Author: Jake Coyle

Los Angeles – The long take of “Birdman” has stretched all the way to the Academy Awards, where the jazzy, surreal comedy about an actor fleeing his superhero past, took Hollywood’s top honor in a ceremony punctuated by passionate pleas for equality. On a stormy night in Hollywood, the 87th annual Academy Awards – which…

It was a year ago that Lupita Nyong’o, shortly before winning the Academy Award for best supporting actress, gave a speech about what she called “dark beauty.” Nyong’o, who so dazzled Hollywood and the Oscar- viewing public through awards season, spoke tenderly of receiving a letter from a girl who had been about to lighten…

That I was one of the relative few to see “The Interview” is not a boast I take any pleasure in. It’s with heavy sadness, not pride, that I review Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s North Korean farce. As of Thursday morning, the film has been shelved just a week ahead of its planned release…

Starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Tom Paxton; directed by Doug Liman; 113 minutes; PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive material. Review: Three stars out of four. The time-shifting sci-fi thriller “Edge of Tomorrow” has perfectly encapsulated what it is to be a summertime moviegoer. We’re dropped into a battlefield…

LOS ANGELES — Many of the winners who will take home an Oscar on Sunday have long been forecast, their triumph made seemingly self-evident after months of anticipation. That is, except for one little category: best picture. Even in a particularly lengthy awards season (the Academy Awards were pushed back slightly for the Olympics), and…

NEW YORK — “The Lego Movie” clicked with moviegoers, assembling an exceptional $69.1 million debut at the weekend box office, according to studio estimates. The better-than-expected result made the Warner Bros. collaboration with the Danish toy company easily the biggest hit of the year so far. A sequel is already in development for the 3-D…

NEW YORK — In a medium that prizes glamor and flash, Philip Seymour Hoffman offered the opposite in film: untidy, imperfect, shy, awkward and eminently real people. Despite his outsized talent, he was relentlessly humble. Bennett Miller, his longtime friend and “Capote” director, once called him “a shaman-like actor.” It’s no surprise that he eventually…

Shut out all night at the Golden Globes, the historical drama “12 Years a Slave” eked out the night’s top honor, best film drama, while the con-artist caper “American Hustle” landed a leading three awards, including best film comedy. David O. Russell’s “American Hustle” had the better night overall, winning acting awards for Amy Adams…

A considerable upgrade over the first “Hunger Games” movie, “Catching Fire” comes across more like a remake than a sequel. In the adaptation of the second installation in Suzanne Collins’ young adult trilogy, there’s certainly plenty that has changed. Rebellion against the totalitarian rule of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) in the 12 districts of Panem…

“Thor: The Dark World” Cast: Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, Stellan Skarsgard, Christopher Eccleston, Tom Hiddleston, Kat Dennings, Chris O’Dowd Director: Alan Taylor Running time: 1 hour, 51 minutes Rated: PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some suggestive contentGrade: C+ Like Sandra Bullock in “Gravity,” comic book movies are increasingly lost in…