It’s more than fair to compare BEAUTIFUL CREATURES to the Twilight Saga since it’s essentially a gender reversed rehash of the basic story, with slightly more intrigue. But unlike the first Twilight film, where Summit was searching behind couch cushions to find funds for the production, Warner Bros. decided to do this right. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES [...]
THE HANGOVER PART III catches up with the Wolf Pack as they host an intervention to convince Alan (Zach Galifinakis) to receive help from a facility in Arizona called New Horizons after the death of Sid, Alan and Tracy’s father. En route the Pack is attacked and run off the road by a mobster, Marshall, [...]
In 1943, the Germans established Stalag Luft III, built for the sole purpose of housing the finest escapees any POW camp has ever known. There was really only one problem for the German captors: it housed the finest escapees any POW camp has ever known. And so it’s not long before one of the prisoners, [...]
I used to listen to Art Bell’s Coast to Coast AM, an overnight show all about the paranormal, abnormal and the flip side of reality. One show that I remember vividly focused on the existence of “shadow people”, or grey people who appear at night. They have been witnessed by humans in every civilization going [...]
A priest, a fire captain and three clowns walk into a state fair. Sounds like the beginning of joke. But it’s really the start of a heist, wherein the five hired men head to the Ohio State Fair to stake their claim on a million dollars in cash. After a successful steal, the priest (who, [...]
K-11 is an immensely confusing film. It attempts to be a prison drama, a story of redemption in a man lost to the world of drugs and vice, and a poorly executed, quirky, dark comedy on the state of humanity. K-11 suffers from an identity crisis that renders it nearly unwatchable. Thankfully the leading actors [...]
As a big fan of HBO’s ‘True Blood’, it pains me to say that the series jumped the shark in season four. I refused to accept that last season because I was waiting to see where they’d go with season five, but after finishing up the last episode, I feel comfortable calling the time of [...]
The prologue picks up right after the 1974 events, which started with a van full of hippie teenagers and ended with Leatherface swinging his beloved power tool wildly in the sun. The cops and other townspeople hunters have tracked down the maniac and his family to their isolated farmhouse. Not content with a mere arrest [...]
In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted and reinvented the Star Trek franchise. Breathing incredible new life into a series that was all but dead, STAR TREK came onto the scene with exciting action, clever humor, great characters and most importantly, brains. The film landed number 5 in my Top Ten List for 2009 (click the [...]
Some films just sneak up on you. You don’t expect much, but then you are pleasantly surprised by the results. THE DETAILS is one such case. I had not heard of this picture before watching it. The cast though was impressive, so it definitely piqued my curiosity. If you are looking for a television show [...]
It is the 14th century, just a decade after the Black Plague left 60% of Norway’s population dead. In the distance, a wagon and horse trudge along the empty land, carrying a family of survivors looking for a better place to live. A short while later, they encounter a group of thieves and murderers, and [...]
When someone disagrees with you on a very intellectual or existential film, it’s easy to resort to telling them “you just didn’t get it”. Even though that’s sometimes true, it’s insulting to whoever you’re debating with because what you’re essentially saying is; “I’m smarter than you because I like this movie”. I find myself in [...]
I was intrigued by THALE ever since it was a featured trailer on the iTunes Trailers application for iPhone a few months ago. Let’s run through the checklist: A scary movie about a seemingly foreign world that exists right under our noses? Check. A woman with a furry tail featured semi-nude? Check. Creepy cinematography and [...]
I have to say that Nicholas Sparks is a very important person in our house. My wife is an avid reader of his books and, when available, there is an autographed copy of his latest under the Christmas tree each year. That being said, I haven’t seen many of the films made from those books, [...]
Most big stars eventually have an opportunity to take a role that allows them to show their acting range to potentially be an Oscar contender. Sadly, most of those films are, like BROKEN CITY, not very good. I can almost envision the pitch taking place with Wahlberg, explaining his characters emotional journey, the slight action [...]
It’s hard to believe there was a time that Tom Hanks was better known for his comedic, and then dramatic, turns as an actor than for his work behind the camera. One of his first forays into behind the screen work, THAT THING YOU DO!, was a classy and beautiful homage to the original boy [...]
Baz Luhrmann is a visionary artist that definitely has a unique stamp on his work. STRICTLY BALLROOM was light-hearted fun, ROMEO + JULIET was an unexpected breath of fresh air in a played out genre, and MOULIN ROUGE was an underrated crowning achievement that rejuvenated and reinvented not only musicals but film in general. Unfortunately, [...]
