Although it’s not much, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” really deserves credit where credit’s due. Its 2009 predecessor was one of the dumbest action movies of the past 10 years. In this sequel, director Jon M. Chu of those “Step Up” movies makes an attempt to incorporate some humor, creative action sequences, and impressive visuals. That doesn’t mean “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” is a good movie, but at least it’s an improvement. The film could have gone down the route of the “Transformers” series, which only got worse with every entry.

Anyone who saw “Scream 4” likely remembers the scene where Hayden Panettiere lists off every horror remake to come out in the past decade, from “Halloween” to “Friday the 13th.” So many of these remakes failed due to a lack of passion on the filmmaker’s behalf. Making a good movie was only their second priority, right after cashing in on an exhausted franchise’s good name. The new “Evil Dead” movie is the rare exception. It’s obvious that Director/Screenwriter Fede Alvarez has great admiration for Sam Raimi’s beloved cult classic. Along with Co-Writers Diablo Cody and Rodo Sayagues, Alvarez produces the best contemporary “Evil Dead” movie possible. 

With spring in the air, sports fans everywhere are turning their thoughts to the 2013 baseball season. Spring training already has excitement levels pumped, and soon the call of “play ball” will echo through the air.

In what’s been an otherwise tremendous year for movies, 2012 still brought us quite a few stinkers nevertheless. One general question film critics are asked is how they feel when ripping a movie apart. It may sound mean-spirited and arrogant to criticize a movie that a lot of people invested their time and money into. Anybody that has endured the 10 movies listed below however can understand that such criticisms are justified.

While “Knocked Up” established Seth Rogan and Katherine Heigl as major movie stars, it was Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd who stole the entire show. Rogan and Heigl’s characters are nowhere to be found in the sort-of sequel to “Knocked Up.”

Although Chris Pine may best be known as portraying Captain James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot of “Star Trek,” he is now boldly going where he has never gone before: animated features.  Pine voices Jack Frost in the upcoming DreamWorks release, “Rise of the Guardians,” due out Nov. 21. 

The Amphi Foundation has been busy at work, and has a lot more to do going forward, as shown in their November update. The Amphi Foundation works closely with each of the schools in the Amphi School District to raise money and provide necessities for students. 

Every little girl is a princess, but is every little girl a perfect princess?  In the book, “Rebekah Grace The Practically Perfect Princess,” authors Jennifer Humphries and Nicki Dicampli show that no little princess is perfect.

Nancy Capsuto has been nominated as July’s volunteer of the month in the Explorer’s new monthly column called “Helping Hand” for Northwest Tucson.

Heidi Radtke was selected as June’s volunteer of the month in the Explorer’s new monthly column called “Helping Hand” for Northwest Tucson.

With temperatures hitting 107 degrees last week, it’s no surprise that residents in Southern Arizona are seeking cover, and one of those summertime favorites is going to the movies.

“Mirror Mirror” came in third at the box office over the weekend, grossing $19 million domestically, trailing “Wrath of the Titans” at $34.2 million, and the highly-successful “Hunger Games,” at $61.1 million. “Hunger Games” has now broken the $250 million mark domestically, and maintained the top spot at the box office for the second consecutive week.

“The Hunger Games” grossed a whopping $155 million domestically over the weekend, making it the third highest opening film of all time behind “Harry Potter and the “Deathly Hallows Part 2” and “The Dark Knight.”

With local businesses continuing to struggle during tough economic times, the need for advertising to drive revenues has increased. Last September, the Oro Valley Town Council unanimously voted to allow A-frame signs to be placed outside of businesses to help increase customer traffic.

Jack Black thinks “Kung Fu Panda 2” is better than its predecessor. 

Jan. 8th will never be the same again in Southern Arizona. While the tragedy at Safeway had a national impact, it will always have a special place in the hearts and souls of we who live here.

Sequels Upscale Resale, one of only a few nonprofit women’s boutiques in Tucson, is celebrating its third anniversary.

Rated: G. Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes. 4 stars.

Creators Syndicate

'Shrek Forever After'

Census opens assistance centers in the Northwest

'Heart of Amphi' awards given March 27 at event

Why do people live in Northwest Tucson?