Contributor: Paul Asay

Paul Thomas Anderson’s graphically quirky telling of a cult’s formation will leave Scientologists feeling cold, scared and angry. Actually, it will leave everyone feeling cold, scared and angry.

It’s interesting how we sometimes forget. I had almost forgotten about today’s significance until I drove in this morning and heard about the ceremonies at the World Trade Center Memorial, Washington D.C., and elsewhere. “Oh, that’s right,” I thought t …

Did you go to a movie this weekend? I thought not. Not very many people did. The top 12 movies earned a grand total of $51.9 million this weekend: Given rising ticket prices, that equates to just 276 attendees nationwide (according to a rather dishevel …

A honeycomb of interconnected stories all ask one basic question: What makes a meaningful life? This is a complex, poignant tale that tells us the choices we make matter. Which is why we need to talk a bit about a few choices the filmmakers made …

If we’ve learned anything about cinematic evil spirits over the years, it’s that they’re all kinda grabby. Like petulant toddlers, they like to take things from their harried mortal prey—be it their happiness or well-being or, very often, their very so …

Eddie Murphy’s out and Cuba Gooding Jr.’s in as day care turns into day camp. Greasy grimy gopher guts, anyone?

The best things always come in small boxes? This movie proves it’s not true.

Last night I was leafing through Neil Zawacki’s book How to Be a Villain (yes, it was a gift; no, it wasn’t from a disgruntled reader who thinks I’m well on my way) and ran across a section titled “The Evil Laugh—A Must-Have.” Zawacki calls the evil la …

I never met Neil Armstrong. Honestly, I’d have a hard time recognizing him without his spacesuit on. And when he died Saturday at the age of 82, I couldn’t remember what he looked like for a while, not until I went online to get a little refresher: Aft …

Last weekend, seven films earned $10 million or more at the box office. This weekend, one did. Yep, summer must be almost over. The Expendables 2—a bombastic tub of bullets, explosions and really bad dialogue—claimed its second straight weekend win. Bu …

This warmed-over ‘Lord of the Rings’-style fantasy pseudo-epic starring Jason Statham and Leelee Sobieski aspires to far more than it delivers.

My youngest daughter started college this week. We got a call from her last night, and she gave us the full rundown of her classes: the ones that look fun (Latin American History), the ones that look boring (French). She was excited to sneak into a nee …

Subtlety? Art? These are not the things a summer movie is typically made of. In the dog days of August, sometimes folks just want to see a big, dumb hound of a flick. And let’s face it: The Expendables 2 is as big and as dumb as they come. Featuring Sl …

I hated mirrors as a kid. Really hated them. When I was about 5, I heard an old-timey radio episode of The Shadow in which the faces of the dead would appear in a spooky ol’ mirror, and from that moment, for 15 years I refused to ever—ever—sleep alone …

Norman sees dead people—and talks with them, too. And now we know, as he does, that dead people really do like their crass jokes.