Barbra Streisand has always had a towering presence in anything she has tackled in her career. She has conquered every entertainment medium that there is out there. Broadway, Hollywood, television and the music industry has fallen prey to the Streisand touch. This was never more evident in her first movie role in FUNNY GIRL. She [...]
JACK REACHER is based off Lee Child’s book “One Shot”, which was actually the eighth book in the Jack Reacher series. And maybe that’s why the film feels like a sequel. In fact, JACK REACHER would have made a great sequel since the film is set up just like what you’d expect a sequel to [...]
BANGKOK REVENGE excels at utilizing a flashy title, supplemented with some outstanding martial arts mastery; however that’s where the accolades are struck with a mortal death touch. The story is a schizophrenic mess compared to the fluid and often original Thai fighting sequences. In fact, the only time this film had even a slight instance [...]
In 1964, Jerry Herman’s musical “Hello, Dolly!” took Broadway by storm, winning 10 Tony Awards, including the top award as Best Musical. One of the musicals it beat that year was “Funny Girl,” starring a young 22 year old named Barbra Streisand. In 1968 FUNNY GIRL was made into a film and Streisand won the [...]
After last year’s summer extravaganza in THE AVENGERS, the individual pictures of said team have a lot to compete with. That’s the major problem when you make a great film, it’s hard to meet expectations for the follow up. I’m happy to say, while a bit uneven, IRON MAN 3 is still able to deliver [...]
There are the great bands, the idols that sell out concert tours and change the way you feel about life. And then there are the bands that want to be the greats, the ones that spend their first practices playing half-tuned covers and hoping that they too will be rich and famous. It doesn’t take [...]
THE SWEENEY, a nickname for the London based “The Flying Squad” (because in cockney, it rhymes with Sweeney Todd), is a new UK film released to Blu-ray. The Flying Squad are the armed task force who deal with especially violent crimes within London, immortalized for many a Brit during the iconic 70’s television show. The [...]
NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN introduces us to Jonah (Kwanten), Stevie (Snook) and Gus (Corr), three friends who all live in Jonah’s house and earn their living by throwing super popular weekend parties. After a particularly busy night of entertainment Jonah goes to his room with a girl he has politely dubbed “Stalker Becky.” While taking [...]
Somehow, David O. Russell made a movie about a man suffering a mental breakdown following his wife’s infidelity who starts a relationship with a woman that sleeps around after her husband dies and that same man has to deal with a father that suffers from a serious gambling addiction. But he didn’t make a serious [...]
Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta) runs high-stakes card games for the mob. Way back when, he stole from one of the pots and lived to gloat about it. Knowing that if it’s taken again Markie will be suspected, a man known as Squirrel (Vincent Curatola, who played Johnny Sack on HBO’s THE SOPRANOS) enlists a pair [...]
In the 2003 animated Disney feature BROTHER BEAR we follow Kenai, a wreckless Inuit boy who wants to prove his bravery and strength to his tribe and to his older brothers. When Kenai’s careless attitude causes a bear to wander to their village and eat their fish, instead of rightfully taking the blame, Kenai goes [...]
When DRAGON (Wu Xia) arrived in my mailbox, I was worried it was going to be another cheap martial arts/CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON knockoff. The red case and simple premise really don’t do the film justice, though, and I’m quite pleased to say that I was mistaken. DRAGON is actually a very good movie. I’m [...]
As long as there are thieves, they’ll need somewhere to steal from. That location in PAWN is a local diner, where the group’s leader, Derrick (Michael Chiklis, Emmy and Golden Globe winner for FX’s THE SHIELD), plans to empty the safe of its contents. The bad news for the robbers is that the safe is [...]
In 1988, director Robert Zemeckis and producer Steven Spielberg did a couple of things that no one thought was possible. First, they made a movie where live action and animation blended seamlessly (at the time) together. Second, they brought together some of the most beloved animated characters and put them on screen together, culminating in [...]
With a cast that includes such great actors like Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling, you might walk into Ruben Fleischer’s GANGSTER SQUAD thinking it was going to be more like Brian De Palma’s classic gangster film, THE UNTOUCHABLES, which could lead to disappointment when it turns out to be more like DICK TRACY. [...]
Eightteen-fifty-eight, two years before the Civil War. Dr. King Shultz (Christoph Waltz), a bounty hunter and—why not?—dentist has tracked down a slave named Django (Jamie Foxx) in the middle of the Texas woods. After a brief exchange of words, Shultz sends a bullet into the slave driver’s skull and lets Django—along with a dozen others—free. [...]
I’ve always been fascinated with all lifeforms that can fly (ironically, I hate flying myself), so I was excited to see Disney’s next installment in their Disneynature series, DISNEYNATURE: WINGS OF LIFE. When you think about lifeforms that can fly, you probably go immediately to birds, maybe eagles, parrots, seagulls, robins or any number of [...]
