Summer Comes Early with “Oblivion”

Is it too much to expect originality from a summer blockbuster these days? At this point in our era of poll-testing and demographics-driven production, we should accept this simple fact: no studio is going to spend $120 million, the cost of the new sci-fi blockbuster Oblivion, on an idea that has not already been demonstrated…

“Why Stop Now” Never Really Gets Going

There is a good movie somewhere inside of “Why Stop Now,” which opens today in select theaters, but it suffers from tonal inconsistencies and a series of implausible plot points that make it impossible to suspend one’s disbelief. To put it succinctly, it suffers from common failures of first-time filmmakers. Let’s start with the opening…