Category: 2.5/4
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Trainwreck [2015] ★★½
As much as I like Judd Apatow and his comedies (from “Knocked Up” to “This is 40”), I didn’t fully appreciate his latest effort. “Trainwreck” is frustratingly uneven and drags at 125 minutes . Luckily, the movie never runs on sitcom empty. How could it, with a terrific cast, led by Amy Schumer as a highly sexual woman…
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Ted 2 [2015] ★★½
The first “Ted” caught me off-guard. Instead of a silly film about a talking teddy bear, director and co-writer Seth MacFarlane raised the bar by leaving out the cuteness and focusing on the hardcore hilarity. And he found just the right actors to knock it out of the park. In short: I was instantly hooked. The movie was…
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Pixels [2015] ★★½
If you grew up playing Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Centipede and other arcade games, then “Pixels” is probably the movie event of the year for you. I mean who wouldn’t want to see all these characters on the big screen? And the movie gave me a lot to cheer for: a fresh concept and clever…
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Magic Mike XXL [2015] ★★½
As one who didn’t like the first “Magic Mike” movie, I didn’t mind this one so much. For one thing, I knew what I was in for: more half naked dudes going wild in front of the ladies. And yet deep down inside, “Magic Mike XXL” is just a buddy movie. Channing Tatum reprises his role…
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Terminator: Genisys [2015] ★★½
Going into the fifth movie of the “Terminator” series, I expected the worst. Arnold Schwarzenegger is clearly desperate for a hit after a series of flops (“The Last Stand” and “Escape Plan”). Never mind that it’s been 12 years since Arnold’s final appearance in a Terminator movie. Or that he’s 67 years old. Or that…
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While We’re Young [2015] ★★½
Noah Baumbach, who made an impressive directorial debut with “The Squid and the Whale” over a decade ago, continues to tell unusual stories with an enjoyable little film called “While We’re Young”. The overall result may not be as good as Baumbach’s previous movies, but it still works quite well. Ben Stiller gives a finely tuned performance as…
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Entourage [2015] ★★½
Let’s face it: Big screen adaptations of popular TV series rarely work. Remember “The X Files”? Or maybe “Sex and the City?”. Well, here’s the good news: “Entourage” does work. Not all the time, but for someone who wasn’t expecting much, I actually had a good time watching it. I knew I would derive some pleasure from…
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Tomorrowland [2015] ★★½
Brad Bird’s “Tomorrowland” has so many good ingredients, including a solid performance from George Clooney and some eye popping visual effects. Another good thing is the mystery of it all: Bird doesn’t play his cards too early and keeps us guessing at every turn. But I’ll say this much: George Clooney plays Frank Walker, a grumpy inventor who…
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Ex Machina [2015] ★★½
Don’t get me wrong. Alex Garland’s “Ex Machina”, starring Domhnall Gleason as a coder who’s been chosen to spend a week with his reclusive billionaire boss (Oscar Isaacs, almost unrecognizable) in order to test his latest artificial intelligence invention (Alicia Vikander) is a major accomplishment. It relies more on thought provoking ideas than eye popping visual effects and…
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Pitch Perfect 2 [2015] ★★½
It doesn’t break any new ground, but “Pitch Perfect 2” provides lively entertainment as it builds on a template that’s familiar to anyone who’s seen such movies as “Bring it On” and “Step Up”. Once again, the people behind this comedy use an engaging cast and a selection of popular songs (energetically recreated by several choral groups)…
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Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet [2015] ★★½
Khalil Gibran’s timeless masterpiece is among the most popular poetry books ever written, selling over 100 million copies in forty languages since its publication in 1923. And when people talk about it with affection and even passion, one could always hope that a screen adaptation can find some way to replicate those feelings. But let’s face it: even good…
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The Longest Ride [2015] ★★½
Based on yet another novel by Nicholas Sparks. I thought you should know that before you cringe and stop reading. But truth be told, “The Longest Ride” is better than most Sparks movies. Yes, it follows the same old formula we’ve come to expect from Mr. Sparks (“The Lucky One”, “Dear John”, “The Best of Me”…),…
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Furious 7 [2015] ★★½
Vin Diesel called “Furious 7” a “labor of love”. It shows. Not when Jason Statham is onscreen, but trust me, you’ll know. Behind the clumsy script, cheesy dialogue, and awkward acting (exhibit A: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), there’s something irresistible about this installment. I watched the cars smashing and smiled. I watched Paul Walker in his last…
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A Little Chaos [2015] ★★½
It’s difficult to dislike Professor Snape’s…oops I mean Alan Rickman’s second movie as a director. With a solid cast engaged in an intriguing love story, beautiful 17th century clothes, and the Palace of Versailles as a breathtaking backdrop, “A Little Chaos” has an abundance of eye candy and charm. It isn’t a great movie (far from it), and some people…
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The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2015] ★★½
It’s called “The Second Best” for a reason: it’s basically the same movie as the 2012 original, minus the element of surprise. But who would want to miss the chance to see Brit acting royalty nailing every nuance in this comedy laced with genuine emotion? Not me that’s for sure. There’s Dame Judi Dench, who is now a buyer of …
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The DUFF [2015] ★★½
Given my low expectations for any movie featuring high school kids, I was pleasantly surprised by “The DUFF”. Lindsay Lohan hit it big in 2004’s “Mean Girls”. Emma Stone did the same in 2010’s “Easy A”. “The DUFF”, a teen comedy loaded with killer laughs, does the same trick with Kody Keplinger’s novel. Director Ari Sandel plugs in live…
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Run All Night [2015] ★★½
I don’t know about you, but after the horrible “Taken 3”, I was beginning to get Liam Neeson’ed out, at least as an action hero. The loose-cannon vibe that hooked us in the first “Taken”had completely disappeared in the third movie. So here’s the good news: “Run all Night” is far from being a disaster. It’s…
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Magic In The Moonlight [2014] ★★½
The best thing about being a Woody Allen fan is the certainty that if you don’t fully appreciate his latest film, he’s already got another one in the oven. Following the unprecedented audience reaction to “Midnight in Paris” and “Blue Jasmine“, Allen has conceived a new character-driven story set in 1928 France. It isn’t Allen’s…
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The Wedding Ringer [2015] ★★½
If you follow this blog regularly, you probably know that I’m not a big Kevin Hart fan. Which is why I approached “The Wedding Ringer” with very low expectations. But unlike some of his other recent comedy vehicles (“Ride Along“, “Think Like A Man Too“), this one actually offers laughs, plus a compatible costar in Josh Gad. And…
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Unbroken [2014] ★★½
Solidly crafted, impeccably acted and self-important in the way that Oscar loves, Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken” is also incredibly close to exploitation. That’ll happen I guess, when your driving plot depicts the incredibly true story of Olympic athlete Louis Zamperini, from a crash landing of his plane at sea during WWII to 47 agonizing days in a life…
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