Email Author Nick Pinkerton

2010 Stories by Nick Pinkerton

• "Little Fockers" Review: The Focker Franchise Has Seen Better Days

  published December 23, 2010

  Just in time for the whole family to file into the multiplex on a silent Christmas night when there's nowhere else to go: a return to the... More >>

• "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" Gives an Ailing Franchise Another Chance

  published December 9, 2010

  Disney took up C.S. Lewis' seven-volume (!) Chronicles of Narnia project in the giddy post-Lord of the Rings atmosphere. But... More >>

• "Faster" a B-grade Revenge Flick for a Sharp-dressed Dwayne Johnson

  published November 25, 2010

  Faster is a glossy B made from three twining badmen stories: There’s pneumatically-muscled ex-con “Driver” (Dwayne Johnson),... More >>

• "Fair Game" a Surprisingly Validating Tale of Deception

  published November 4, 2010

  Adapted from Valerie Plame and Joseph C. Wilson's memoirs, the unsurprisingly validating Fair Game begins as a timeline-hopping... More >>

• "I Spit on Your Grave" Offers Barbarian Angel Revenge

  published October 7, 2010

  SyFy Network house director Steven R. Monroe remakes Meir Zarchi's 1978 quintessential revenge-rape/rape-revenge film. Jennifer (Sarah Butler)... More >>

• "A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop" Features Lots of Schtick — Chinese Style

  published September 30, 2010

  Following up his Beijing Olympics opening-ceremony mega-production, Zhang Yimou remakes the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple by dressing it... More >>

• "Let Me In" Lingers in All the Wrong Vampire Areas

  published September 30, 2010

  Modish blankness tries to pass for clarity in Let Me In, Cloverfield director Matt Reeves' Americanized remake of the Swedish... More >>

• "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" Lets the Bad Guys Off Easy

  published September 23, 2010

  Oliver Stone's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps doesn't have the clean, fable-like arc of its predecessor. The buccaneer charisma of... More >>

• "The Town" Puts Ben Affleck in His Bank Robber Role

  published September 16, 2010

  Directing himself as a verifiable big-movie lead after some time in supporting-actor Triple-A ball, Ben Affleck models a full line of warm-up... More >>

• "The Last Exorcism" Review: Trembling Before God and the Handheld Camera

  published August 26, 2010

  With a small, well-chosen cast, sly script, and slippery, ambivalent characters, The Last Exorcism gives a welcome twist to the... More >>

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  "Vampires Suck" Review: A Movie for Those Who Plan to Text Through It

  published August 19, 2010

  Writer-director team Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer continue to act as the drain trap to our pop-culture toilet. The Date Movie and... More >>

• "The Expendables" Review: Sly and the Family Stallone Get Nostalgic for Their Legacy of Brutality

  published August 12, 2010

  If the money's right, we don't care where the job is." So explains the leader of hired-gun task force The Expendables, Barney Ross... More >>

• "Cop Out" Review: Will Ferrell and Adam McCay Reteam and Bring Mark Wahlberg, With Decreasing Returns

  published August 5, 2010

  After obligatory helicopter views of New York's skyline open Adam Mc­Kay's The Other Guys, we're introduced to Danson and Highsmith... More >>

• "City of Your Final Destination" Review: Even Life Among Aristocracy Has Its Problems

  published July 29, 2010

  James Ivory and cast make every scene flutter with feeling in this adaptation of Peter Cameron's 2002 novel, written for the screen by Ivory's... More >>

• "Inception" Tries to Be an Important Picture While Trying to Get Inside Our Heads

  published July 15, 2010

  Inception is a chilling trip into the psyche of writer/director Christopher Nolan, an American action director who shattered the... More >>

• "The Sorcerer's Apprentice": Bruckheimer Meets Disney

  published July 15, 2010

  Named for the last good outing by Walt Disney's rodent mascot, this Bruckheimer-produced Apprentice pays homage to Mickey's dancing mops... More >>

• "Predators" Hits Most of the Notes in Pitting Badasses vs. Aliens

  published July 8, 2010

  This Robert Rodriguez–produced sequel goes back into the bush to follow 1987's Predator—a sci-fi horror that put the... More >>

• “Grown Ups” Review: It Must be Fun Making a Crap Movie With all Your old “SNL” pals

  published June 24, 2010

  By Nick Pinkerton You’ve probably seen the poster for Grown Ups, with its stars—Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob... More >>

• "Jonah Hex" a Chef Boyardee Spaghetti Western

  published June 17, 2010

  Bracingly inept, Chef Boyardee spaghetti western Jonah Hex is the rare 80-minute movie that you can’t even call “taut.”... More >>

• "Karate Kid" Remake Too Cynical to Catch a Fly With Chopsticks

  published June 10, 2010

  Like its predecessor, 2010's The Karate Kid begins with an uprooting. Young Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and his mother are introduced in... More >>

• 'Marmaduke' Review: A Comic Strip That Should've Been Put Down Long Ago Gets CGI Treatment

  published June 3, 2010

  Brad Anderson’s long-running saga of the melty-looking Winslow family and the gangling, interfering Great Dane that should’ve been put... More >>

• "Iron Man 2" Will Lead to "3" and Probably "4," but That Doesn't Mean It's Good

  published May 6, 2010

  As Iron Man 2 begins, Tony Stark — mechanical genius, Forbes 400 perennial, the pop-star CEO of Stark Industries — has... More >>

• 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' Review: Remake Is No Dream

  published April 29, 2010

  If audiences are willing to pretend that they’ve never seen Freddy Krueger—and the crowd I was with was primed—at least give them... More >>

• Gay.com Film Series Presents (Lame) Triple Bill

  published April 8, 2010

  The social-networking site Gay.com presents a triple bill of same-sexer-themed movies. In descending order, from... More >>

• 'Clash of the Titans' Review: Moments of Awe from CGI-filled Remake

  published April 1, 2010

  A decade too old to convincingly be called "boy," Sam "Mr. Greenscreen" Worthington is poorly cast as reluctant-demigod Perseus — as was... More >>