The Impossible Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The Impossible tells a very micro-level story about one of the greatest natural disasters in human history. It’s set before, during, and after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that affected men and women in dozens of countries on the Indian Ocean, including Thailand, where Henry (Ewan McGregor), Maria (Naomi Watts), and their […]
Haywire Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) If the ultimate point of Haywire, the latest film from famously eclectic director Steven Soderbergh, is to show off the ass-kicking skills of the film’s star (MMA fighter Gina Carano), it’s a rousing success. Carano’s fight scenes are surprising, innovative, and spectacular, but the film in which they live is a limp […]
Perfect Sense Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Another year, another apocalypse movie. In Perfect Sense, however, the end of the world comes with a delicious twist. It’s not another planet coming to destroy us (a la Melancholia), nor is it necessarily a Contagion-like epidemic. Rather, it’s the sudden and inexplicable loss of our senses. Director David Mackenzie utilizes an […]
Beginners Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Beginners is a snooze. Plain and simple. And I really don’t like dismissing it so bluntly because it’s a very personal story. Director Mike Mills based Beginners, at least in part, on his own life—specifically, the material dealing with the main character’s elderly father who comes out of the closet after his […]
I Love You Phillip Morris Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Anyone who knows me knows my issues with Jim Carrey as a comedian. He’s not a bad actor—Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind showed us that. But his comedic style is way too spastic and over-the-top for my tastes. I Love You Phillip Morris features perhaps the first such performance from Carrey […]
The Ghost Writer Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The Ghost Writer is an interesting enough thriller from director Roman Polanski, but there’s just nothing great about it. It keeps you at a distance for its first two-thirds before finally allowing you to become absorbed in it. Its subject is intriguing, and Polanski’s direction is quite good, so I’m recommending it. […]
Angels and Demons Review
RATING: (1 STAR) I think I might be one of roughly fifty people in the world who hasn’t read any of Dan Brown’s mega-best-selling Robert Langdon books. I tried to read “The DaVinci Code,†but I couldn’t get into it. That being said, I actually kind of enjoyed “The DaVinci Code,†the generally reviled big […]
The Men Who Stare at Goats Review
RATING: (2 STARS) The opening of “The Men Who Stare at Goats†tells the viewer “more of this is true than you would believe.†But it’s definitely not more entertaining than I believed. With a cast that features George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey, how could you go wrong? Well, this film […]
Amelia Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) How can a film about one of the most legendary figures of the 20th century, who has such a mysterious story, be so bland? Neither the performances of Hilary Swank and Richard Gere, nor the direction Mira Nair (in my opinion, a great filmmaker) can get this film off the ground. I […]
