'The Jungle Book' a triumph of CGI storytelling

Action thriller fails to move beyond genre trappings

First-person film interesting experiment, but nothing more

Baseball documentary seeks the fastest of the fast

Film offers look at the new realities of modern warfare

'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'

Predicting the 2016 Academy Award winners

It's that time of year again, folks. Time for Hollywood to dress up and throw statues at one another in a whirlwind of self-celebration and ego stroking.

That's right it's Oscar time!

I'll be the first to admit that I love the Academy Awards while also acknowledging that they are growing increasingly irrelevant and out of touch. I love the movies and this is the biggest celebration of cinema on the American pop culture calendar.

A story 20 years in the making

Very seldom does a movie come along that changes the way we think. More often movies come and go, entertaining us briefly, their residence in our lives and consciousness ephemeral. Everyone has that special one that they share with friends uncultured enough to have never seen it, which rarely gathers dust on the shelf, and the mere act of re-watching is a carefully choreographed ritual. There are many contenders out there, but above all there is only one for me: 'Jurassic Park.'

Recently I found myself watching 'Jurassic Park' for the first time in a while. Struck by a sense of longing for one of the last fossils of my childhood, I decided it was time. So I dusted it off and popped it into the DVD player - 20 years ago to the month that it premiered.

Near-future thriller doesn't quite deliver

It can be easy to feel like every story has been told before especially in an era when the recycling of ideas is a cottage industry in the entertainment world. So when an interesting twist on an old idea comes along, it can pique your interest. We all want to see something new or at least something old done in a new way.

'The Purge' wants to be that movie. Unfortunately, the film doesn't quite pull it off.

Previewing some of 2013's summer cinematic offerings

It's that time again. Hollywood has opened up their checkbooks and unleashed all manner of cinematic fare onto the masses. That's right blockbuster season.

2013 has plenty to offer. Big budgets are abundant. We've got iconic characters returning to the silver screen. We've got beloved franchises receiving their next installments. And we've got a number of different takes on the end of the world as we know it, both in the near-view and from the far-flung future.

Will all of these films be good? Heavens no. Will they all be entertaining? Also not likely. But rest assured, film fans of any stripe will be able to find something that tickles their fancy. There's a whole lot out there this handful is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.