'Rock of Ages' Review

Tom Cruise is a hoot as a steretotypical glam-rock god, and Catherine Zeta-Jones knows just how to camp up her uber-conservative character, but Adam Shankman's hectic "Rock of Ages" is otherwise an overlong slice of hectic hackery.

My full review of "Rock of Ages" is online at SouthPhillyReview.com. To read it, CLICK HERE.

'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark' Review

Speaking of the Cruise family, Katie Holmes gets terrorized by garden gnomes from hell in the new Guillermo del Toro production, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," a remake of an old telefilm. As expected, Holmes is upstaged by superkid Bailee Madison.

Read my full review of the film, now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

Minorities, Threads, Rednecks

Catching up with links to my contribtuions to The Film Experience. Most recently, I offered two new Cinema de Gym posts, and pitched in on a red carpet convo with site host Nathaniel and fashion guru Jose Solis.

My newest Cinema de Gym column is on "Minority Report," and how the aughts served as the era of Tom Cruise vanity: GET IT HERE.

Next is the red carpet convo, which primarily dealt with the premiere of "The Help," the film that has everyone and their maid whipping up minority reports of their own (nyuk, nyuk -- forgive all those grammatical snafus there). CLICK HERE for more.

Then there was my Cinema de Gym piece on "Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again," maybe my favorite since starting the column. HERE IT IS.