Betsy Pickle

You're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but in the case of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," you might as well. It looks like a charming, feel-good movie about retirees, and it is.

Everyday happiness and heartache have never been more beautifully portrayed than they are in "In the Family."

Any fan of Aardman Animations and the studio's successes on television ("Wallace and Gromit," "Creature Comforts") and the big screen ("Chicken Run," "Flushed Away") is likely to have high hopes for "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" — and just as ...

Take the best of the scary-kid horror films ("Village of the Damned," "The Bad Seed," "The Omen"), season them with the most extreme behavior the news media can find to report, have brilliant filmmakers and exceptional actors bring them to ...

Those old enough to remember "21 Jump Street," the 1980s TV series that shot Johnny Depp to fame, know that it was the '80s epitome of cool. The gritty Fox show about baby-faced cops working undercover in high school was ...

The classic teens-gone-wild movies — from "Risky Business" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" back in the '80s to the more recent "Superbad" — featured audacious situations, memorable dialogue and endings that gave a nod to society's conventions.

"Man on a Ledge" definitely won't be accused of false advertising. The bulk of the movie actually focuses on a man on a ledge.

"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is a puzzle — or perhaps two. Half the pieces fit in a perceptive, engaging one, and the rest fit in the maudlin other.

As a Meryl Streep showcase and a well-crafted film, "The Iron Lady" wins handily. As a defense or criticism of policy and a historical snapshot, its achievements are far less substantive.

As spy thrillers go, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is the polar opposite of "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol." But there's room in the movie world for both kinds of films.

If the 3D animated film "The Adventures of Tintin" reminds you of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," it's no coincidence. Steven Spielberg, director of "Raiders" and its sequels, also directed the long-awaited "Tintin" film, and the title character seems very ...

The American big-screen take on the worldwide phenomenon of Swedish-novel-turned-film "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" can't help but have a sense of déjà vu.

The Southeastern Film Critics Association traveled far from home for its selection of the Best Film of 2011. “The Descendants,” director Alexander Payne’s quirky drama about trouble in paradise – i.e. Hawaii – took the group’s top honor, while star ...

Early in "Like Crazy," the female lead leaves the male lead a long note declaring her interest in him, ending with "Please don't think I'm a nutcase."

It's obvious the makers of "The Muppets" adore and respect the Muppets, everyone's favorite fabric TV stars. They incorporate iconic Muppet humor, celebrate Muppet values and try to give every beloved puppet a little face time.

It's no "Ocean's Eleven," but "Tower Heist" is moderately successful in the lightly comic crime-adventure genre. It earns points by making the villain a Bernie Madoff clone whose arrogance would add fuel to the fire of any "Occupy" participant taking ...

"Anonymous," a film that suggests that an English nobleman wrote the works of William Shakespeare, has stirred up a controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. Detractors protest that the concept is a hateful theory that denigrates the working class ...

When you're trying to come up with film stories that deserve to be retold, "Footloose" probably isn't going to be at the top of the list, or even on the list. The 1984 Kevin Bacon teen-rebellion flick was corny and ...

There's a lot to like about "I Don't Know How She Does It," but there isn't a lot to love.

For such a short movie, "30 Minutes or Less" piles on the dualities.

For East Tennesseans, the documentary "The Last Mountain" will hit close to home.

Producer Clara Bingham talks on the documentary "The Last Mountain."

Stormy weather can literally turn out to be a windfall for John Quick. "Quite often after a bad storm, somebody will have a cherry tree or a walnut tree that will be blown down, and I'll get a call to ...

Will Ferrell has become his own genre in the movie world. Say his name, and fans light up thinking of the laughs he has provided in "Elf," "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," "Blades of Glory" and "The Other ...

Catherine Deneuve is nothing if not decorative, which is one of the meanings of "Potiche." But her beauty has always gone hand in hand with tremendous acting talent, something that serves this film well.

