Email Author Nick Schager

2011 Stories by Nick Schager

• "The Way" Is a Warm Travelogue Tale of Fathers and Sons

  published October 13, 2011

  The Way might lack the Chicken Soup for the Soul imprimatur, but writer/director Emilio Estevez's travelogue tale of fathers and... More >>

• Life Is a Series of Ever-Shifting Realities in "Gun Hill Road"

  published September 15, 2011

  Life is a series of constant adjustments to ever-shifting realities in Gun Hill Road, a Brooklyn-set indie about a criminal, Enrique... More >>

• "Harry Potter" — Franchise King, Hero of a Generation — Fights His Last Battle

  published July 14, 2011

  After ten years, seven movies, six Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, four directors, two dead parents, one grating house elf, and... More >>

• Investigate Humanity's Hunger for Everlasting Existence in"How to Live Forever"

  published June 23, 2011

  Given that some of its talking heads are no longer of this world, How to Live Forever quite clearly fails to provide the answer to its... More >>

• "Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer" Advocates Embracing One's Idiosyncratic Spirit

  published June 9, 2011

  At the risk of being a Debbie Downer, watching Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer is akin to being trapped in the ADHD-addled mind of... More >>

• Searching for Eternal Life in the Interminable "Pirates of the Caribbean"

  published May 19, 2011

  After sinking into self-important tedium with its prior two overstuffed installments, Pirates of the Caribbean seemed destined for... More >>

• "African Cats" Gives "March of the Penguins" Treatment to Kings of the Jungle

  published April 21, 2011

  Anthropomorphizing its animal stars to a borderline-dubious degree, African Cats situates itself in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve,... More >>

• "Rio" Can't Last on Flimsy Parrot-Sex Premise

  published April 14, 2011

  Parrot sex is the narrative impetus of Rio, and yet there's still little spark to this animated tale of a domesticated Minnesota macaw... More >>

• "Born to Be Wild 3D" Too Quick to Explore the Real Wilds

  published April 7, 2011

  Gigantic form, diminutive content: Born to Be Wild 3D, presented in expansive IMAX and narrated by Morgan Freeman, offers a visually... More >>

• "Limitless": One Pill Makes You Smarter in a One-Note Movie

  published March 17, 2011

  A gleeful celebration of nonstop doping, Limitless offers up a dim Better Living Through Chemistry fantasy that refuses to rain on its... More >>

• "Mars Needs Moms" Review: A Motion-Capture Maternal Anxiety in Outer Space

  published March 10, 2011

  Like The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol before it, the characters in Mars Needs Moms boast the waxy... More >>

• "Battle: Los Angeles" Pits Shaky Cam Versus Water-Stealing Aliens

  published March 10, 2011

  The shaky-cam is coming, the shaky-cam is coming! Jonathan Liebesman directs his alien-invasion saga Battle: Los Angeles as if he were... More >>

• "Rango" Movie Review: Laughs Are Scarce in the Brainy Town of Dirt

  published March 3, 2011

  A rollicking, surreal, and existential kids' Western that worships at the altars of Sergio Leone, Hunter S. Thompson, and Chinatown, Rango... More >>

• "Beastly" Movie Review: A Corny Take on "Beauty and the Beast"

  published March 3, 2011

  A modernized riff on Beauty and the Beast that's as subtle as its protagonist's freaky facial blemishes, Beastly offers up an... More >>

• "Bhutto" Movie Review: Telling Pakistan's Story Through Its One-Time Leader

  published February 17, 2011

  Despite the biodoc implication of its title, Bhutto is not just a portrait of the late Benazir Bhutto but also a chronological recap of... More >>

• "I Am Number Four" Steals a Million Little Pieces From Other, Better Superhero Flicks

  published February 17, 2011

  Conceived by author James Frey as the beginning of a potential blockbuster franchise, I Am Number Four is nothing but a million little... More >>