After decades of war between humans and alien invaders called Scavs, the earth is rendered nearly useless. Earth won the war but the use of nukes and military warfare has destroyed the world to unsafe standards. After evacuating earth’s people to a more inhabitable place on one of Saturn’s moons, an “effective team” of Jack [...]
One of the problems with horror movies (and I’m a fan) is that they inevitably release sequels that may or may not live up to the original. For every HALLOWEEN H2O (which I enjoyed) there are 3 or 4 shortfalls like HALLOWEEN 2, HALLOWEEN 3, etc. I’ll stop picking on the John Carpenter flicks for [...]
For centuries, humans and beasts lived on separate planes, thanks to a flute that kept all goblins and monsters out. Without it, the beasts would roam free and raise all sorts of hell. It’s not until 2009 that the flute falls into the wrong hands, leaving the monsters to threaten the stability of modern Korea. [...]
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I sat down to watch RUST AND BONE. All I’d heard about the film was that it dealt with a woman who loses her legs in an accident. Not a lot to go on. After watching it, though, I’m certainly glad I did. Alain (Schoenaerts) has decided to [...]
Henry Rowengartner has nothing on this guy. Jubeh Yakyu’s arm is so strong that when his father asks “Can’t you throw any faster?” during a game of catch, he hurls the ball so hard and so fast that it catches fire and strikes his face, causing blood and brains to spill out of his forehead. [...]
When a delivery takes timid Emile and boisterous Raoul to the botanical gardens, Raoul uses the owner’s absence as an opportunity to explore. Despite attemps made by Charles, the owner’s assistant/monkey, to keep the duo from handling assorted potions, Raoul manages to cause an explosion when mixing two substances together. Using his new camera, Emile [...]
Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO is one of my all-time favorite films. So it is with great joy that the film HITCHCOCK is about one of my favorite directors (REAR WINDOW, VERTIGO, ROPE) making one of my favorite films. Perhaps the film is geared more toward others like me, but HITCHCOCK is a delightful “rear window” (yeah [...]
Dressed all in black from his oversize hair to his tennis shoes, Cheyenne (Penn) a one-time rock star, now spends his time in his Dublin home, occasionally venturing out to visit the local mall. He lives off his royalties on his estate with his wife of 35 years, Jane (McDormand). His eyes lined, his lips [...]
Most kids don’t have nightmares where they wake up screaming, “It was the rabbit!” Just as most kids wouldn’t get the urge to smash a helpless rabbit to death with a large rock in the schoolyard. But Daigo (Takeru Shibuya, the Japanese television drama INNOCENT LOVE) isn’t like most kids. Soon after Daigo drops out [...]
There are the grandparents who you trust your kids with, who feed them proper meals and make sure they’re the covers at bedtime. And then there are the grandparents who insist your kids call them by their given name, promise them sugar sandwiches and let them watch any movie they want. (SAW? Sure!) That’s Artie [...]
If you mention the name Ernest Hemingway to most people they’ll tell you two things: He wrote “The Old Man and the Sea” and he killed himself. Both true, but certainly not enough to encompass a man who lived life as if every day was his last. Thanks to the new film HEMINGWAY & GELLHORN [...]
Five friends head to a secluded cabin in the woods to help kick a drug habit. They find a strange book in the cellar. Once they read from this book an evil spirit in awakened and comes to claim their souls one by one. The EVIL DEAD has a cult following, this much is known. [...]
Although, the specific date is never stated, DAY OF THE FALCON takes place roughly during the 1920′s -1930′s in the peninsula now known as Saudi Arabia. Two feuding tribes have been at war for a large barren dessert land called The Yellow Belt. The leaders from each kingdom meet and agree on peace treaty terms. [...]
When I finished watching TRANCE, I needed to sit and process it a bit. Not because it was overly complicated with several symbolic interpretations. No, quite the opposite. The story was so dumbed down and telegraphed, I thought surely there must be something I’m missing from this uniquely stylized thriller from Oscar winning director Danny [...]
There is no greater time for a youth than the summer, that two-and-a-half-month gap between grades when a cool breeze, sandlot baseball and pretty girls are all that’s on the agenda from breakfast until dusk. It’s the summer of 1962 and Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry in his debut; he next played in 1994’s LASSIE) is [...]
If the only true fate is decided by what you make, then 1984’s THE TERMINATOR has immortalized itself well beyond the three decades since its inception. However, that success was accomplished not by way of the sheer raw power of the film itself, but rather through its superior spawn. Not only is TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT [...]
