Most of us grew up with boogeymen in our neighborhoods. Whether it be the creepy old house at the end of the block or the undoubtedly-warped story of some long-ago-committed crime that has been blown far out of proportion, kids are often fearful of something just down the street or around the corner. Sometimes parents use that fear to their advantage, using it to play up the need for “stranger danger.” How many people have heard that if they cross the wrong track or go too deep into the woods they’ll end up like THAT story? For filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio, the boogeyman was all too real. They have turned the urban legend that fueled the nightmares of theirs neighborhood’s children into a great documentary that plays not unlike Capturing the Friedmans meets Dateline NBC. Cropsey has investigative appeal that will make it riveting viewing for any fan of true-crime docs but also deep commentary on the origin of urban legends and the fact that, occasionally, a cautionary tale serves a purpose in that it keeps victims away from actual madmen.

Zeman and Brancaccio grew up on Staten Island, where it seems everyone has heard the legend of Cropsey. To keep the children from exploring the enticing grounds of the Willowbrook Mental Institution, parents told them the story of a former patient who still wandered the grounds and snatched up children who got too close. He reportedly carried an ax or possibly even had a hook for a hand. The terrifying thing is how much truth existed in the story of Cropsey, more than the filmmakers could have even imagined when they began to explore the origins of their childhood nightmares. With the well-known story of a 13-year-old girl who disappeared into the woods in 1987, they begin to link the stories

Sure Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore is stupid and silly and just about any other adjective you feel like throwing out there, but it IS a movie about talking spy dogs and as such, is only supposed to entertain you for an hour or so and send you on your way. Somehow, it manages to do just that – nothing more, nothing less. More so

Star Zac Efron does his best to elevate a sub-par script but he gets weighed down by the faux spirituality and cheap manipulation of Charlie St. Cloud, a film nowhere near as bad as the non-pre-teens in the audience may have expected from the previews but still one that doesn't deliver the vehicle this young actor needs to graduate from the High School Musical franchise. Someday long after

I've always been somewhat fascinated by what films crossover from mere torture into that rarified air in which a movie has been dubbed "so bad it's good." Why do films like The Room and Plan 9 from Outer Space continue to draw crowds at midnight screenings around the world whereas most bad movies merely just disappear into the bargain bin? The percentage of awful movies that actually develop

Steve Carell and Paul Rudd are easily two of the most talented comedians working in film today. There's simply no debating that fact. But a successful comedy is not always about the talent of the people on-screen. Sure, a good cast can help elevate a mediocre script but it only goes so far when you have a director who never finds the right comic pacing for his talented

It's not a stretch to say that Nicholas Winding Refn is intrigued by strong men stuck in nightmarish situations and the psychological effects of being a prisoner. His film Bronson will probably be historically remembered for introducing the world to future star Tom Hardy (so great in Inception), but it was also the heralding of a stylish, unique director who had made a few waves with a series

Here are four words that should send shivers down your spine – "Accidental nuclear missile launch." Sound like the material of nothing more than a Jason Bourne sequel? You wish. The fact is that we have come and still are much closer to nuclear disaster than any of us would like to admit. For if we actually seriously considered how remarkably close we have come to the annihilation

The recipient of the Sundance Film Festival's prestigious grand jury prize, the astonishingly brilliant Winter's Bone follows Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) as she treks through the Ozark Mountains in search of her father, Jessup, who fled the law and left the family practically homeless. With a notorious methamphetamine cook and dealer for a father and a catatonic shadow of a woman for a mother, the most stunning aspect

On one hand, Salt is a well-made, efficient action movie that doesn't fall victim to the seasonal bloat so common in the action genre this time of year. It's tightly edited, expertly paced, and over in the blink of an eye with a refreshing running time that clocks in under 100 minutes. On the other hand, Salt doesn't have nearly enough variety of flavors to make it memorable

The success of family films like Ramona and Beezus relies on two elements for this critic. One – don't talk down to your audience. I may be rapidly approaching middle-age but I can still remember that age when adults and Hollywood thought I still laughed only at fart jokes and could only handle simple moral messages and I was looking for something very rarely offered by Hollywood. Writer