What do "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "Patch Adams" and "Bruce Almighty" have in common? If your answer is, "They all stink," there probably isn't enough WD-40 in the world to pry open your mind to the musings of "I Am," ...

On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by actor John Wilkes Booth, dying the next day. One facet of the assassination plot provides the basis for "The Conspirator," a new film directed by Robert Redford that explores the ...

Children love animals. Children love babies. So "Born To Be Wild" - an IMAX 3-D documentary about baby animals - is right on target with its core demographic. "Born To Be Wild" strives for more than just oohs, aahs and ...

The producers of the third annual Gatlinburg Screenfest are hoping the weather will cooperate this weekend - movie screens are more enticing when rain clouds threaten. But regardless, they're optimistic that this year's festival of independent films will continue a ...

Topher Grace picked some big footprints to follow with his latest film, "Take Me Home Tonight."

To know the '80s is to love them, or so the makers of "Take Me Home Tonight" would have us believe.

You don't have to be female to watch "Made in Dagenham," but if you're a woman, you certainly should see it. And take a man with you - he'll thank you later.

The best time to get started in the music business - aside from the "never" you hear from your parents - could be now.

"Somewhere" goes over the rainbow to a surreal, colorless world in which the protagonist needs to find a brain, a heart and some courage. However, this being a Sofia Coppola film, there is no toe-tapping quest, and there's no journey ...

Writer-director Mike Leigh follows up his extremely charming “Happy-Go-Lucky,” about an irrepressibly cheerful woman, with the endearing and sometimes heartbreaking “Another Year” — about a richly contented couple and the much less contented people in their lives.

The films of Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu that U.S. audiences have gotten to know best - primarily "Amores Perros," "21 Grams" and "Babel" - have reveled in chaotic timelines, interconnected plots and life-or-death intensity. "Biutiful" still achieves a sense ...

The three-night WayneStock music festival kicked off Thursday by showcasing its kinder, gentler side. "We're sneaking in before the heavier acts come with the rock music," said singer-songwriter Greg Horne, who recruited the opening lineup of singer-guitarists for WayneStock.

The thrill is gone in "Blue Valentine," a cinematic bouquet of dead flowers to mourn - celebrate? - the end of a marriage.

Woodstock was billed as “3 Days of Peace & Music.” WayneStock could be described as three nights of love and music. “WayneStock: For the Love of Drew,” set for Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 27-29, at the Relix Variety Theatre, will boast some ...

In “Rabbit Hole,” it’s not so much that the main characters go through an entry into a different world. It’s more that their world stops while everyone else’s keeps spinning on its axis.

The world loves lovers, and moviegoers love con men, so the combination of the two should get "I Love You Phillip Morris" off to a good start.

As a real-life miracle, the transformation depicted in "The King's Speech" falls somewhere short of Helen Keller's story. But as a film, "The King's Speech" is a miracle indeed.

Forty-one years ago, a movie called “True Grit” gave John Wayne his first and only Oscar-winning role, turned unknown Kim Darby into an overnight sensation and launched the dubious acting career of music star Glen Campbell.

Before 2008's "The Wrestler," director Darren Aronofsky seemed to specialize in hallucinogenic films, cinematic trips through the looking glass such as "Requiem for a Dream" and "The Fountain." Even his first feature, "Pi," was about a man so driven by ...

The latest boxing movie that's not really about boxing, "The Fighter" offers a title that's something of a riddle and a plot that's fairly predictable but still manages to stay on its feet.

If Katherine Heigl films are becoming a genre unto themselves, “Life as We Know It” could be classified as one of her superior offerings.

Hoarding hits a new level in "For Memories' Sake," a documentary about a Middle Tennessee woman who has taken at least a dozen photographs every day for 40-odd years.

"The Virginity Hit" wants to be the "Blair Witch Project" of "American Pie" movies. What it is is a far cry from either predecessor.

Hollywood history and Tennessee history are merging on the river - the "Wild River."

The distinctive husky voice that brought majesty to the written word - scripts on Broadway and television and Hollywood films - has been silenced.