Category: The Twenty-First Century
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A Walk Among The Tombstones [2014] ★★½
Formulaic as though it may be, “A Walk Among The Tombstones” is wildly entertaining: a whodunit thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat…at least for a while. It’s also a great vehicle for Liam Neeson, who plays private detective Matt Scudder, a character originally created by mystery writer Lawrence Block in a series of…
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The Maze Runner [2014] ★★★
Here’s something I never expected to say at this point in the movie season but the first installment of James Dashner’s futuristic series is exciting and entertaining to watch. The book was published in 2009 and instantly became a New York Times best-seller. It’s certainly easy to see why now: In adapting Dashner’s novel, director Wes Ball has…
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The Giver [2014] ★★½
Enthralling and frustrating…grandiose and gimmicky. “The Giver” is all of these and more. It’s always interesting to watch filmmakers you admire take on the impossible. Lois Lowry’s Newberry Award-winning 1993 novel is a tough book to translate onscreen. And nobody makes it to the top. A story about a future without pain, war, suffering and love is…
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Let’s Be Cops [2014] ★½
Lame, one joke comedy about two losers who decide to “play” cops just for the fun of it, with disastrous (pun intended) results. I could go on, but do I really have to? Rating: 1.5/4
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No Good Deed [2014] ★½
If you’re wondering why most studios dump their worst movies in September, buy a ticket to see “No Good Deed”, the latest crap from director Sam Miller. Meanwhile, here’s a memo to Taraji P. Henson: You were so good as Queenie in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” , so why’d you go spoil everything with a cheesy…
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Life Of Crime [2014] ★★
Unlike The Coen’s brothers’ masterpiece “Fargo”, I wasn’t swept away by “Life of Crime”, a movie with similar plot. I certainly appreciate the 1970s period flavor, the funny dialogue in writer/director Daniel Schechter’s screenplay, and the showcase it provides for a group of talented actors. However, about halfway through the movie I came to the realization…
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Before I Go To Sleep [2014] ★★½
This thriller starring Nicole Kidman is a psychological stunt, but a damn intriguing one. Kidman gives a solid performance as Christine Lucas, a woman who suffers from a severe case of amnesia. She wakes up every day thinking she is still in college only to be confronted in the mirror with the face of a 40-year-old. Her…
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Begin Again [2014] ★★★
Summer brings out the big guns in Hollywood with blockbusters ready to crush any movie that values simplicity and sincere emotion. Well, don’t let summer squash “Begin Again”, the new musical drama from writer-director John Carney, who did such a fine job with “Once” a few years ago (and won an Oscar as a result). “Begin Again” may…
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If I Stay [2014] ★★
I’ll leave it to the experts to explore why so many of today’s youth-oriented novels/movies are dramatic, if not downright cheesy. “If I stay” is the latest example, based on Gayle Forman’s best-seller, and like other similar stories, it will make you cry. Or at least try. Fortunately, this story has a good actress in the lead and…
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Sin City: A Dame To Kill For [2014] ★★½
The worst thing I can say about this brutal, sexy and surprisingly enjoyable screen translation of two stories from Frank Miller’s Sin City series of graphic novels is that it’s a sequel. The first film was released in 2005 and it was damn good. Naturally, fanboys expected a follow-up. But they had to wait nine long…
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Boyhood [2014] ★★★½
Artistic ambition can be a bitch for filmmakers. Stanley Kubrick was initially slammed in 1968 for aiming so high with “2001: A Space Odyssey”, now considered a classic. Lucky for him, and us, writer/director Richard Linklater (the genius behind the “Before Sunrise” trilogy) follows his own rigorous path. Whatever a modern story about boyhood is, Linklater’s…
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The November Man [2014] ★½
Wanna see a spy thriller that feels like leftovers from Pierce Brosnan’s days as James Bond? If so,”The November Man” is the movie for you. Brosnan plays an ex-CIA agent named Devereaux, who is pulled back into service by his old mates for one “final” mission and winds up in the middle of some conspiracy…
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The Hundred-Foot Journey [2014] ★★★
When a film about food has a solid cast led by the amazing Helen Mirren, you can’t go far wrong, which is exactly the case with Steven Knight’s adaptation of Richard C. Morais’ successful book. And who better to direct this delightful piece than Lasse Hallstrom, the man responsible for such films as “Chocolat”, “The…
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014] ★★½
If you grew up in the 90’s, you probably know that the Ninja Turtles were kind of a big deal back then. TV, video games, figurines…those guys were everywhere. The turtles live in the subways beneath Manhattan, where, exposed to radiation, they have grown into teenager-sized, intelligent creatures, and have been trained by their master…
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The Quiet Ones [2014] ★
Painfully boring horror movie about a Professor who conducts an experiment on a young girl who claims to be possessed by an “evil” entity. 10 bucks says you stopped reading after “painfully boring” and I don’t blame you. This derivative paranormal nonsense will encourage even die-hard horror fans to shout rude things at the screen.…
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Under The Skin [2014] ★★
Scarlett Johansson may be busy promoting her new movie “Lucy”, but earlier this year she was in a totally different Sci-Fi film called “Under The Skin”. I’ve taken many unusual cinematic journeys with so many different directors and enjoyed most of them, but I just couldn’t care for this one. I find this distressing because, on the face of it,…
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Lucy [2014] ★★½
“Lucy” is exactly what you would expect from a Luc Besson movie: it moves like a bullet, and almost never stops to take a deep breath (hence the short running time). This is beneficial, because the story doesn’t always make sense…but when a film is this energetic and entertaining, it would be a shame to…
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Into The Storm [2014] ★★
Disaster movie junkies may snap freeze their brains at “Into The Storm” just to see what a $50 million budget and an army of computers can do to show the horrors of a tornado. The small town of Silverton is invaded by a series of deadly tornadoes. That’s cue for a handful of folks to…
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The Expendables 3 [2014] ★★
I wanted to like this series. Really. Veteran action stars Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Jason Statham and Arnold Schwarzenegger out to prove they can still kick ass. What’s not to root for? But the weaknesses show in “The Expendables 3“, even with flashy editing and an enjoyable soundtrack. Like the previous movies, this sequel…
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