Channing Tatum

Review: ‘Logan Lucky,’ starring Channing Tatum and Adam Driver

Logan Lucky, director Steven Soderbergh first film after stepping away from the big screen for several years, is an odd duck. Tonally strange, it falls somewhere between a mainstream blockbuster and avant garde restraint. The story is a classic sort of heist caper that could be played up for maximum broad effectiveness (a la Soderbergh’s Ocean’s films), but instead it’s played straight with nary a wink or nod to the audience. It vacillates wildly between outlandish silliness, dry humour, and high drama, speeding up or slowing down whenever it feels like it. As a result of such shifting, Logan Lucky is an uneven movie, but also a thoroughly fascinating and consistently enjoyable one.

Naomie Harris and Daniel Craig

Lazy Friday News: ‘Skyfall’ box office hit, ‘Star Wars’ reborn, and Channing Tatum

Lazy Friday News is a weekly round-up of stories from across the spectrum of entertainment, or whatever happens to tickle my funny bone. This week: the force is strong in the new James Bond film, Skyfall; Star Wars is being shaken and stirred back into a viable franchise; Star Trek fans can get a glimpse of nine minutes of spacey bliss; Channing Tatum is attractive, or something; we bid goodbye to the voice of Smurfette; plus Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are never ever getting back together?

Gina Carano in Haywire

Review: ‘Haywire’ starring Gina Carano

Former mixed martial arts star Gina Carano is Mallory Kane, a freelance hired gun who works for governments to deal with tough situations, like hostage situations where normal covert tactics are not possible. As we first see her, waiting for someone at a small diner in the middle of nowhere, Mallory ends up getting the crap beaten out of her as an ex-coworker shows up to drag her back to her boss.