Category: The Twenty-First Century
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John Carter [2012]
It wouldn’t be fair to describe “John Carter” as a failed attempt. It may have been a box office disaster (Disney expected the film would generate a loss of about $200 million!!), but plot-wise, it’s not that bad. I never read Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novels about Carter and the planet Mars, but apparently, various filmmakers have…
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Comme Un Chef [2012] ★★½
I’ve been in the grip of a bad cold for almost 4 days; I somehow managed to work a little bit on my blog, but I hadn’t seen a movie since Tuesday (which in my book is about a century). By Friday afternoon I was frustrated, so I did what I’ve always done when I’m feeling…
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Goon [2012] ★★
I’ve tried to make my peace with what is known as “The New Vulgarity”, as Hollywood has jumped on the R-rated comedy bandwagon, but it isn’t always easy. Luckily enough, Sean William Scott (a.k.a “The Stiffmeister) gives it his best as a hockey player whose main function is to beat up the players on the other…
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Contraband [2012]
“Contraband” is the kind of movie that gives Hollywood a bad name. I haven’t seen the 2008 Icelandic film on which it’s based, but I guess it was intriguing enough to convince the filmmakers to remake it, this time in English. Bad move. I like both Mark Wahlberg and Giovanni Ribisi and I hate to see…
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The Raven [2012]
“The Raven” is far from the disaster it’s been made out to be in some circles (for more info, check rotten tomatoes)…nor is it an unqualified success. It has enough production values and twists to keep you entertained for almost two hours. From what I’ve read so far, critics’ reaction was all over the map.…
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This Must Be The Place [2011]
Evaluating any movie is a matter of personal taste. Filmmakers who deal in the bizarre naturally provoke bizarre reactions. That’s my way of saying that I wasn’t impressed with “This Must Be The Place”, the latest movie from director Paolo Sorentino. This is not to say that the movie doesn’t have so many good attributes, because…
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The Awakening [2011]
Following the Spanish flu and World War I, the opening titles tell us “This is a time for ghosts.” Rebecca Hall (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, “The Town”) acquits herself admirably as skeptic Florence Cathcart who believes it’s a time for debunking ghosts instead. She’s the author of the book “Seeing Through Ghosts” and she is hired by teacher Robert…
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The Deep Blue Sea [2012]
Rachel Weisz teams up with director Terence Davies in “The Deep Blue Sea”, a sad and heartbreaking tale of love gone beautifully right and amazingly wrong. Davies masterfully adapted the film, based on the play by Terence Rattigan, with an incredible eye for details. It’s a simple story for sure, set in 1950, but the film…
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American Reunion [2012] ★★½
“American Pie” hit theaters in 1999, which in Bieber years is about a century ago. The movie was followed by two decent enough sequels and another four unrelated direct to DVD films. Did we need another installment? Not really. But writer Adam Herz and director John Hurwitz, who’ve been working this gig for a while now,…
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The Darkest Hour [2011]
For a variety of reasons (mainly the 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), I had low expectations for this science fiction yarn, and even lower expectations for its CGI effects. As it turns out, the film was slightly better than I expected, while the effects were even worse. This is not to say that the movie…
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Act Of Valor [2012]
It’s hard for me to review a movie like “Act Of Valor” because technically, it’s not even a movie. In fact, it’s a tribute to real-life Navy SEALs, the heroes who took down Osama bin Laden. Nothing wrong with that. And as a documentary, it would have been perfect. Unfortunately, this ain’t a documentary, and while…
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The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2012]
Can I tell you how delightful this movie is? As far as I’m concerned, Judy Dench and Maggie Smith are worth the price of admission all by themselves. That the film is smart and entertaining is icing on the cake. I expect savvy storytelling from John Madden, who directed “Shakespeare In Love”, which gave juicy, colorful…
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Ghost Rider 2: Spirit Of Vengeance [2012]
Beware! The 21st century has officially become a no-fly zone for good movies. Say “Crap” while I call out recent Nicolas Cage screw-ups: “The Wicker Man”, “Next”, “Ghost Rider”, “Bangkok Dangerous”, “Season of the Witch”, “Drive Angry”, “Seeking Justice” and “Trespass” (what a list!). But that’s not all. The Nic Cage epidemic continues with the…
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Gone [2012]
After starring in the God-awful “Red Riding Hood”, Amanda Seyfried moved on to fresher fields. Lol. Not really. I’d like to extoll the virtues of a great thriller, but “Gone” isn’t it. Instead, it comes off as an incredibly dull movie that offers absolutely nothing new to table. Seyfried plays Jill, a supposed survivor of a…
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Wrath Of The Titans [2012]
The folks at Warner Brothers Lebanon were nice enough to invite me to the premiere of “Wrath Of The Titans”, the sequel to 2010’s “Clash Of The Titans”. If you’re familiar with the first movie, you’ll know that the meat of the picture lies in its action scenes and visual effects. At the screening I…
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We Bought A Zoo [2011]
As someone who, doesn’t care much for movies featuring animals (no “Animal House” does not count), I felt comforted by the presence of an actor I admire, Matt Damon. Given the cheesy nature of the story, about a grieving widower with two kids who buys a zoo and learns a thing or two about life,…
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The Hunger Games [2012]
You need an actor with the dramatic heft of Donald Sutherland to deliver the eight words that vile his character’s hisses here with such lip-smacking relish: “May the odds be ever in your favor”. “The Hunger Games”, the screen version of Suzanne Collins’ novel about a sixteen-year-old girl who volunteers to compete in a televised battle in which only…
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Mirror Mirror [2012]
Have you noticed how many times Hollywood has ruined your favorite childhood stories? To me, this only compounds the offense. The stories that brightened my childhood with vivid imagination has been pummeled by such overblown productions as “The Cat In The Hat” and “Alice In Wonderland”. Now comes “Mirror Mirror”, a bright shiny film that flatters…
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One For The Money [2012]
The worst movie of the year so far has a good chance to retain the title for all of 2012. Ripping off a few lousy comedies, “One For The Money” manages not only to be bad, but to drill a hole deeper into the scum. Yep that’s Katherine Heigl again (the perpetrator of such misfires…
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A Separation [2011] ★★★½
This year’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language is raw and riveting, and that’s what makes it so effective. “A Separation”, written and directed by Asghar Farhadi is a pileup of horrors, and Farhadi does little to lighten the burden. You won’t find yourself smiling or feeling good after the credits start rolling. Instead, the movie…
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