The Forgaughtens: Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Slevin. SLEVIN! If I asked you to tell me what a movie called Lucky Number Slevin was about, and you said, “It’s probably about a terrible case of mistaken identity that gets a man in a towel caught between two brutal crime lords,” well you’d be right, but I’m pretty sure you’d have cheated. Anyway, […]
Lucy Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Lucy is a puzzling film insofar as it’s both fantastically inspired and utter garbage, and it’s really hard to tell where the two opposing qualities begin and end. On the one hand, director Luc Besson imbues the film with an energy heretofore untapped in science-fiction films that don’t have the word “Star” […]
The LEGO Movie Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) The very idea that something called The LEGO Movie was being made was enough to send shivers down the spine of anyone with good cinematic taste or a mind for originality. You know those critics who think they need to write to save cinema? The announcement of a feature-length LEGO movie was […]
Olympus Has Fallen Review
RATING: (3 STARS) While far from great cinema, Olympus Has Fallen, from director Antoine Fuqua, delivers exactly what it promises. It’s a patriotism-soaked exercise in John McClane-esque badassery. Was my red, white, and blue blood boiling while North Korean extremists swooped in and took the White House? Yes. Were my knuckles white with excitement while […]
The Dark Knight Rises Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) With The Dark Knight Rises, the stirring finale to the wildly successful post-millennial Batman trilogy, director and cowriter Christopher Nolan laughs in the face of staggeringly high expectations and gives us perhaps the grandest of all superhero movies. The movie itself is this big, hulking monster—not unlike its main villain—but its flaws […]
Red Review
RATING: (3 STARS) It’s hard to watch Red and not smile at least a little. Of course, it’s absolutely ridiculous, but it never takes itself too seriously. Is it as funny as it could have been? Probably not (I think an R-rating would have done the film wonders), but you’ll almost certainly have a good […]
Se7en Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Se7en is one of the darkest serial-killer films of all-time. It contains a truly twisted killer and one of the most brutal endings I’ve ever seen in film. It has obtained real cult status since its release in 1995 and helped put director David Fincher on the map. I don’t believe it’s […]
Driving Miss Daisy Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Of all the Best Picture winners I’ve seen, I think Driving Miss Daisy might be the one I’m most surprised won the award. There are some among the 82 distinguished films that are so ambitious and different that it’s a marvel they were acknowledged (Midnight Cowboy and No Country for Old Men […]
The Dark Knight Review
RATING: (4 STARS) The sequel to the excellent “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” is only the best superhero movie of all time. And the contest isn’t even close. Director Christopher Nolan creates such a dark world, it’s hard to believe this is the same character as played by George Clooney (remember the bat-nipples?). For something […]
Million Dollar Baby Review
RATING: (4 STARS) It was supposed to be the year of Martin Scorsese. The Aviator had all the makings of an Oscar darling—it was a biopic with great acting, direction, and technical features. But all of a sudden, at the end of December, a little film called “Million Dollar Baby†gets released and knocks just […]
The Shawshank Redemption Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) It’s the highest rated film of all-time on IMDb, but is “The Shawshank Redemption†worthy of that title? Well, no. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a powerful look at the prison system and raises questions regarding what it means to be guilty […]
Gone Baby Gone Review
RATING: (4 STARS) “Gone Baby Gone†is a brutal film that raises some really tough questions. It features some exceptional direction (by rookie filmmaker Ben Affleck) and some terrific acting, but it never quite caught on with audiences. Nor did it catch on with the Academy. For that reason, it qualifies as one of the […]
Invictus Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Clint Eastwood’s career this decade has followed an interesting trajectory. He started out with the pure popcorn “Space Cowboys” and the instantly forgettable thriller “Blood Work.” His next two trips behind the camera, however, resulted in two of the finest films of the decade, “Mystic River” and “Million Dollar Baby.” Those hoping […]
