Category: The Twenty-First Century
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Reasonable Doubt [2014] ★½
In this boring thriller, district attorney Dominic Cooper (a decent actor) commits a fatal hit and run after a night of drinking. When Clinton (Samuel L. Jackson), a man who lost his wife and child in a deadly home invasion, is charged with killing the man Dominic struck, the lawyer works hard to convict the…
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Non-Stop [2014] ★★½
In “Taken”, Liam Neeson played a former CIA operative who was able to outsmart a sex trafficking ring when his daughter was kidnapped. Audiences (including me) responded well to his take-charge character. His latest film, “Non-Stop”, by Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra (who previously worked with Neeson on “Unknown”) casts the always watchable actor in a…
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About Last Night [2014] ★★½
Audiences gearing up for something sweet like “Endless Love” or “Winter’s Tale” need to adjust. Of all the romantic movies playing at the multiplex, “About Last Night” is probably the only one worth watching. Am I saying it’s a great movie? Not I’m not. But the film lucks out in director Steve Pink (“Hot Tub…
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Oldboy [2013] ★½
The original “Oldboy”, directed by Park Chan-Wook is a powerful tale of revenge and a Korean cult classic. The new one, directed by the ambitious Spike Lee doesn’t deserve a review at all. It needs to be buried and forgotten. Rating: 1.5/4
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Pompeii [2014] ★★
What can you say about a movie that stars Kiefer Sutherland as a cruel Roman Senator? Some viewers (including me) may have silliness on their minds and I don’t blame them. I even felt a certain amount of wrath over the cheesy 3D effects, but the film itself isn’t as bad as I thought it…
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Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues [2013] ★★★
I’m a bit biased when it comes to Ron Burgundy and his Channel 4 news team. But can you blame me? The first movie was a super hit back in 2004 and it made an even bigger star out of Will Ferrell. A decade later and Ferrell is still the go-to guy if you want…
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The Monuments Men [2014] ★★½
George Clooney’s fifth shot as a director (following “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, “Good Night and Good Luck”, “Leatherheads” and “The Ides of March”) is a wacky World War II film based on a remarkable true story about a mission to save precious works of art during Hitler’s reign. Call it Ocean’s Eleven in helmets…
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Nebraska [2013] ★★★
Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” is basically an old fashioned road movie with terrific acting, beautiful cinematography and a delightful soundtrack. Watching a film as mature, moving and thoughtful as this one renews my faith in American movies and reaffirms Payne’s status as one of the most unique storytellers of his generation. He has also bestowed the…
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Endless Love [2014] ★★
Unlike popular belief, I have nothing against romantic movies. But ever since 2004’s “The Notebook” became the ultimate choice in chick flicks (mainly because of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams), the cheesy bestsellers of Nicholas Sparks have ignited a plague of Hollywood movies. “Nights in Rodanthe”, “The Last Song”, “Safe Haven” to name a few.…
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Winter’s Tale [2014]
Next to Thierry’s Friends’ crappy gadgets, I can’t think of a worse Valentine’s gift than a ticket to see “Winter’s Tale”. How much I hate this movie? let me count the ways. I hate the way Hollywood insults audiences by deciding a surrealistic love story is what we need for Valentine’s week. I hate the…
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The Past [2013] ★★★½
Writer/Director Asghar Farhadi made a strong impression with his Oscar winning feature “A Separation” a couple of years ago. His latest movie, “The Past”, isn’t an Oscar contender this year but that’s no reason for you to skip it. Much like his previous film, “The Past” dramatizes a credible situation and holds you in its…
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The Lego Movie [2014] ★★½
I’ve been rooting for this big screen adaption of “Lego” for a while now, and now that the movie is finally here, it gave me a lot to cheer for: a fresh concept and clever execution to match it. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have directed this feature with a sharp eye, but winning over…
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Philomena [2013] ★★★
Judi Dench has emerged as one of the finest actresses alive, in films like “Shakespeare in Love”, “Iris” and “”Notes on a Scandal”. With her performance in “Philomena”, she reaches a new plateau, playing a real-life Irish woman named Philomena Lee, who had sex fifty years ago, gave birth to a child at a local…
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RoboCop [2014] ★★★
Good news, RoboCop fans. Jose Padilha’s remake adheres to the character’s roots and in a way, proves superior to the 1987 version starring Peter Weller. I admit: I had low expectations at first. As it turns out, the film was way better than I expected, and I mean way way better. The 1987 movie was…
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Lone Survivor [2013] ★★★
“Lone Survivor”, about a Navy Seal team who went behind enemy lines to kill a Taliban leader in Afghanistan in 2005 opened in limited release in December (the official wide opening date was January 10th) to qualify for year-end awards. The fact that the movie collected two Oscar nominations should suggest how good it is.…
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Filth [2013] ★½
Nothing against James McAvoy (who was good in so many movies) or his director Jon S. Baid, but my patience drowned while trying to swallow this atrocity. McAvoy plays a self-obsessed bipolar detective who hallucinates, blackmails, boozes and drugs his way around Edinburgh, trying to solve a murder case but actually getting lost in his…
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Grand Piano [2013] ★★½
Ok, the movie is pretty similar to 2002’s “Phone Booth”, in which Colin Farell was trapped in a booth by a sniper. In “Grand Piano”, we’re in a concert hall and Elijah Wood plays a world class pianist who finds himself forced to play flawlessly or have his wife gunned down by a madman. What’s…
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