Lawrence Toppman

Am I giving up all hope of being taken seriously as a critic if I say "The Wolf Man" is one of the movies I most look forward to in 2009?

“What's Will Smith really like?”

Could “Milk” be the cream of the crop of movie awards for 2008?

Andrew Sarris turned 80 this fall.

Forty years ago this month, Hollywood tried to solve a decades-long problem and ended up creating a mess of a different kind. I'm talking about the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system, which took effect in November 1968.

“Quantum of Solace” opened to a $67.5 million weekend, which was about what the filmmakers expected: It arrived without competition and came on the heels of one of the best-liked and best-reviewed entries in the canon. But it's interesting to consider what such numbers mean these days.

When I came south in 1980 to work for the Charlotte News, the first play I reviewed was at Pineville Dinner Theatre. (Robert and Marilynn Horton starred in “Same Time, Next Year.”) So I smiled nostalgically when I heard the latest PDT incarnation was still alive.

I saw a political movie last week that jumped to the top of my pantheon.

Many of us in Mecklenburg County know the name comes from the German region where Princess Charlotte lived before marrying George III of England. But most of us probably don't feel any connection to that place, so the Charlotte Film Festival is creating one.