Category: GENRE
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The Iceman [2013] ★★★
Michael Shannon is on a roll: “Revolutionary Road”, “The Runaways”, “Take Shelter”, “Man Of Steel”. He’s a movie star with real acting talents, on full display in “The Iceman”. He deserves major recognition for playing notorious contract killer Richard Kuklinski, who murdered 100 men before his arrest in 1986. “I dub cartoons for Disney” he tells…
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The Smurfs 2 [2013] ★½
Pop quiz everyone: you’re a Hollywood studio and you help get a movie that’s barely watchable into theaters. The movie is surprisingly a hit at the box office and the kids love it. What do you do next? Do you A) Leave the franchise alone? or B) Give it a crappy sequel? If you chose…
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Passion [2013] ★★
What happens when you mess with a very mean Rachel McAdams? See “Passion”, the new movie from Brian De Palma and find out. I didn’t believe a word of it. But with Noomi Rapace (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy) as Isabelle, an ambitious creative director working for bossy Christine (McAdams), there’s enough erotic…
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We’re The Millers [2013] ★★½
Two summers ago Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston hit a peak with “Horrible Bosses“. “We’re The Millers”, co-starring Emma Roberts and Will Poulter isn’t in the same league, but it delivers exactly what it promises, and after a series of disappointing comedies this year (remember the lousy “Hangover 3”?) that is a great relief. Sudeikis…
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The Hunt [2013] ★★★½
A powerful and thought provoking drama is rare during summer season. That’s what makes “The Hunt” so special, and I hope moviegoers will find their way to see it. It’s one of the year’s best films. Danish writer-director Thomas Vinterberg aims to shock his audience by telling the story of a divorced schoolteacher (Mads Mikkelsen, Le…
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Despicable Me 2 [2013] ★★★
It’s always difficult to cook up a sequel to a successful movie. But the folks at Universal Studios have managed to pull it off. “Despicable Me 2” feels fresh, funny and entertaining even if if the element of surprise is gone. The first movie was a huge hit, as it introduced the unlikeliest of villains/heroes…
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Before Midnight [2013] ★★★½
We first met Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) in Vienna in “Before Sunrise”. To some, the movie was talky. To others (me included), it was unique and as far away as possible from the Hollywood formula. “Before Sunset” picked up 9 years later in Paris, where the two met again briefly before Jesse had…
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The Wolverine [2013] ★★½
Anyone looking for unforgettable thrills in “The Wolverine” is out of luck. The movie isn’t innovative, it isn’t deep, and the characters aren’t particularly well developed (Blame it on Christopher Nolan and Joss Whedon who truly raised the bar for D.C/Marvel at the movies). But I still had a good time watching it. It’s hard…
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Only God Forgives [2013] ★½
“Only God Forgives” is perhaps the first Ryan Gosling movie one can honestly describe as boring. Yet it arrives with its credentials of cool all set: A stylish retro-noir look courtesy of Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (who directed the unforgettable “Drive“) and Gosling again in the lead with badass attitude leftover from “Drive” and “The…
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Killing Season [2013] ★½
Some people think Robert De Niro and John Travolta in one movie would be a kick to watch. Not a chance. “Killing Season” defines the word “boring”. Travolta, with an Eastern European accent, a shaved head and bizarre, ugly facial hair plays a member of the Serbian Scorpions. In a lousy prologue, we learn that he…
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Admission [2013] ★★
Pairing likable Paul Rudd and the hilarious Tina Fey in “Admission” would seem to be a perfect comedy setup. The results, however, are less than perfect and that’s a bummer. Fey plays Portia Nathan, a Princeton admissions officer dedicated to choosing only the best. Later on she runs into into school teacher John Pressman (Rudd), a former college…
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The Lone Ranger [2013] ★★
It’s pointless to describe “The Lone Ranger” because even it doesn’t know what it wants to be. The result is a long, often confusing film with an underwhelming performance by Armie Hammer as the title character. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski (“Pirates of the Caribbean”) wanted to have fun with the concept of a western/action…
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Pacific Rim [2013] ★★★
Granted, Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim” is not a work of art like his Oscar-winning Pan’s Labyrinth. But his latest Hollywood blockbuster sure is a surprise package of fun, fright and stunning visuals. For starters, it pays homage to such classic era monsters movies as “Godzilla” (1954). The director may be working off a borrowed…
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White House Down [2013] ★★
Another action movie featuring the president of the United States? Seriously? From the peak of “Air Force One” to the low of “Olympus Has Fallen” (sorry about that), we’ve seen it all. The makers of “White House Down” tell us we haven’t seen the version starring Channing Tatum as a wannabe secret agent who tries…
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The Company You Keep [2013] ★★½
Dramas like “The Company you Keep” usually hold few surprises. But it’s always a pleasure to see Robert Redford back on screen. He also directs the likes of Shia LaBeouf, Susan Sarandon, Terrence Howard, Nick Nolte, Stanley Tucci, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Cooper and Richard Jenkins (what a cast!). The movie opens with Sarandon turning herself in…
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Spring Breakers [2013] ★★
How you feel about “Spring Breakers” will have a lot to do with your age and gender. If I were a hormonally charged 16-year-old boy, I might think it was a wish-fulfillment movie featuring lots of good-looking naked girls. Director Harmony Korine managed to convince a couple of Disney stars (ha!) to wear bikinis for 90 minutes…
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The Purge [2013] ★★
Everybody wants to make an original horror movie these days. If anyone could reinvigorate the concept, it’s James DeMonaco (“The Negotiator”) and that’s what this writer/director tries to do in “The Purge”. And he almost pulls it off with his nifty premise: in 2022, and once a year, all crime is legalized for a period of…
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World War Z [2013] ★★★
I’m a bit late coming to this movie (blame it on surgery), but having heard good buzz I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it. I can’t call “World War Z” a feel good movie. In fact, you won’t want to be feeling anything after seeing this Zombie apocalypse. But you won’t be able…
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The Heat [2013] ★★½
Think of “The Heat” as the female version of “The Other Guys”. Kick it up a notch by casting Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy (hilarious in “Bridesmaids”), spice with action and snappy jokes then sit back and laugh your ass off. I did and I’m not afraid to admit it. I’m tempted to call it my…
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Stoker [2013] ★★★
If you’re not interested in what Wentworth Miller (“Prison Break”) and director Chan Wook Park (“Oldboy”) are cooking up, you’re missing out on one of the weirdest movies of the year. “Stoker” is also an ode to Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt”, in which a young girl bonds with her serial killer uncle (yikes!). The title…
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