Kait Chura

NEWS 2/18/10 6:00pm

Online only: Khan successfully delivers racial critiques

By Kait Chura

Who is the world's biggest movie star? Brad Pitt? George Clooney? Nope. Think bigger. Done guessing? In India, nine year-olds and ninety-90 year-olds alike could answer this question in a heartbeat. Shah Rukh Khan, star of the newly released My Name is Khan, is ranked above Osama bin Laden, the Dalai Lama and Oprah in Newsweek's list of the 50 global elite. (If you're still stuck on Pitt and Clooney, they're both absent from the list.) Not only is Khan an actor, but he is also an exceptional businessman, owning two production companies and a cricket team.

NEWS 2/11/10 6:00pm

Online only: Dear John fizzles instead of smolders

By Kait Chura

The combination of Nicholas Sparks' (A Walk to Remember) writing and Channing Tatum's (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) good looks should make Dear John the perfect Valentines Day crowd pleaser. However, the movie may not be for everyone - thoughit should placate the Jersey Shore crowd.After 2004's The Notebook became the romantic movie for Gen Y, Sparks has proven his books have enormous potential at the box office. Of course, any new film with Sparks' name attached also causes numerous T-shirt Web sites to begin conceptualizing their next kitschy "Ladies, I cried during The Notebook" design.

NEWS 11/12/09 6:00pm

Don't blink, you'll miss The Men Who Stare At Goats

By Kait Chura

I don't care where you are, what you're doing, or what you're wearing. Go see The Men Who Stare At Goats. After studying all week, you deserve it. This movie incorporates every element that is necessary to make an entertaining film - a great plot, colorful characters, and George Clooney's chiseled jaw - making it worth every penny. Rising director Grant Heslov (True Lies) has taken on a job that even better-established directors known for taking on ambitious films would have had second thoughts about. The outcome is a purely magical and comedic masterpiece.

NEWS 10/29/09 7:00pm

Cirque du Freak scares up a good time

By Kait Chura

Let's start by saying that, yes, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistantis just another vampire movie based off a series of teen novels. However, this particular film succeeds where its predecessors (ahem, Twilight) have failed, bringing superb casting and production quality to the table. There is no slack-jawed Kristen Stewart or awkwardly inarticulate Robert Pattinson, nor are there the gasping, misty-eyed tween fangirls screaming about Edward's abs. The casting aloneputs Cirque du Freak a bit higher on the totem pole than all those other teenage vampire stories, and the movie's unique plot never fails to entertain.

NEWS 10/1/09 7:00pm

Beer in Hell distilled down to movie form

By Kait Chura

"My name is Tucker Max, and I am an asshole."So begins the now-infamous blog of Tucker Max, a former law student who decided to chronicle his sexual exploits and soon found himself an Internet icon as a result. In the film I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, Max has taken his blog - which he started in 2002 on a bet with his friends and made into a book in 2006 - and tried his hand at screenwriting. What he develops may not hold true to the original blog, but the film's entertainment value is as apparent as Max's bluntness.

NEWS 9/24/09 7:00pm

Love Happens never ges off the ground

By Kait Chura

Someone, somewhere, is terrible at naming movies. If you wanted to see a movie about love, you would think Love Happens would be for you. Nope.Now, if you are looking for a movie about coping with death, then maybe this film is more up your alley. Love Happens is sure to attract groups of giddy females on a girls' night out or cute couples holding hands, all expecting a romantic comedy, but most will find themselves shaking their heads, slowly trying to wrap their minds around the train wreck they just finished watching. A better title for this movie would have been Death Clouds Your Life, But Flowers Can Help. I'm certainly not a professional, so when I can come up with a better title, you know there's something wrong.

NEWS 9/10/09 7:00pm

Mike Judge Extracts a winner with latest comedy

By Kait Chura

When peering into the blue-collar workplace, Mike Judge's Office Space is at the top of the paper heap. Judge brings his comedic intelligence back to the stack in his latest movie, Extract, focusing on the owner of a food extract company in Podunk, U.S.A. in this smart and smarmy satire.While Extract is unable to live up to its iconic predecessor - and may not have the cultural impact of Milton's stapler- that doesn't mean that it is not worth the cost of admission. A strong cast combines with an original and realistic plot, allowing Extract to be the intelligent comedy that will fill the current vacuum.