Author: Brandon Fibbs

Pat Tillman, an all-star defensive back with the Arizona Cardinals, walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to enlist in the Army special forces with his younger brother just months after 9/11. Two years later, the celebrity soldier was dead, killed in a Taliban ambush. At the memorial service celebrating his life, military members extolled…

Pat Tillman, an all-star defensive back with the Arizona Cardinals, walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to enlist as an Army Ranger with his younger brother just months after 9/11. Two years later, the celebrity soldier was dead, killed in a Taliban ambush. At the memorial service celebrating his life, military members extolled his…

Occasionally, cinema gives birth to twins. The year 1998 saw two extemporary but radically divergent takes on World War II: “Saving Private Ryan” and “The Thin Red Line.” In 2005, “Munich” and “Paradise Now” fit together like two interlocking pieces of the same puzzle. And now, in 2010, “The Social Network” and the documentary “Catfish”…

“The Social Network” appropriates the 21st century’s most indelible technological medium, the Internet, to tell a titanic myth of American hubris and alienation in the digital age. Harvard student and computer programming wizard Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is obsessed with how to distinguish himself at an institution peopled with geniuses. Fixated with becoming popular, but…

GRADE: B+     Directed by: Matt Reeves Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas, Dylan Minnette Rated R for strong bloody horror violence, language and a brief sexual situation. Running Time: 115 minutes       Can something be both great and completely pointless? Because “Let Me In” is. The remake of…

GRADE: A+     Directed by: David Fincher Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella Rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and language. Running Time: 121 minutes     In 2007, writer Aaron Sorkin’s “The Farnsworth Invention” opened on Broadway. The play was a classic 20th century American…

Can something be both great and completely unnecessary? “Let Me In” makes the case. The remake of the exceptional 2008 Nordic import “Let the Right One In” is redundant. But it isn’t bad. Far from it. Director Matt Reeves deserves much credit. Many critics and fans of the original film expected a cataclysmic interpretation. But…

“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” joins “The Godfather: Part II,” “Aliens,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” as one of the great cinematic sequels. After an eight-year prison stint for money laundering, racketeering and securities fraud, Gordon Gekko’s (Michael Douglas) only ambition is to repair his relationship with his estranged…

Zack Snyder, best known for such hyper-violent fare as “300” and “The Watchmen” may be the last person you’d expect to helm an adaptation of a popular series of kid’s books (“Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” by Kathryn Lasky), especially for his first animated outing. But the truth is Snyder’s flamboyant style—extreme…

“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” which borrows its title from a line in the first film, joins “The Godfather: Part II,” “Aliens,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” as one of the great cinematic sequels.   Following an eight-year prison stint for money laundering, racketeering, and securities fraud, Gordon Gekko’s…