Category: GENRE
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Argo [2012] ★★★½
“Argo” is quite simply one of the best movies I’ve seen all year. It has everything one could ask for: a solid story, a superb cast playing interesting and well drawn characters, a pulse pounding climax, and the element of surprise. It’s different than anything I’ve seen all year long and that’s always a good…
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Bait [2012] and Freelancers [2012] ★½
Bait: Another “horror” movie featuring lousy actors and sharks, except it’s an Australian production and the story is set in a supermarket following a freak tsunami (how original!). You know you’re in for trouble when you find yourself rooting for the shark. Don’t even think about it. Rating: 1.5/4 Freelancers: You leave “Freelancers” wondering what…
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Wreck-It-Ralph [2012] ★★★
I approach each new Disney movie with a combination of eagerness and fear. Will it be as good as I want it to be? Where “Wreck-It-Ralph” is concerned, I knew within minutes that the answer was yes. I could tell from the look and sound of the film that it had the qualities I always sought…
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Hotel Transylvania [2012] ★★½
What this raucous 3D animated fun house lacks in originality, it makes up for in visual and vocal wit. Adam Sandler uses a hilarious Hungarian accent to voice the role of Dracula, and he is surrounded by the likes of Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi and even David Spade. What won me over from…
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Skyfall [2012] ★★★½
There’s only one reason why “Skyfall” is the hippest, highest-octane Bond film in ages, and his name is Daniel Craig. Way before “Casino Royale” was released, the internet buzz killers were already ragging on him for being blond and blue-eyed and too short for Bond duty. Not only did Craig turn out to be the best…
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To Rome With Love [2012] ★★½
There’s nothing really wrong with a Woody Allen movie set in the Eternal city, but there’s nothing really right about it either. I had a few problems with his latest film “To Rome with Love”, but I had a good time watching it and sometimes, that’s what really matters. As usual, he has assembled an…
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Looper [2012] ★★★
The mind-blowing science fiction event of the year arrives just in time to hold back the flow of Hollywood crap that’s been infesting the multiplex. “Looper”, written and directed by Rian Johnson, will be called many things, starting with Minority Report meets Terminator. But “Looper” glows with a blue-flame intensity all its own. This mesmerizing…
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The Hidden Face [2012] ★★★
If you feel like watching something completely different from the Hollywood Formula, I encourage you to check the Spanish movie “The Hidden Face”. If you’re curious about the title, or the movie itself, I’d tell you to skip the trailer and let the film unfold its constantly surprising story as the filmmaker intended. So surprising in…
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Stolen [2012] ★½
It’s damn hard to enjoy a thriller when you don’t, won’t, can’t believe a word of it. Case in point: “Stolen”, a truly dreadful movie starring non other than Nicolas Cage. If you loved “Ghost Rider”, “Next”, “Bangkok Dangerous”, “Drive Angry”, “Trespass”, “Season of the Witch” and I dare you to say you did, you’ll…
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Frankenweenie [2012]
The Oscar for this year’s Best Animated Feature Film belongs right here, even though the ravishing movie that Tim Burton has conjured up in “Frankenweenie” isn’t strictly animated in the computer-generated sense. Burton and his team used the stop-motion technique, which means taking puppets, about a foot tall, and painstakingly moving them half a millimeter at…
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Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World [2012] ★★½
This enjoyable take on the end of the world benefits from the presence of Steve Carell who plays a lonely, heartbroken man who fears that his last days on earth will be as crappy as the rest of his life was. Then he meets his downstairs neighbor Keira Knigthley and together, they decide to go…
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Taken 2 [2012] ★★
I think it’s useless to try and figure out why “Taken 2” is so disappointing. The film only exists because, after the huge success of the first movie, its studio demanded a sequel. And if their instincts were correct, people will definitely rush to see it this weekend. Fair enough. But if your only choice of…
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Magic Mike [2012] ★★
All the women in the world are lining up to see “Magic Mike”. Why? Because it stars Channing Tatum (yep that dude from “Dear John and “The Vow”) as a stripper. Sounds like the movie event of the year no? Not really. Stripping aside, the plot couldn’t be more predictable. The problem lies not entirely…
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The Watch [2012] ★★
I love Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill. These guys are funny. So why isn’t “The Watch” any good? Start with the silly premise: Suburban husband Stiller manages a Costco, where one his employees is murdered one night in a highly mysterious manner. The local police are morons, so this pushes Stiller to form his own…
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Lawless [2012] ★★★
Tom Hardy starring in this fact based story about The Bondurant brothers alongside Shia LaBeouf , Jessica Chastain and Guy Pearce sounds like Oscar Bait. It isn’t. And the sooner you accept it, the more fun you’ll have at this satisfying crime drama. To be completely honest, there’s no reason “Lawless” should play as well as it does; it’s…
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Red Lights [2012] ★½
Judging from the trailer, “Red Lights” looked like it might be one of the best horror movies we’ve seen in quite a while. But isn’t it always the case with trailers? Surprise. The movie sucks. Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver (both good actors) play two university professors who specialize in explaining to people why ghosts don’t really…
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Premium Rush [2012] ★★½
If you’re looking for a thrilling ride, try “Premium Rush”, a crackling blend of suspense and fun that delivers exactly what you would expect from it, nothing more, nothing less. Joseph Gordon Levitt is perfectly cast as a daredevil bike messenger. His latest job? Make a run from uptown to Chinatown to deliver a very important ticket.…
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The Perks Of Being A Wallflower [2012] ★★★
If you’ve read the book version of “The perks of Being a Wallflower”, you already know what it’s about. I had the advantage of not knowing anything when I saw it today, which made it all the more enjoyable. What seems to be a typical coming of age movie (at least from its trailer) turns out…
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The Bourne Legacy [2012] ★★★
I don’t know how a film this entertaining can be considered a flop by so many moviegoers. At first glance, it seemed almost impossible to make a fourth Bourne movie without its leading man Matt Damon or its director Paul Greengrass. Surprise. It’s not half bad. In fact, and despite its overlength, “The Bourne Legacy”…
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The Campaign [2012] ★★½
Will Ferrell is the go-to guy if you want to laugh your-self silly. He could just stand there staring at you and get you giggling. Then there’s Zach Galifianakis, a smart actor with a natural clown’s gift for playing dumb. Both actors rip off each other with inspired lunacy in “The Campaign”, playing candidates for an upcoming…
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