Category: The Twenty-First Century

 “Larry Crowne” might not be a great movie, but the characters in it have words they actually  say, and after the horrible experience I had to endure while watching “Transformers 3″, that is a great relief. When a film covers familiar grounds, as this one, it had better offer an original point of view, or at…

  Just because you’re a fan of those dumb robots, doesn’t mean that “Transformers 3″ is any good. I admit: the first movie caught me off guard, with its solid premise and clever use of CGI. But then came the dreadful part two, which still holds the record for being the worst sequel since “Jason X”…

Director Zack Snyder has been very successful so far, with movies like “300″ and the underrated “Watchmen” on his résumé. Now he has directed and co-written yet another film that takes place in an artificial environment, with characters and story as strange as its title. I’ll go ahead and say that I was terribly disappointed.…

If stupidity is the message, then “Bad Teacher” is a masterpiece. I didn’t expect much going in, as I tend to be whenever a Hollywood movie announces through its advertising how hilarious it’s going to be. The only hilarious thing here is watching Jason Segel make a fool out of himself playing a gym teacher…

Ever since her breakthrough role in “Atonement” four years ago (which earned her an Academy Award nomination), Saoirse Ronan has proven herself to be one of the best actresses of her generation and a world class talent. In “Hanna”, she carries much of the story on her shoulders, playing the daughter of an ex CIA…

After a few bad films, I realized John Carpenter could fuck up every movie he’d direct for the rest of his career, and I would still admire the man for his work. “Halloween” and “The Thing” were among his best, and even if his career continues to resemble movies like “The Ward”, he will still be…

If Mars needs moms, so be it. But I don’t think earth needs this movie at all. The folks at Walt Disney Pictures obviously weren’t thinking on a very high level when they decided to make this film, which is definitely the worst they could come up with in nearly a decade. There is no…

Somebody must have drugged me. I left “Green Lantern” feeling dazed and insulted, wondering how bad things happened to one of the most anticipated movies of the year. To quote Mr. Chow (from “The Hangover”), “I want answers, bitches”. Truth be told, I was expecting something huge. Afterall, the people involved in this mess are…

In a season of Superheroes, J.J Abrams (“Lost”, “Cloverfield”, “Star Trek”) gambles on an old school adventure flick, the kind Mr. Steven Spielberg used to make. It isn’t coincidential really, since everything about “Super 8” has Spielberg written all over it. If you’re wondering if it’s any good, I can put your mind at ease by telling…

Topher Grace ditches the 70’s and joins this moderate comedy set in the 80’s as Matt Franlkin, an MIT graduate working at suncoast video while deciding what to do with his life. The answer? Party hard. In a Mercedes stolen by his best pal Barry (also the biggest doofus you’ll ever meet), Matt decides to go to a party hosted…

Keanu Reeves stars in this so so heist/comedy movie as an everyman who returns from his night job one morning, and agrees to join an acquaintance in a baseball game as a susbsitute for another guy. Tough luck. The game turns out to be nonexistent. Instead, poor Henry ends up the accidental wheelman in a…

I loved the first “Kung Fu Panda” movie, which introduced the unlikeliest of action heroes-a funny, overweight panda named Po (voiced by a fabulous Jack Black), in a fresh and hilarious underdog tale. Let’s put it this way: I think it’s the best animated film to come out of Dreamworks Studios. Period. With that in mind, I couldn’t…

If you’re a girl and/or ten years old, “Beastly” is the movie event of the year. It’s a lame adaptation of Alex Flinn’s novel that flatters itself by pretending to be a modern day update of the beloved “The Beauty and the Beast”. You wish. Alex Pettyfer (who is not enjoying a good introduction to movie audiences following  his…

Extremely unfunny movie starring Jason Schwartzman as Marc Pease, a limo driver with singing aspirations and a bad case of post high school depression. Once upon a time, he flipped out during his school’s production of “The Wiz”, despite every assurance from his drama teacher Mr. Gribble (a wasted Ben Stiller) that he can do it…

Ever wondered how it all began? How Charles Xavier became to be Professor X and Erik Lehnsherr his nemesis Magneto? Of course you have. Now 11 years after the first “X-Men” movie, and 2 years after its spin-off “Wolverine”, “First Class” reinvents the franchise in a refreshingly new way. From the opening scene, the film sends all the…

Unless director Catherine Hardwicke (“Twilight”) is willing to shoulder some of the blame, it’s useless to try and figure out why “Red Riding Hood” is so bad. I stuck with it till the bitter end, but I’m not proud of that achievement and wouldn’t recommend that anyone follow my lead. Amanda Seyfried plays the title…

I think we can all agree that the first “Hangover” movie was a huge success, both critically and financially. So I guess it was just a matter of time before a follow-up was to be made. Confession: Im always precautious when it comes to sequels. So I went in with no particular expectations, and what I…

I don’t give a crap about Mel Gibson or his personal problems. The man’s a terrific actor, and that’s all that mattered to me when I sat down to watch “The Beaver”. I didn’t want to read any of the negative reviews prior to watching it, so I went in cold, and I’m glad I did. It’s an odd little film…

Who needs Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom when you can get Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane? So ballsy. And while this fourth installment lacks the freshness of the first “Pirates” movie, the good news is:  it’s far more superior than “Dead Man’s Chest” and the dreadful “At World’s End”. Director Rob Marshall, in for Gore Verbinski (who…