Category: The Twenty-First Century

Being completely unfamiliar with the story, I came to this movie as a blank state, with no expectations. After a solid start, I was enveloped in the spirit of an old fashioned good cop bad cop story. I only wish I felt the same way when the film ended. “The Guard” feels like one of…

Unlike most series I’ve watched, this one has improved greatly over the years. It seems that Tom Cruise was only warming up when he kicked the shit out of Philip Seymour Hoffman at the end of “MI3”. I never expected to see another sequel. But now it’s here, and I can safely say that it’s…

From the producer of “Shaun Of The Dead” comes “Attack The Block”, a jacked up horror comedy that puts a gang of London thugs against outer space invaders. The script isn’t always steady on its feet, but the actors score knockouts. It has no real headlining stars (with the exception of Nick Frost), it was…

Leave it to Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Jack Black to use the Muppets not as a gimmick, but as a means of drawing us into a unique and magical world. Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Animal, Fozzie Bear and the other Muppets have been absent from our lives for so many years. As far as…

I’m a bit late coming to this movie, but having heard good buzz, I expected nothing less than a great piece of work from director George Clooney. I guess this is my way of saying that I was a bit disappointed by “The Ides Of March”. But at least I can begin with a positive…

A movie with an intriguing story ought to have a finale that doesn’t remind you of some cheesy action film. Sadly, such is the case with “The Debt”, a Nazi-hunting thriller starring Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Chastain. The cast is ace, and the story pulls you in as soon as it…

There are cellphones and laptops in this remake of 1971’s “Straw Dogs”. Otherwise, it’s hard to tell the difference. The old “Straw Dogs” had Dustin Hoffman in the lead, and the subject was pretty controversial for its time. So controversial in fact, that the British Board of Film Censors banned the film from being released on…

When a film has so many attributes, including a superior performance by 81 year old Christopher Plummer, it’s tempting to overlook its shortcomings. That wouldn’t be completely honest, but at least I can say that “Beginners” has plenty going for it. Ewan McGregor dominates every scene as Oliver, a 38 year old man whose attempt…

John Carpenter’s 1982 film “The Thing” was a remake of “The Thing from Another World”, released in 1951. Both movies are classics. Now Hollywood has blessed us with yet another remake (or prequel), this time starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Kate Lloyd, a paleontologist recruited by renowned scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) to accompany him…

A bittersweet love story is always a risky move, especially in Hollywood. All the more reason to see “Like Crazy”, which is anything but formulaic. At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the movie captured top jury honors and a Best Actress prize for newcomer Felicity Jones. Not yet convinced? Wait till you see Anton Yelchin (“The Beaver”, “Fright…

I had 3 hours to kill on a plane back home, so I decided to give “Columbiana” a try. Boy did it suck. My expectations towards movies tend to go down when it comes to certain genres. Girls with guns is one of these type of movies (both “Tomb Raiders” films sucked in my opinion). I…

There are many ways to describe Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein’s oldest son. But I’ll say only this:  he’s a nut-case. It’s a killer role for Dominic Cooper, who plays both Uday and Latif Yahia, his body double. Yahia is thrust into Uday’s world. This is a world filled with rape, torture, murder, drugs, sex and money.…

My problem with “Our Idiot Brother” has nothing to do with Paul Rudd, who’s a pleasure to watch in almost anything. But despite his pleasant performance, the movie feels a lot like a TV episode turned into a feature film. That didn’t bother me at first. But at some point, you can feel the life…

I think it’s safe to say that so far, Anne Hathaway has proved she can play a princess, a businesswoman, a drug addict, a parkinson’s disease patient…hell she can even play Jane Austen. The question is: can she do an English accent? The answer would be no no no. I know this shouldn’t really bother…