6 Reasons Why “The Fountain” is the 21st Century Answer to “Blade Runner”

There is a moment in Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” (1982) when Rick Deckard (a detective played with disgruntled bravado by Harrison Ford) stares at a photograph. Yet he doesn’t just stare: Using a computer, he enhances the image and studies it so intently that he looks like one of the movie’s legendarily obsessive fans—or a […]

The 10 Best Movie Couples of The 21st Century

Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)

It all started with a superhero in search of a paramour. During the preproduction phase of 2002’s “Spider-Man,” director Sam Raimi was looking for someone to play Mary Jane Watson, the copper-haired aspiring actress whose toughness and compassion make her the love of her knight in shining spandex’s life. It wasn’t going well, co-producer Grant […]

7 Reasons Why “Spider-Man 3” Deserves a Second Look

There is a moment early in “Spider-Man 3” that offers a neat summation of the film’s fiery critical reception. It begins as sunshine is pouring into the apartment of Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), the “anonymous urban crime fighter” (as A.O. Scott brilliantly described him) known as Spider-Man, followed by a cloud of gloom bursting in: […]