Review by Brian Tallerico

With his Spanish-language features, The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo Del Toro proved that he has the skills to make dreams (or, more accurately, nightmares) come to life. He's not just fascinated by the things that go bump in the night, he wants to make puppets out of them. And with those films (and, to a lesser extent, Cronos), he displayed a masterful talent for storytelling, weaving reality and fantasy into something magical. And yet, apparently, he can't do the same in his second language.

Having had the glorious pleasure of getting to spend some time with the man, I can tell you that Guillermo Del Toro is literally overflowing with ideas. He carries a journal around in which he constantly scribbles concepts, characters, and drawings that inspire him. It's nearly impossible to walk out of an interaction with the man and not have a smile on your face. That's why I find it so shocking and disappointing that I rarely smiled during Hellboy II:The Golden Army, a film that actually serves as an interesting counterpoint to Pan's Labyrinth. Where that masterpiece highlighted all of Del Toro's strengths, Hellboy II: The Golden Army shines a brutal spotlight on what are still some significant weaknesses.

Only vaguely picking up after the first film - one of the most frustrating elements of Golden Army is that it feels more like an "episode" than a true sequel - Hellboy II: The Golden Army is based on a fairy tale that the big red guy's father (John Hurt) told him when he was a horned child.

Review by Brian Tallerico

Welcome to Part Two of MovieRetriever's Picks for the 15 Upcoming Contenders for the 2008 Best Picture Oscar!

To read Part One, click HERE:

OK, 2008, it's time for a little tough love. Since we're such big film fans, the MovieRetriever staff has been trying to give 2008 the benefit of the doubt, but, now that the year is officially half over, we've finally got to say - this is one of the worst years for movies in

The Hound is a busy dog – flying down to Argentina to see the newly-discovered uncut version of Fritz Lang's Metropolis one day, perfecting his homemade Hellboy costume the next – so he doesn’t always have the time to write 2500-word opuses on the latest Criterion or National Lampoon DVD. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t

Review by Brian Tallerico

Do you cheer for the player who swings for the fences even if he

The Hound is a busy dog – giving Guillermo Del Toro notes on his Hobbit script one day, updating his Brangelina fan site the next – so he doesn’t always have the time to write 2,500-word opuses on the latest Sony Pictures Classics or "Masters of Horror" DVD. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. Here

Now that our critic at large, Brian Tallerico, has given his opinion on The Love Guru, we here at MovieRetriever.com thought you might enjoy an additional perspective from a VideoHound editor on the film. So, without further adieu, here is the opinion of...

Review by Brian Tallerico

The guilty pleasure of the year has finally arrived. The movie that you'll be slightly ashamed to admit

Review by Brian Tallerico

There's almost always something negative that can be said about a movie. Even some of the best in