Captain America: Civil War Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) During the much-hyped battle between the Avengers and Friends in Captain America: Civil War, one combatant, with tongue firmly in cheek, remarks, “Everyone’s got a gimmick.” Indeed, every one does, and Civil War is “The One with Black Panther and the New Spider-Man”. Marvel movies are hardly identifiable anymore — assuming they […]
Avengers: Age of Ultron Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Because it begins, ends, and is about something, Avengers: Age of Ultron already has a leg up on most other Marvel movies. And boy, it needs that leg up because there are times when this feels like one of the laziest studio movies in years. At other times, however, it reaches the […]
Iron Man 3 Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Whatever Marvel movie followed The Avengers was going to struggle to overcome the scaling back that, in this franchise’s very particular case, was unavoidable. Marvel movies, for better or worse, never take place in a vacuum, and for four years and five films, this studio was building toward something massive and unprecedented. […]
Flight Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Robert Zemeckis’ Flight is a minor miracle of a film that depicts—in absolutely stunning fashion—a real miracle. Or a fictional miracle based on a tragedy—the 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which killed everyone onboard. Still, Zemeckis’ direction of the plane crash at the heart of the film, Denzel Washington’s killer […]
The Guard Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) The Guard is the better-looking, funnier, and more interesting younger brother of 2008’s In Bruges. Coincidently (or perhaps not), it’s written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, brother to In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh. That irony is funny in and of itself, but really, The Guard is quite a good little film. […]
Brooklyn’s Finest Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Director Antoine Fuqua is more than capable of creating a compelling crime drama. His Training Day proved that. But his latest, Brooklyn’s Finest, is a frustrating hodgepodge of cop-movie clichés and unfocused ideas. The film’s structure is great. It recalls Crash, and sets up a film that seeks to explain a different […]
Iron Man 2 Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Iron Man 2 could’ve been a disaster. The film was rushed out only two years after its predecessor captured the hearts (and dollars) of audiences across the country. The high number of new characters made me shudder—thinking of the disastrous Spider-Man 3. And while the post-credits teaser after the original “Iron Man†[…]
