Movie Reviews by Cinema Siren

'The Croods:' 'Quest for Fire' Meets 'The Simpsons'

Frenetic fun, Stone Age family-style. Three starfish.

The Croods, the new 3D computer-animated feature release from DreamWorks Animation, is the story of a prehistoric family who take a road trip out of necessity.  Patriarch Grug (Nicolas Cage) spends every day protecting his family by alternately leading them on life-endangering family hunting trips and terrifying them into staying in their tiny cave-home with stories about everything in the outside world being potentially deadly.  "Never not be afraid," he says. Daughter Eep (Emma Stone) believes that's no way to live. Her sense of adventure carries her father away from the cave and her dad's controlling nature, much like any teen looking to figure out who they are. Everything changes when their cave is destroyed in the dramatic earth …

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Movie Reviews by Cinema Siren

Cinema Siren's Oscar Predictions for the 2013 Academy Awards Show

The 85th Academy Awards air Sunday night on ABC.

Every year we watch the Oscar nominees and presenters trot down the red carpet to sit through a night where we expect them to accept their victory or defeat with equal aplomb. As laypeople, we judge their designer dresses, make up and hair, their speeches and bemoan or cheer those who win as confusing or richly deserved.   We all look forward optimistically, hoping these awards will further our favorite actors, directors and other filmmakers' careers. Whether they do or not, we are always in for a mix of boredom, surprise, pretension and earnestness. Is this year going to offer anything we don't already expect?  Let's take a look at the nominees, and my take on who will walk away with what…Patch is holding a virtual Oscar party you can …

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'Skyfall': This Bond Lands Beautifully

Review of latest James Bond film.

In its 50th year, there is much at stake for the Bond franchise. So many great movies, producing such a cultural icon, they want to create a movie worthy of release in the anniversary year. Something mediocre or forgettable just wouldn't do (ahem, Moonraker, I'm talking to you…). They have their past and their future to think of. They don't want to be asking "Will Bond live to die another day?" By showing due respect to its pedigree, adding some exciting new elements, featuring a great script, acting, and production design, Skyfall rises to the top as one of this year's best films, Bond or otherwise. Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) helms the story wherein a madman (of course) winds up with the hard drive that reveals …

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Top 10 Zombie Movies You've Never Seen

Time for a living dead history lesson.

So you say you love zombies.  Maybe you routinely use the quote: "They're coming to get you, Barbara," and you've dressed up three years in a row for the local Zombie Walk. And yet…you've never heard of Lucio Fulci, the Italian director who made three of the best zombie movies ever. When I saw the new Angelika Mosaic Theatre featured an onscreen viewing of The Walking Dead season premiere, I figured it was time for a living dead history lesson. Welcome to the "School of Rot." For the first time in Cinema Siren column history, I asked a zombie expert, my friend Douglas E. Winter, to help pick 10 movies that are perhaps less known by late-coming fans of the undead, yet required viewing for any true zombiephile. Doug is the horror critic and …

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Movie Reviews by Cinema Siren

'Mirror Mirror:' Fair But Flawed

Cinema Siren recommends PG film for families with children ages 7 and up.

"Mirror Mirror" is the first and lighter of two movies based on the tale of Snow White to be released this year. It's a charming, sweet, albeit flawed little confection, worth seeing if you love inventive production and costume design, but especially if you have a soft spot for the work of director Tarsem Singh, who supplies some moments of visual brilliance his fans have come to love. When a movie lover walks into a film helmed by Singh, they might have certain expectations. This artistic, controversial director is known for visually stunning yet incomprehensible movies like "The Fall," "The Cell," and most recently, "Immortals." He became famous with the music videos "Hold On" by En Vogue, and  "Losing My Religion" for R.E.M., which won …

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