Movie review: ‘House of the Devil’ scores for ’80s detail, leaves fear factor in limbo

Review: ‘House of the Devil’ puts horror in limbo

Movie review: Swank, Nair’s Earhart tale ‘Amelia’ circles endlessly but never lands

LOS ANGELES — Considering the risks Amelia Earhart took, losing her life in the call of aviation, Hilary Swank and director Mira Nair don’t put much on the line in their film biography “Amelia.”

Ain’t that America: The balloon boy, his nation of watchers and a unique cultural moment

“Those who will come after us will be as wise as we are, and as able to take care of themselves as we have been,” Thomas Jefferson said in 1811.

Movie Review: The animated family film ‘Astro Boy’ never really takes flight

LOS ANGELES — The animated “Astro Boy” is a shiny hodgepodge of “Pinocchio,” ”WALL-E,” ”Oliver Twist,” ”Gladiator” and “Superman,” with some obvious visual touches taken from “The Iron Giant.” As its own entity, though, it’s pretty forgettable.

Movie Review: Collection of shorts in ‘New York, I Love You’ features more misses than hits

LOS ANGELES — The title is “New York, I Love You,” and it’s a collection of shorts intended as one big love letter to the city and all the romance it has to offer.

Movie Review: Bold, gorgeous ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ roars its way to the big screen

Gorgeous ‘Wild Things’ roars to the screen

Viral phenom ‘Paranormal Activity’ gets its eerie power from suggestion, ordinary setting

LOS ANGELES — The no-budget ghost story “Paranormal Activity” arrives 10 years after “The Blair Witch Project,” and the two horror movies share more than a clever construct and shaky, handheld camerawork.

The sitcommy ‘Couples Retreat’ isn’t exactly a vacation in paradise

LOS ANGELES — “Couples Retreat” suggests what life might have been like if the guys from “Swingers” had grown up, moved to the suburbs and turned into lame, sitcommy cliches.

Movie Review: Chris Rock’s ‘Good Hair’ illuminates an old story with humor and insight

What’s so funny about so many black women wanting “white” hair? Plenty, it turns out, in Chris Rock’s surprisingly insightful documentary, “Good Hair.”

Reality show ‘Dallas Divas & Daughters’ showcases lives in city’s richest areas

DALLAS — Pamela Martin-Duarte hopes the new reality show “Dallas Divas and Daughters” dispels some myths about Texas — starting with the hair.

Movie Review: Hate to say it but it’s true: ‘The Invention of Lying’ is a serious letdown

LOS ANGELES — It would be such a joy to bend the truth and say that “The Invention of Lying” lives up to the potential of its inspired premise.

Movie Review: Barrymore’s directing debut, ‘Whip It,’ a refreshing whirlwind of girl power

Review: ‘Whip It’ a whirlwind of girl power

Movie Review: LeBron’s’More Than a Game’ plays up feel-good sports cliches

LOS ANGELES — “More Than a Game” is an inspiring story that works very hard to remind you it’s an inspiring story at every opportunity.

Movie Review: Mixing laughs and scares, ‘Zombieland’ is a lively comedy about the undead

LOS ANGELES — You’d be justified in thinking you’ve visited “Zombieland” before.

Movie Review: Seriously funny troubles abound in the Coen brothers’ surreal ‘A Serious Man’

LOS ANGELES — It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what a Coen brothers movie is. That’s part of the great allure of them.

Movie Review: ‘Surrogates’ a robotic retread of familiar ideas; a quality B-movie at its best

NEW YORK — “Surrogates” is itself a surrogate, a kind of stand-in for many of the sci-fi movies of the recent past: In it, you’ll recognize the ideas of “Blade Runner,” ”Minority Report” and even “WALL-E.”

Mackenzie Phillips calls her dad, John Phillips, ‘a good man,’ even as her book alleges incest

NEW YORK — Mackenzie Phillips is defending her father John Phillips as “a good man” despite her claims that they had an incestuous affair. But her stepmother Michelle Phillips says Phillips is lying about the affair and is just trying to cash in on her book.

Movie Review: Appearance is everything in the fashion origin story ‘Coco Before Chanel’

LOS ANGELES — The young Coco Chanel noticed style everywhere, even in the crisp white and basic black of the nuns’ habits at the orphanage where she was raised.

At NH forum, US education secretary tells dads: Turn off TV, spend more time with your kids

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Education Secretary Arne Duncan says dads need to turn off the TV and spend more time with their kids, and schools must do more to make fathers part of their children’s education.

Mackenzie Phillips’ new book alleges she had sexual relationship with her dad, John Phillips

CHICAGO — Former child star Mackenzie Phillips said Wednesday that she had a decade-long sexual relationship with her father, pop superstar John Phillips, who also taught her how to roll joints and injected her with cocaine.

Movie Review: Michael Sheen shines as a cocky soccer coach in the gritty ‘Damned United’

LOS ANGELES — You don’t have to be a soccer expert, or even know all that much about the sport, to get sucked into the competing personalities and personal dramas of “The Damned United.”

Movie Review: ‘The Boys Are Back’ a refreshingly unsentimental depiction of death, redemption

LOS ANGELES — The true-life drama “The Boys Are Back” delicately and deftly finds a balance that’s hard to strike: It depicts death, and the way a family rebuilds and redefines itself afterward, without any mawkishness.

Jennifer Hudson says her 1-month-old son may have career in music

NEW YORK — Jennifer Hudson’s son is only 1 month old, but she already sees singing in his future.

Movie Review: Eckhart and Aniston have zero chemistry in the gooey slog ‘Love Happens’

LOS ANGELES — Love supposedly happens in “Love Happens.” We’ll have to take their word for it.

Movie Review: Abbie Cornish shines as Keats’ love in the gorgeous, sensual ‘Bright Star’

LOS ANGELES — In telling the story of the final years in the brief life of poet John Keats, “Bright Star” very easily could have been a stuffy, period costume drama.