Author: tlkabtmovies
-
Avengers: Age of Ultron [2015] ★★★
Step up, Avengers junkies, and see the summer 2015 blockbuster that you’ve been waiting for since 2012. Like the first Avengers movie, “Age of Ultron” tries to stuff part of the Marvel universe (past, present and… future?) into one movie. The character overload may leave newbies dazed and confused. But fans are in for an exhilarating rush.…
-
Beyond The Reach [2015] ★★
You can’t blame Michael Douglas for trying. At 70, he looks ripped and ready, playing Madec, a billionaire businessman who loves hunting. Then there’s Jeremy Irvine, who plays Ben, a local guide who takes him to the Mojave Desert. Things get messy when Madec accidentally shoots a local man and Ben wants to abide by the law. But Madec has other plans…
-
5 To 7 [2015] ★★★
Here’s a surprising treat: a sweet, bracingly original, wholly entertaining film from writer director Victor Levin with a solid part for Anton Yelchin. In fact, every role is perfectly and inventively cast, which makes the movie almost hard to resist. The unusual plot involves aspiring writer Brian (Yelchin), who gets into a passionate love affair with a glamorous French woman (Bérénice Marlohe…
-
The Age Of Adaline [2015] ★★
Like a cute puppy, this romantic drama starring Blake Lively as a woman who doesn’t age will wag its tail so you’ll find it irresistible and take it home. Not this time. There’s nothing terribly wrong about “The Age of Adaline”, it’s just that it rarely rises to its potential. And the movie does have…
-
Tracers [2015] ★
Fun fact: Taylor Lautner can’t act. Not in “Twilight”. Not in “Abduction”. And definitely not in “Tracers”, his latest action misfire. Lautner plays Cam, a New York bicycle messenger that had me remembering Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s underrated “Premium Rush”. Anyway, Cam is also in debt. So he quickly joins a group of urban free-runners or “tracers” who use their skills…
-
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 [2015] ★
As if the 2009 original wasn’t endurance test enough, the sequel further cheapens the talents of Kevin James (once upon a time he was actually funny), reprising his role as Paul Blart (or fart), the famous mall cop who finds himself facing more bad guys, this time in… Las Vegas (how original!). Even Raini Rogriguez,…
-
Child 44 [2015] ★★★
Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy are two of the best actors on the planet. So the idea of teaming them up for a tense, Stalin era thriller seems more than promising. And the story is perfectly set up: we meet Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy), a war hero turned secret policeman in the U.S.S.R. His job involves hunting down suspected…
-
The Longest Ride [2015] ★★½
Based on yet another novel by Nicholas Sparks. I thought you should know that before you cringe and stop reading. But truth be told, “The Longest Ride” is better than most Sparks movies. Yes, it follows the same old formula we’ve come to expect from Mr. Sparks (“The Lucky One”, “Dear John”, “The Best of Me”…),…
-
The Forger [2015] ★★
John Travolta is well cast (believe it or not) as a thief who has to work with his father (the great Christopher Plummer) and son to forge a painting by Monet and steal the original. Sounds simple enough. But the film bites off more than it can chew, trying to tackle a difficult father-son relationship and a complex…
-
The Water Diviner [2014] ★★
A lot of people were full of praise when “The Water Diviner” was released back in December. I wasn’t. If looks were everything, Russel Crowe’s epic directorial debut would have been the movie of the year. But a corny script bloated with shameless sentimentality can wear you down. Crowe pushes way too hard (and it shows) as farmer…
-
Furious 7 [2015] ★★½
Vin Diesel called “Furious 7” a “labor of love”. It shows. Not when Jason Statham is onscreen, but trust me, you’ll know. Behind the clumsy script, cheesy dialogue, and awkward acting (exhibit A: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), there’s something irresistible about this installment. I watched the cars smashing and smiled. I watched Paul Walker in his last…
-
A Little Chaos [2015] ★★½
It’s difficult to dislike Professor Snape’s…oops I mean Alan Rickman’s second movie as a director. With a solid cast engaged in an intriguing love story, beautiful 17th century clothes, and the Palace of Versailles as a breathtaking backdrop, “A Little Chaos” has an abundance of eye candy and charm. It isn’t a great movie (far from it), and some people…
-
Get Hard [2015] ★★
Will Ferrell can find the dumb fun in anything. Whether he gets naked and shows his private parts or not, he makes me laugh. And he does it in good movies (“Elf”, “Old School”, “Anchorman”, “Talladega Nights”, “Blades of Glory”) and horrible movies (“Bewitched”, “Kicking and Screaming”). Hell, Ferrell is funny when he just drops into a movie for a…
-
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2015] ★★½
It’s called “The Second Best” for a reason: it’s basically the same movie as the 2012 original, minus the element of surprise. But who would want to miss the chance to see Brit acting royalty nailing every nuance in this comedy laced with genuine emotion? Not me that’s for sure. There’s Dame Judi Dench, who is now a buyer of …
-
Insurgent [2015] ★★
I’m not a fan of the first “Divergent” movie, released exactly a year ago. But for some reason, I had a feeling things will get more interesting with so much exposition out of the way. I was wrong. “Insurgent” is more of the same, and to be honest, I’m already dreading the idea of a…
-
The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death [2015] ★½
The first one (released in 2012) was a solid haunted house movie and a perfect vehicle for its leading man, Daniel Radcliffe. The plot wasn’t all that original, but the movie itself was atmospheric and the scares were pretty effective. The new one, this time around set during WWII, bored the shit out of me.…
-
The DUFF [2015] ★★½
Given my low expectations for any movie featuring high school kids, I was pleasantly surprised by “The DUFF”. Lindsay Lohan hit it big in 2004’s “Mean Girls”. Emma Stone did the same in 2010’s “Easy A”. “The DUFF”, a teen comedy loaded with killer laughs, does the same trick with Kody Keplinger’s novel. Director Ari Sandel plugs in live…
-
Cinderella [2015] ★★★
I didn’t expect to like the live-action version of “Cinderella” as much as I did. I love Disney and their classic animated movies but I’m not a huge fan of their live-action films (“Alice in Wonderland” and “Maleficent”, to name a few). In an era of movie redundancy and repetition, I suppose it’s pointless to question…
-
Run All Night [2015] ★★½
I don’t know about you, but after the horrible “Taken 3”, I was beginning to get Liam Neeson’ed out, at least as an action hero. The loose-cannon vibe that hooked us in the first “Taken”had completely disappeared in the third movie. So here’s the good news: “Run all Night” is far from being a disaster. It’s…
-
The Loft [2015] ★½
Horrible erotic thriller made by people who’ve never seen a decent thriller before. If you’re still with me, and I don’t blame you if you’re not, you probably want to know more. So here’s the setup: Five married guys decide to secretly share a penthouse loft in the city where they can fulfill their deepest fantasies…
Let's Talk About Movies 