Trumbo Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Mistrust and fear overtook Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s when many major players in the movie industry were shunned, blacklisted, and even jailed over their beliefs. It’s not hard to see why such a time would be appealing to a filmmaker, and in fact, Jay Roach’s Trumbo is hardly the first […]
Argo Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Ben Affleck’s Argo will make you rethink how much you complain about going through customs at the airport. It seems unfathomable that such a typically mundane and slow-moving event could lead to the tensest bit of American filmmaking so far this year, but that’s what Affleck does with this, his third film. […]
Rock of Ages Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) “I wanna rock!” exclaimed Twisted Sister in its famous 1984 song. It’s safe to assume most men and women attending Adam Shankman’s Rock of Ages would feel the same way. Well, hopefully they don’t mind Glee-style bastardizations of their beloved rock anthems because that’s Rock of Ages‘ modus operandi. Its numbers are […]
John Carter Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) It’s hard to believe a film so skillfully crafted and brimming with so many ideas could elicit such a blah reaction. But this is John Carter. Director Andrew Stanton‘s live-action debut is a hodgepodge of epic battles, clunky dialogue, interesting mythology, and trite romance. Much has been made of the film’s massive […]
Drive Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Drive occupies a totally unique space on the cinematic continuum, existing somewhere among Death Wish, Double Indemnity, Batman, and Miami Vice. However, it’s not the pulse-pounding, excitement-generating movie you might expect. It unfolds at a very slow pace, and the plot is kept to a minimum. The film instead relies on style […]
Contagion Review
RATING: (4 STARS) By staying away from the familiar conventions of most thrillers, Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion manages to reach a level of believability and natural tension that I thought impossible out of a film like this. There are no chases, nor are there any heroes and villains. In fact, the characters in Contagion take a […]
The Lincoln Lawyer Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The Lincoln Lawyer is the perfect kind of March movie. It’s not all that challenging, and it follows the formula of its genre to a T, but it’s quite entertaining. The script is well-developed, and Matthew McConaughey—yes, that Matthew McConaughey—turns out a surprisingly good performance. The ending tries too hard to wrap […]
