Director Bryan Singer is responsible for directing two of my top 20 favorite films of all time – The Usual Suspects and X2: X-Men United. For a short moment in time he was one of the best filmmakers of the current generation, then he got Superman Returns and somehow lost his mind and ability […]
Category: Movie Reviews
Jack the Giant Slayer Kicks off Blockbuster Season in Style!
Jack the Giant Slayer takes the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk and plays some very cool variations on it. It’s big, loud and flashy – but with a huge dollop of heart. It has nothing more profound to say than ‘have fun at the movies!’ If you check it out, you will.
It’s a Good Day to Kill a Franchise!
As a fan of even the fourth entry in the Die Hard franchise, which introduced John McClane’s estranged daughter Lucy, it is my sad duty to announce that A Good Day to Die Hard is not just the worst entry in the series, but one of the worst movies I’ve seen over the last few […]
Bullet to the Head – A Triumph of Style Over Content!
After the fun The Last Stand flopped big time, we get another 80s-style action flick with a sixty-something lead that is darker, nastier and possibly more stylish – but not quite as much fun. Bullet to the Head pairs second-rate hitman Jimmy Bobo (Sylvester Stallone) with a Korean-American cop (Sung Kang) in a slick – […]
The Last Stand: Who the Hell Are You?
The Last Stand marks the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger as an action hero lead, plying his age for both laughs and drama. It’s vintage Arnold in many ways, but also considerably more warped than any of his earlier hits – with the sole exception of Total Recall.
Zero Dark Thirty – Bland, Emotionally Inert and contains no Viewpoint. Michelle’s Review
One of the biggest and most controversial movies of the year is Zero Dark Thirty from Director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker). The movie’s production caused quite a stir from the conservative media (What doesn’t get their panties in a bunch?) when it was revealed that the CIA was providing Bigelow’s team unprecedented access to […]
Gangster Squad Looks Great But Is Less Fulfilling!!
Gangster Squad tells the tale of a squad of off-book cops who had a mandate to take down boxer-turned-crime boss Mickey Cohen by any means necessary. Neither cops nor crooks come off well in it.
Les Miserables: Victor Hugo Spawns Uplifting Christmas Movie!
Tom Hooper doesn’t kid around. As a follow-up to his Oscar®-winning The King’s Speech, he could have played it safe and done another smart, funny period piece or a family drama – or any number of equally small independent films. Instead, he chose to adapt the hit musical Les Miserables to film – and, despite […]
Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino’s Take on Spaghetti Westerns Shoots Down Slavery!
We all know that Quentin Tarantino is an audacious filmmaker. If there’s a genre of filmmaking that he loves, he will produce his take on it at some point – and he really, really loves spaghetti westerns. For his version of a spaghetti western, though, he doesn’t just explode the conventions of the genre – […]
This Is 40: Apatow Mixes Comedy and Drama With Uneven Results!
Pete and Debbie – supporting characters in Judd Apatow’s terrific Knocked Up – get their own movie and it’s something of a mixed blessing.
Jack Reacher Is Not a Reach For Cruise!
Apocryphal story: an actor is rejected for a role because he’s short. ‘But I can act tall!’ comes the response. As hard as it is to believe, Tom Cruise acts tall in Jack Reacher.