Category: 2.5/4
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The Philosophers [2014] ★★½
“The Philosophers” is provocative and interesting, so while it may be far from perfect, it’s not a movie I could easily dismiss. Writer/director John Huddles opens on a intriguing note, heads in unexpected directions, and ruins the fun in the final act. No worries. Until then, the film has many surprises in store. James D’arcy…
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Cold In July [2014] ★★½
With multiplexes crammed with Box office monsters, this little-hyped thriller emerges as a dark-horse winner by reminding us of how pleasurably exciting a popcorn movie can be when it’s populated by actors who are in it for more than a ridiculous fee. I’m talking about Michael C. Hall (from the hit series “Dexter”), Don Johnson and…
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Mr. Morgan’s Last Love [2013] ★★½
Michael Caine is one of the best actors of all time and a pleasure to watch in almost anything. Now, at 80, he’s using the lessons of a long career to show how it’s done. In “Mr. Morgan’s Last Love”, he plays an aging widower who lives in Paris. Having lost his beloved wife three years ago, he…
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Jersey Boys [2014] ★★½
Every Clint Eastwood picture brings its great expectations, and rightly so. Which is why I was a bit disappointed with his latest effort “Jersey Boys”, a big screen adaption of the Broadway show of the same name, about the rise and fall of the popular 60’s band “The Four Seasons”. I give Eastwood and the…
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Muppets Most Wanted [2014] ★★½
The 2011 movie was one of the best surprises of the year and a huge success at the box office. “Muppets Most Wanted”, while not as good as its predecessor, is still fun to watch. It reunites the team that made the first one so successful (without Jason Segel though and that’s a shame), including…
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Godzilla [2014] ★★½
Now that the fanboy hype has cleared (or has it?), we can see “Godzilla” for what it truly is: borrowed inspiration coupled with impressive CGI, all in the service of a ballsy idea that a monster movie could maybe, just maybe, have a soul. As it turns out, Godzilla’s virtues are mainly mechanical, except for…
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The Railway Man [2014] ★★½
Colin Firth is a fine actor. So casting him as Eric Lomax, a British Army officer who was tormented as a prisoner of war at a Japanese labor camp during World War II, is just plain inspired. The film opens in 1980, decades after the war. Lomax is about to marry Patti (Nicole Kidman), whom…
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The Amazing Spider-Man 2 [2014] ★★½
Spidey fans went crazy when Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced that they were rebooting the series, just five years after Sam Raimi’s “Spider Man 3” hit theaters back in 2007. As a result, the first “Amazing Spider-Man” received mixed reviews by critics and fans upon release; some people praised Andrew Garfield’s performance while others…
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Noah [2014] ★★½
On the surface, Russell Crowe starring in a biblical tale directed by Darren Aronofosky (“Requiem for a Dream”, “Black Swan”) sounds like Oscar bait. It isn’t. And the sooner you accept it, the more fun you’ll have at this satisfying disaster movie (that’s what I’m calling it). Hearing Noah’s Australian accent (lol) is jarring at…
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Kill Your Darlings [2013] ★★½
“Fuck you! You’re a phony”.That trash talk is aimed at Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan) by Daniel Radcliffe, in fierce, flamboyant form as the young poet Allen Ginsberg, a Columbia freshman in 1944. Ginsberg falls under the spell of the charismatic Carr and along with Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston) and William S. Burroughs (Ben Foster), kicks…
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In Fear [2013] ★★½
Two people find themselves lost in a maze of backwoods roads. If you ask why, “In Fear” is so not the movie for you. Logic goes south the minute Tom persuades his girlfriend Lucy to go on their first weekend getaway as a couple. Bam! They’re lost in a maze for nearly 90 minutes. And…
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Mr. Peabody & Sherman [2014] ★★½
This big screen adaptation of Mr. Peabody & Sherman, about a supersmart dog and his adopted human son, is far from great, but it’s charming and very funny at times. Director Rob Minkoff and his team offer a pleasingly retro-style contemporary Manhattan and historical settings, from ancient Egypt to the french revolution. When 7 year…
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Out Of The Furnace [2013] ★★½
Christian Bale has been on a roll for a few years now, with movies like “The Fighter”, “American Hustle” and “The Dark Knight” trilogy under his belt. He’s a movie star with real acting chops, and he makes any movie worth watching. Case in point: “Out Of The Furnace”, an uneven but effective drama about…
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Non-Stop [2014] ★★½
In “Taken”, Liam Neeson played a former CIA operative who was able to outsmart a sex trafficking ring when his daughter was kidnapped. Audiences (including me) responded well to his take-charge character. His latest film, “Non-Stop”, by Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra (who previously worked with Neeson on “Unknown”) casts the always watchable actor in a…
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About Last Night [2014] ★★½
Audiences gearing up for something sweet like “Endless Love” or “Winter’s Tale” need to adjust. Of all the romantic movies playing at the multiplex, “About Last Night” is probably the only one worth watching. Am I saying it’s a great movie? Not I’m not. But the film lucks out in director Steve Pink (“Hot Tub…
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The Monuments Men [2014] ★★½
George Clooney’s fifth shot as a director (following “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, “Good Night and Good Luck”, “Leatherheads” and “The Ides of March”) is a wacky World War II film based on a remarkable true story about a mission to save precious works of art during Hitler’s reign. Call it Ocean’s Eleven in helmets…
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The Lego Movie [2014] ★★½
I’ve been rooting for this big screen adaption of “Lego” for a while now, and now that the movie is finally here, it gave me a lot to cheer for: a fresh concept and clever execution to match it. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have directed this feature with a sharp eye, but winning over…
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Grand Piano [2013] ★★½
Ok, the movie is pretty similar to 2002’s “Phone Booth”, in which Colin Farell was trapped in a booth by a sniper. In “Grand Piano”, we’re in a concert hall and Elijah Wood plays a world class pianist who finds himself forced to play flawlessly or have his wife gunned down by a madman. What’s…
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Labor Day [2014] ★★½
Valentine’s day is upon us. This is cue for Hollywood studios to release their romantic films. Exhibit A: “Labor Day”, written and directed by Jason Reitman (“Up In The Air”) and based on the 2009 novel by Joyce Maynard. I think it’s fair to say that moviegoers know what to expect when they see one…
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طالع نازل (Stable Unstable) [2013] ★★½
It’s been a hectic month at the movies. I’ve seen a lot of good films and some terrible ones as well. “Stable Unstable”, the latest Lebanese film from writer/director Mahmoud Hojeij (in his feature debut) falls somewhere in between. It’s far from being perfect, yet as a showcase for a host of talented Lebanese actors,…
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