One of the biggest drawbacks to adapting a series of books for the big screen, especially with the obligatory splitting of the final novel into two movies, is the lack of closure.
Christopher Lawrence
Christopher Lawrence is the movie critic for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
clawrence@reviewjournal.com … @life_onthecouch on Twitter. 702-380-4567
Bored. Just bored. That’s the best way to describe sitting through “SPECTRE,” the butt-numbing extension of “Skyfall” that plods along ground so familiar, it’s easy to see how Daniel Craig could have grown tired of playing James Bond.
In case you’ve spent the past 24 hours holed up inside a Tauntaun, you’re well aware that tickets for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” go on sale tonight after the trailer debuts during halftime of “Monday Night Football.”
Children tearfully watch filmstrips about how their best chance to survive a nuclear attack is to “duck and cover.” James Donovan (Tom Hanks) looks on in horror as Berliners are gunned down trying to clamber over the newly constructed wall. At one point, shots are fired into his New York home.
It’s a little-known fact of film criticism: Saturday morning screenings are almost universally awful.
You wanna win the war on drugs? Find a way to get each cartel boss alone in a room, then have Benicio Del Toro glare at him. It won’t be long before the world’s supply of illicit substances dwindles to whatever weed Seth Rogen happens to be holding.
Space travel + ’70s-era radio hits = awesomeness.
Not long into “Black Mass,” director Scott Cooper’s grim tale of Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger and his dealings with the FBI, I started trying to guess the fate of each new character as part of a game I called “Whacked or Not Whacked.” Spoiler alert: The result was usually Whacked.
To the surprise of almost no one, M. Night Shyamalan has made 80, maybe 85 percent of an entertaining movie.
For Labor Day weekend, three days when the vast majority of Americans are off work, the only new wide release is “The Transporter Refueled.” With that in mind, here’s a look back at my 10 favorite movies of the summer that you can check out instead.
You know you’ve aged out of the target demographic for “We Are Your Friends” when during the triumphant pool party to christen the house up-and-coming DJ Cole Carter rents with his buddies all you can think about are their poor neighbors and whether those homeowners will have some sort of recourse through their HOA.
In an era of high-profile musical residencies and six-figure nightly payouts to the world’s top DJs, it’s easy to forget that Las Vegas once was the place where entertainment careers went to die.
Good things come in small packages. "Ant-Man" isn‘t one of them. That‘s not entirely fair, as there‘s a decent amount of fun to be had in the story of a scientist who hires a cat burglar to steal back his most prized invention.
Despite his biceps and bravado, L.A. Fire Department rescue pilot Ray Gaines (Dwayne Johnson) is pretty terrible at actually rescuing people.
Since many viewers bailed on the HBO comedy before its hot mess of an eighth and final season, here’s a look back at what Vince, E, Drama, Turtle and Ari were up to at the end in time for the “Entourage” movie.
![What’s that massive building going up near Ikea in southwest Las Vegas?](https://www.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/19320590_web1_ASHLEY-FURNITURE-JUNE25-24-005.jpg?h=80)
![Woman suing Las Vegas Strip resort after vehicle stolen from valet](https://www.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/19313466_web1_Artboard-1_14027f.jpg?h=80)
![Downtown Las Vegas pizzeria is opening a shop in the suburbs](https://www.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/19310940_web1_GOOD-PIE-HENDERSON-JUN24-24-012.jpg?h=80)
![5 dead in North Las Vegas; Police hunt for ‘extremely dangerous’ suspect](https://www.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/19323756_web1_EAdams.jpg?h=80)
![Man indicted in death of mother](https://www.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/themes/rjth/images/defaultimage-1200x800.jpg)