“The Wolverine” marks the sixth time that Hugh Jackman has portrayed the beloved mutant superhero known as Wolverine (that includes his tiny, brilliant cameo in “X-Men: First Class”) over the past 13 years. It’s the most times a single actor has portrayed any comic-book character on the big screen, and by now the role fits […]
Adam Lubitow
Film critic for CITY Newspaper, writer, iced coffee addict, and dinosaur enthusiast.
Posted inMovies
“The Way, Way Back”
It’s been a big year for films of the “and nothing was ever the same after that summer” genre. Between “Mud,” “The Kings of Summer,” and now “The Way, Way Back,” teenage boys have been coming of age all over your multiplex. (I swear I didn’t mean to make that sound quite so filthy…) If […]
Posted inMovies
2013 Rochester Jewish Film Festival
According to Jewish tradition, a child comes of age once they turn 13. This is known as becoming a bar (or bat for girls) mitzvah, and it means that they’re now mature enough to truly be considered a part of the community. And usually, their parents throw a big party to mark the occasion. It’s […]
Posted inMovies
“The Kings of Summer”
We’ve all been there: you’re 15, filled with angst, hormones raging, your parents are driving you insane, and you just can’t wait to get the f— out of the house. You’re still a kid, but longing for the sweet freedom of adulthood, fantasizing about finally striking out on your own, away from the rules and […]
Posted inMovies
“The Heat”
The buddy-cop genre has always been an almost exclusively male club. The plots of these films typically follow a strict formula revolving around two law-enforcement types whose personalities clash upon first meeting, but who must find a way to work together to bring down a big bad, violating the civil rights of every suspect they […]
Posted inMovies
“Much Ado About Nothing”
Most directors faced with a brief hiatus between principal photography and post-production for a gargantuan comic-book blockbuster like “The Avengers” would probably be content to kick up their heels for a bit, take a well-deserved vacation, and maybe, if they’re feeling exceptionally ambitious, start poking around for the next project they’ll start working on sometime […]
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“This Is the End”
If you’ve grown weary of the Judd Apatow school of comedy — the patented examination of male anxieties in their various forms, starring the usual rotating roster of familiar faces — “This Is the End,” which finds the Apatow players facing down the apocalypse, is likely not going to bring you back into the fold. […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
GEEK EVENTS: Nerd up your summer
Like many nerds, I have the tendency to remain indoors, permanently huddled in front of whichever glowing box happens to be displaying my currently desired form of entertainment. But now it’s summer: the few months every year when Rochester is guaranteed at least some beautiful weather. So it seems a shame to waste it. It’s […]
Posted inMovies
“Before Midnight”
It’s been 19 years since movie audiences were first introduced to Jesse and Céline, the chatty, opinionated couple played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who have been the focus of the now three movies in Richard Linklater’s “Before” series of films. In 1994’s “Before Sunrise,” we watched as the pair met by chance aboard […]
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“Now You See Me”
Bank-robbing magicians is the basic idea behind “Now You See Me,” and it’s such a ridiculous and yet ingenious premise for a movie that it’s a wonder it hasn’t been done before now. The marriage of magic to the heist film genre is a natural fit; both require a fair amount of misdirection, sleight-of-hand, and […]
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“At Any Price”
When we first meet Henry Whipple, the farmer and seed salesman played by Dennis Quaid in Ramin Bahrani’s “At Any Price,” he’s crashing a funeral with his reluctant son, Dean (Zac Efron), in tow, hoping to take some land off the hands of the dead man’s poor, bereaved family. It’s not the sort of introduction […]
Posted inMovies
“To the Wonder”
Terrence Malick is a polarizing filmmaker. Some people respond to his works, in all their enigmatic glory — dreamy, abstract narratives told though hushed, half-conversations, weighty ideas contrasted against a fascination with the natural world and, always, endlessly expansive shots of sunsets. Others find his work pretentious and dull. Generally speaking, I would label myself […]
