Kung Fu Panda” and the first two “Shrek” movies. But even those can’t even compete against the awesome, all-powerful winning streak of Pixar. Well, OK. “Panda” beats “A Bug’s Life.” But only because Pixar couldn’t figure out how many legs go on an ant. (more…)

Contributing writer Josh Miller takes on the insanity known as “Twilight.” The franchise’s second installment, “New Moon,” is available on Blu-Ray and DVD March 20. Please don’t buy it.

The sequel to 2008’s “Twilight” needs no introduction. The film has broken box office records and the next film in the series is due in just a matter of months. Like it or not, the Twilight Saga is a cultural phenomenon in both film and book form. After seeing the first film, I was unable to grasp the appeal of this series and now, having seen “New Moon,” I am still dumbfounded. In my review “Twilight,” I said everything here is underwritten, characters and plot included” and “no one with a knowledge or appreciation of American cinema would call Twilight a good movie.” “New Moon” does flesh out the main characters a bit more but I stand by the latter statement. “New Moon” is certainly not a good film by any means. (more…)

While The Mad Hatter wonders why a raven is like a writing desk, audiences of the new “Alice in Wonderland” might wonder what director Tim Burton was hoping to accomplish with his live-action reimagining of the Lewis Carroll classic.

The twisted visionary behind “Edward Scissorhands” and “Ed Wood” has no problem getting another strange and enchanting performance out of his frequent collaborator, Johnny Depp. The actor’s Mad Hatter, boasting Carrot Top hair and the occasional Scottish accent, certainly tickles the imagination. So why can’t the rest of “Alice in Wonderland” do the same?

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