The trite title of this sprawling family portrait may conjure images of mistletoe kisses and cozy family dinners, but viewer beware, A Christmas Tale is no Dickens novel.
I have never been to a screening quite like Twilight’s. The young adult novel turned film has attracted a rabid female fan, ranging from screaming teenyboppers to their obsessed grandmothers and everyone in between, all of whom are crazy about the original book, this adaptation and/or Robert Pattinson.
Robert Pattinson is bewildered. Toying with a half-empty bottle of Coke set in front of him, he thumbs the cap a few times before answering a question at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Newsies
1992
Let’s face it: musicals are the ultimate guilty pleasure. The dialogue is always cheesy and the plot is generally sacrificed for campy song-and-dance numbers every 15 to 20 minutes.
The Cutting Edge
1992
If it were possible to distill the essence of the early ’90s to its purest form, the result would be a VHS copy of The Cutting Edge, the tale of two zamboni-crossed lovers set against the backdrop of the decade’s ice skating craze.
Election
1999
Alright, technically Election isn’t a guilty pleasure. With a 93% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this brilliant satire is nothing if not a cult classic and critical darling.
Perhaps one of the most aptly named films to come along in a long time, Zack and Miri Make a Porno allows director and writer Kevin Smith to explore the tricky territory of “friends with benefits.”
Best friends since forever, Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Penn alum Elizabeth Banks) run into hard times and resort to the wonderful world of adult entertainment to keep themselves afloat.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Jimmy Stewart’s earnest depiction of a small-town man’s ascent to the Senate and his surprisingly tough stand against political corruption have captured the hearts of American moviegoers for nearly 70 years.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, based on the eponymous novel by John Boyne, recounts the tragedy of the Holocaust as filtered through the innocent screen of childhood naiveté. The plot centers on an eight-year-old German boy, Bruno (newcomer Asa Butterfield), whose father (David Thewlis) is put in charge of a Nazi death camp.