Category: The Twenty-First Century
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Danny Collins [2015] ★★★
If you like, you can think of “Danny Collins” as the anti-blockbuster. It’s the opposite of an Event Movie for the summer season; instead, it’s an old-fashioned star vehicle, fashioned for the particular screen persona of Al Pacino, who can usually play these roles in his sleep, but adds something special every single time. As such, the movie…
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Tomorrowland [2015] ★★½
Brad Bird’s “Tomorrowland” has so many good ingredients, including a solid performance from George Clooney and some eye popping visual effects. Another good thing is the mystery of it all: Bird doesn’t play his cards too early and keeps us guessing at every turn. But I’ll say this much: George Clooney plays Frank Walker, a grumpy inventor who…
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Poltergeist [2015] ★★
Do we really need a remake of Tobe Hooper’s 1982 horror classic that spawned several sequels? Not really. But the people behind this remake knew that a few more bucks could be squeezed out of the Bowen family, whose suburban home is haunted by evil forces. You know the drill, unless you’ve never seen a horror movie before.…
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Ex Machina [2015] ★★½
Don’t get me wrong. Alex Garland’s “Ex Machina”, starring Domhnall Gleason as a coder who’s been chosen to spend a week with his reclusive billionaire boss (Oscar Isaacs, almost unrecognizable) in order to test his latest artificial intelligence invention (Alicia Vikander) is a major accomplishment. It relies more on thought provoking ideas than eye popping visual effects and…
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Wild [2014] ★★★
Took me some time to finally watch Reese Witherspoon’s Oscar nominated performance in “Wild”, but I’m glad I did. She is the focal point here and the reason the film is worth seeing. The picture itself is earnest and well-made, but it remains earthbound while its leading lady soars to greatness. Based on Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling book, “Wild” tells…
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Pitch Perfect 2 [2015] ★★½
It doesn’t break any new ground, but “Pitch Perfect 2” provides lively entertainment as it builds on a template that’s familiar to anyone who’s seen such movies as “Bring it On” and “Step Up”. Once again, the people behind this comedy use an engaging cast and a selection of popular songs (energetically recreated by several choral groups)…
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Mad Max: Fury Road [2015] ★★★
Maybe you never heard of Mad Max, the 1979 cult movie starring Mel Gibson. Or maybe you think a big-ass reboot isn’t worth your time and money. Snap out of it. “Mad Max: Fury Road” does the impossible. Through dazzle and spectacular action scenes, it turns the cliche of Hollywood reboots on their heads and…
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Suite Française [2015] ★★★
If there can be such a thing as a sweet, reflective fable about love during WWII, “Suite Française” is it. Based on the best selling novel by Irène Némirovsky, who perished in Auschwitz in 1942 before she could finish her book (her daughter finally took care of it and published it in 2004 to worldwide acclaim), the film…
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La Famille Bélier [2014] ★★★
I’m a bit late coming to this movie, but having heard good feedback, I was looking forward to it. It’s easy to see why now. “La Famille Bélier” is a charming, funny film with winning performances; in short, a crowd-pleaser. Louane Emera (a semi-finalist in the second season of The Voice France) plays Paula, a young girl…
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Hot Pursuit [2015] ★★
Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”) can be funny. Reese Witherspoon is a great actress who can play comedy or drama equally well (see “Walk The Line”). They both deserve a better vehicle than this mildly funny, forgettable comedy that shamelessly rips off every road movie ever made. Witherspoon plays Cooper, a by-the-book San Antonio cop assigned to escort Daniella (Vergara),…
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It Follows [2015] ★★★
If you’re a sucker for horror movies, then “It Follows” is the scarefest for you. It’s one of the best and most original horror flicks I’ve seen in a very long time. Writer-director David Robert Mitchell has clearly been inspired by the likes of John Carpenter and Wes Craven. But Mitchell adds something extra special to this…
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Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet [2015] ★★½
Khalil Gibran’s timeless masterpiece is among the most popular poetry books ever written, selling over 100 million copies in forty languages since its publication in 1923. And when people talk about it with affection and even passion, one could always hope that a screen adaptation can find some way to replicate those feelings. But let’s face it: even good…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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”…),…
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