Review: Total Recall, totally not the freak show I recall

Total Recall (PG-13, 135 minutes): I know it’s politically incorrect, but when I was a kid, the freak show was the best part about the fair. You remember the scene. The midway was lined with trailers. They’re all painted  with creepy posters that are made even creepier with speakers constantly spewing monotone descriptions of what’s

Review: ‘Dark Knight Arises’ scarier than a giant clam

The Dark Knight Rises (PG-13, 2 hours, 45 minutes): When I was eight years old, I couldn’t have been a bigger fan of the Batman TV series. Like every kid back then, we were glued to our seats for two episodes each week. The first set up the second with a harrowing cliffhanger involving the

Review (2011): The Green Hornet: No tights required

The Green Hornet (PG-13, 119 minutes): Here’s my checklist of reasons why I liked The Green Hornet. • Superhero newspaper publisher. • 3D-enchanced gunfight in newsroom and printing plant. • Al Hirt’s most-awesome Flight of the Bumblebee. • Memories of a rock’em-sock’em TV series. • Kato. • References to Bruce Lee. • Black Beauty. •

Review (2009): Watchmen: Too blue for me

Watchmen (Rated R; 2 hours, 40 minutes): My comic-book superheroes were modest. Batman, Superman, Robin … they wore some tight tights, probably some tape was involved, but you always knew where the action was going on. It was all happening above the utility belt. Not so much with the Watchmen — especially Dr. Manhattan. True

Review (2008): The Dark Knight: This Joker is the greatest

As we await The Dark Knight Rises, here’s a review I wrote in 2008: The Dark Knight (2 hours, 30 minutes; rated PG-13): I judge my Batman by the Jokers. The Batman TV series rolled out Cesar Romero as the Joker in 1966. Great laugh. Over-the-top campy. Didn’t scare me. In 1989, Jack Nicholson played