Matthew R. Reis: Film and TV Critic

Stars’ beauty no match for bad story 1 Star As featured in: The Ithacan Director Zach Snyder’s latest visual extravaganza, “Sucker Punch,” is an experiment in overindulgent style gone wrong. While memorable characters such as the dapper, mustachioed villain Blue Jones (Oscar Isaac) lend a fun energy to the film too many elements don’t fit well together. Emily Browning plays Baby Doll, a petite, feisty 20-year-old who’s imprisoned in a brothel fronting as a mental institution by her ruthless stepfather. Baby Doll, along with four other big-breasted heroines, including the opinionated, no bull Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket, Blondie and Amber plan an ambitious escape in order to avoid being harmed by their pimp Blue. Baby constructs a dream world in order to gain the confidence she needs to lead the other gals to freedom. This premise obviously caters to a largely male audience with an appetite for scantily clad women parading around. “Punch” needs more sizzling entertainment ...

Arrest this movie 2 1/2 Stars Blog exclusive! For the most part “Cop Out” starring Bruce Willis (Die Hard) and Tracy Morgan (television’s 30 Rock) deserves a ticket. With a horrible script, insanely stupid stunts and a support(less) cast "Cop Out" instantly becomes the worst buddy cop film I’ve seen in awhile. Jimmy Monroe (Willis) is a divorced father of one. The only thing Jimmy and his wife have in common is the love for their daughter Ava (Michelle Trachtenberg). She is going to be married off and the dream wedding she wants cost nearly fifty grand. Getting the money is cause for concern and Monroe enlists the help of Paul (Morgan) his police partner to get the wedding bills paid. The only thing that doesn’t deserve to be locked up in "Cop Out” is Tracy Morgan’s acting. When Morgan isn’t making comments about Cate Blanchett’s fair skin in real life he is busy punching kids in the groin, just because he can. After all he is a cop. Why is Morgan so good? Well h...