Sunday, March 3, 2013
One critic writes: The movie "eventually emerges as a just-good-enough diversion. Hell of a beanstalk, though."
Director Bryan Singer offers a new take on an old story: Jack and the Bean Stalk. Only there's much more to this version than trading a cow for a handful of magic beans, then retrieving a harp and a gold egg laying fowl.The focus is on the giants, these huge, ugly, nose-picking, human-hating Guys in the Sky. This go-round Jack (Nicholas Hoult ) goes skyward up an amazing beanstalk (definitely a GMO) with a troop of knights to rescue a princess from a race of giants. And then, the giants come down, utilizing more special effects than you can believe possible, some of them very cool. Here's what the critics are saying: The current wave of action-fantasy-adventure films derive from a great many diverse sources: old fairy tales, Tolkien novels…
Sunday, February 24, 2013
"This is a pretty good film starring an actor named Dwayne Johnson, not a commodity with The Rock as a hood ornament," says one critic.
Who knew? Who knew The Rock could actually act? Apparently, Ric Roman Waugh, the director of "Snitch." He has cast Dwayne Johnson as John Matthews, the divorced father of a teenage son, Jason (Rafi Gavron). The son gets strong-armed into a drug deal gone bad and ends up with a mandatory 10-year prison sentence. Ah, but there's a catch: dutiful, guilt-ridden Dad—who owns a successful shipping company--can infiltrate a drug cartel and get his son’s sentence reduced. Making the offer is U.S. Attorney Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon ), who’s also running for office. Rounding out the cast are Jon Bernthal as Daniel James, an ex-con and Matthews’ employee, who’s trying to go straight.; Michael Kenneth Williams as Malik, a cartel employee of Juan …
Sunday, February 17, 2013
The fifth installment of the Die Hard series with Bruce Willis now playing in metro theaters.
It just may be time for the "Die Hard" series of action movies to die. Judging from the collective thumbs down by critics who wanted to like Bruce Willis' latest movie, I would say that New York Detective John McClane should have hung up his shield with the last installment. But no. Now the good John is in Russia, trying to free his son Jack (Jai Courtney) from prison. Turns out his son is really a CIA operative. Let's leave the rest of the plot and the surprises to the brave souls who are really diehard fans of "Die Hard." They're the ones who should be applauded. Here's what the critics are saying: And there is never a shortage. The cold war may be a fading memory, and C.I.A. superspies (like the younger McClane) may have displaced big-…
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Anything but predictable, the film features Jude Law and Catherine Zeta Jones.
With "Side Effects," director Stephen Soderbergh takes on the doctor/patient relationship; Big Pharma; intimacy; and a host of other issues. If I told you how it works out, you would tar and feather me as The World's Worst Spoiler. Suffice it to say the movie gives us Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara of "Girl With a Dragon Tatoo"), who's reuniting with her husband Martin (Channing Tatum). Martin has spent four years in prison for insider trading, meaning that Emily had to fend for herself as she coped with a less than six-figure income. When the black dog of depression come nipping at her heels, she tries to kill herself, then ends up with psychiatrist Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) and a host of meds, including an experimental one called Ablixa. It …
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The brother and sister team exterminate anything in a pointed hat, creating a real bloody splatter fest.
The Hansel and Gretel story from the Brothers Grimm is familiar to American as well as German children. A poor woodcutter and his wife abandon the starving brother and sister in the woods, the children stumble upon a house made of sweets; the witch who lives there tries to eat them; they burn her alive in her own oven. Laden with the witch's treasure, they return home to their now-widowed father, with whom they live happily ever after. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters" picks up the story 15 years later, when the two are 20-something witch bounty hunters. You find 'em, we grind 'em, could be their motto--they use all kinds of witch-killing weapons the Brothers Grimm could never have imagined. When H & G arrive in Augsburg, they find a town…
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Arnold is on the screen, so you know what to expect -- bullets and action.
Arnold is back from being a two-term governor to playing a small-town sheriff. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a semi-retired sheriff in an sleepy southwest border town. He and his motley crew must now stop a notorious drug kingpin from escaping into Mexico in "The Last Stand." The bullets fly. There is plenty of action. But the star looks a bit rusty. You quickly come to the realization that this film is undeniably ludicrous. Look, Arnold has never been a good actor, but it's a bit worse since he got back from being the "Governator." So what does he do to make up for his lack of talent? Cue an explosive montage! This movie is simply a testosterone-infused piece of cinema. It's cynical and satirical, coming at you in the form of a semi-…
Saturday, January 12, 2013
A group of pretty-boy cops goes all "gangsta" to take down a mob boss who looks a lot like Spicoli from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
A Chicago gangster moves out to Los Angeles, killing his way to the top, only to be met by a few honest cops in "Gangster Squad." Sean Penn overacts as the main bad guy while the good guys include Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Mackie, Robert Patrick, Michael Pena and Nick Nolte. The undercover spy femme fatale is Emma Stone in this wildly ridiculous, over-the-top movie. I couldn't tell if the film wanted to be a serious gangster drama (circa 1940s) or an action-adventure film for kids. It's trying to be more like "The Untouchables" but ends up more like "Dick Tracy." The Flick-O-Meter gives "Gangster Squad" a two out of five. Sadly, the most attention this film got was six months ago after the Aurora, CO, movie …
Sunday, January 6, 2013
In theaters this week, an impossible journey to the core of the human heart in the true life story of a family swept away in one of the worst natural disasters in our lifetime.
A family of five begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking for some fun in the sun. Soon their holiday turns into a nightmare as a giant tsunami rises up from the ocean and sweeps them away in "The Impossible." Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor head up this cast that tells the true story of one family's experience during the devastating 2004 tsunami that devoured Southeast Asia. The acting, though there is very little dialogue, is amazing and the special effects, especially in the first 45 minutes, are mind-boggling. Watts is being considered for an Oscar for her performance but the kids, in my opinion, steal every scene in which they appear. The film runs two hours, and it is a bit sappy at times, perhaps too sentimental. So the Flick-…
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Tom Cruise plays an ex-Army investigator who puts the smackdown on just about everyone he meets.
Tom Cruise delves out the punishment as an ex-miltary guy roped into a murder investigation. He's got to take out the bad guys, save the girl and find the real killer in "Jack Reacher." The Jack Reacher book series has been popular for years, now it's moving to the big screen under Cruise control, with the actor as a quiet and deadly man. Cruise is the rare action star who brings both brawn and brains to a role, but in this case he's limited by a weak script. He does, however, excel during the action scenes. Packing quite a punch. A real kick in the pants. See the video here, you will know what I'm talking about. What you see is what you get in this movie. Action, reaction, Cruise being brutal and brash; it's all here. The crime that draws…
Saturday, December 31, 2011
We have an Oscar alert! Meryl Streep portrays one of the most influential figures of the 20th century and nails it.
There is no question that Meryl Streep is the best actress of her generation and she raises the bar once again as she transforms herself into former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady." Most of the film portrays Thatcher as she is now -- an elderly women looking back on her life. Confused, sometimes delusional, she carries on conversations with her deceased husband Denis, played by Jim Broadbent. Alexandra Roach does a fine job portraying Thatcher as a young woman, but it is Streep's powerful performance that warrants Oscar consideration. There are some great scenes exploring some of the pivotal moments in Thatcher's controversial 11-year term in the 1980s. The film disappoints, however, when it circles back to a …
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Perez
8:41 am on Sunday, February 17, 2013
Lots of BS! Fans LOVED it! more ›