Press of Atlantic City

Click the play button below to hear this weeks At The Shore Report by Scott Cronick:

See Also:

AP Video

Movie capsules

Published: Nov 13, 2008

From our wire services

OK for all ages

High School Musical 3:
Senior Year

(Musical, G, 108 minutes). All those winsome East High Wildcats are back from parts one and two of the freakishly successful Disney Channel franchise - Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, et al. - as are mad-genius director Kenny Ortega and writer Peter Barsocchini. Only now, they have more expensive toys to play with, so the production values are glossier and the musical numbers are splashier. But even as part three wallows in nostalgia, with the kids preparing for prom and clinging to their senior year, it's also clearly meant as a launching pad for the grown-up career of the dreamy Efron. Will it win any new fans? Doubtful. But for those kids in the target audience, this is, like movie nirvana. And the adults forced to schlep with them to the multiplex? They'll find it surprisingly tolerable. More

Nov 13, 2008

• Bad guys

Nov 13, 2008

• Bland. James Bland.

The car metaphor is appropriate: "Quantum of Solace" starts out with a thrilling chase through the winding, mountain roads of northern Italy that's one of the film's few highlights. But this is a very slight Bond movie, and it feels especially so compared to "Casino Royale," easily one of the best of the long-running series.

Nov 06, 2008

• Movie capsules

From our wire services

Nov 06, 2008

• An Animated Mild Kingdom

Instead, they maroon them on the African mainland for what amounts to more of the same: a shrill retread of the 2005 animated hit "Madagascar."

Nov 06, 2008

• Anne Hathaway sizzles in a dreary 'Wedding'

Demme's detours into documentaries ("Neil Young: Heart of Gold," "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains") actually serve him well as he crafts a loose, docudrama style that infuses great authenticity into this anguished reunion tale of family and friends.

Nov 06, 2008

•

Oct 30, 2008

• 'Zack and Miri' mixes raunchy and sweet

Yes, there is a ton of sex as the title would suggest, including one scene that is so incredibly wrong, words don't even begin to describe it. A proliferation of raw, raunchy dialogue has always been one of the writer-director's preferred tactics, dating back to his pioneering 1994 debut, "Clerks," and that's certainly true this time, as well - actually, it's more relevant than usual.

Oct 30, 2008

• Too Much Drama By Half

On the surface, "Changeling" has all the rich atmosphere and evocative detail of his recent Academy Awards offerings, "Mystic River," "Million Dollar Baby" and "Letters From Iwo Jima."

Oct 30, 2008

• Movie capsules

From our wire services

Oct 30, 2008

• Missing Children in the Movies

Movies featuring missing children can't help but get audiences involved in their stories.

Oct 23, 2008

• Movie capsules

From our wire services

Oct 23, 2008

• A ghoulish animated classic makes its Halloween return

And though it has a home in many a DVD library, Disney has seen to it that it has a higher status within the culture, transferring the original film to 3D and reissuing it every Halloween as a new holiday tradition - a fright-night reminder that Christmas is coming, Jack Skellington's efforts be darned.

Oct 23, 2008

• Sadly, a By-the-Book Crime Drama

Edward Norton and Colin Farrell chew up the scenery and spit it back out again as brothers-in-law and brothers in blue. When a cop killer takes down four of their comrades, years of schemes and resentments come bubbling to the surface.

Oct 23, 2008

• Sadly, a By-the-Book Crime Drama

Oct 23, 2008

• A ghoulish animated classic makes its Halloween return

Oct 23, 2008

• Movie capsules

From our wire services

Oct 23, 2008

•

Corrupt forces Since Vietnam and Watergate, Hollywood has been more willing to depict the less-noble side of lawmen.