Dramatic climate change suddenly threatens the existence of a solitary caveman family in the new animated film from Dreamworks—The Croods. The main plot of The Croods is pretty typical in that it takes current day aspects of everyday life and pastes them onto a Paleolithic family. The father, Grug (voiced by Nicolas Cage), is obsessed […]
It’s dull, flat and extremely predictable almost in an insulting fashion.
I’m sure you remember when you saw The Hangover for the first time because it was a funny, bizarre film constructed like a mystery. The questions at the heart of the mystery kept audiences interested, and the wacky, vulgar humor kept them laughing. It’s OK to duplicate your own creations as long as the copies […]
An unassuming local adman is recruited to head up the messaging for a referendum vote to determine the fate of Chile’s long-time dictator in the new foreign film, No. In 1988, under intense worldwide pressure, Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet decided to allow his people to vote on whether he should run the country for another […]
I really hate when filmmakers develop unnecessary sequels to perfectly good stand-alone movies just to try to capitalize on the success of the originals. More often than not, the sequels are lousy and derivative, and they bomb with fans and at the box office. The sequel to The Blair Witch Project is the most obvious […]
The titular liars and deniers get screen time in clips that make their comments and stances look particularly foolish.
Veteran 911 operator Halle Berry is pushed to the breaking point, along with the audience, when she takes The Call. This is the latest thriller from director Brad Anderson who last kept audiences on the edge of their seat with his 2008 tension-inducer, Transsiberrian (though I wasn’t one of them). The Call focuses on Jordan Turner […]
Matthew Fox stars as a World War II general who walks a tightrope between revenge and justice for Japan’s divine leader in Emperor. Fox plays Brigadier General Bonner Fellers, a member of General Douglas MacArthur‘s staff. MacArthur is recreated here in commendable fashion by Tommy Lee Jones. The movie literally starts off with a big bang as […]
It’s little more than a series of anecdotal sad stories about people around the country who struggle to feed themselves.
James Franco materializes in the form of the famous wizard in the prequel tale of Oz The Great And Powerful. The story takes us back to the merry old land of Oz to revisit the famous L. Frank Baum characters from The Wizard of Oz. Just about everyone here knows the tale as it’s been […]
Who knew that the summer movie season would start so early?! Most of the big-budget, special-effects films are saved for the period from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Lately, the trend has been to push the boundary of this season to early May. Jack the Giant Slayer marks a surprising change for 2013 to get […]
The absolute bluntness that the directors bring to their subject is astounding.