Disaster movies are an entirely different breed. In most cases, they are over-the-top special effects showcases where the goal is to see how much destruction they can cram into the running time. Unfortunately, special effects are getting cheaper and more prevalent, so today’s disaster movies show no restraint. San Andreas is such a movie. It […]
A determined L.A. fireman struggles to save his endangered family in the earthquake thriller San Andreas. Just below California’s beautiful coastal cities lies a restless sleeping giant capable of reducing its towering skylines to a hulking mass of twisted wreckage with one fatal blow. Should the giant awake, in the form of a long-overdue earthquake, […]
A talented artificial intelligence expert is called on to evaluate his boss’s latest evolutionary achievement in the riveting sci-fi drama Ex Machina. The promise of advanced artificial intelligence serves as the centerpiece of countless Hollywood films. 1927’s Metropolis captivated audiences with its cautionary tale of a dystopian future ruled by smart machines. Our own tech […]
A discredited former New York Times journalist finds that a potential killer adopted his identity in True Story. That certainly sounds like a recipe for a potentially thrilling drama. The film even starts us off with a highly engaging, deeply disturbing opening sequence. Unfortunately, it’s all downhill from there. This is a big-fish story that […]
Unnecessarily confusing for half of the film.
A struggling middle-aged couple is drawn to the energy of young bohemian lovers in While We’re Young. Every long-term relationship reaches a point when you wake up and realize that your romance has inadvertently evolved into routine. It’s inevitable for most of us. Life is pretty much dictated by routines. We eat. We sleep. We brush […]
Many movie franchises peter out over time to become pale reflections of what made them good at the beginning. I would have laughed if someone ever suggested that Jason Voorhees of the Friday the 13th series would end up in space or that the titular character of the Leprechaun movies would rap in a bar. […]
A riveting true story about a Jewish refugee’s fight to recover stolen works of art plays out in Woman in Gold. Helen Mirren, sporting a pair of colored contact lenses that entirely transform her look, stars as Maria Altmann, whose well-to-do family was decimated by the Nazis during their occupation of Austria during World War […]
A corporate mercenary has to deal with heavy consequences after a high-profile hit sends him into exile in The Gunman. Terrier (Sean Penn) works as a covert security operative for a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). In more direct terms, he’s a corporate hit man working for a group of international mining companies in the Congo. When […]
The translation of animated properties to live-action movies has a mixed past. I still cringe when I think of Speed Racer and The Flintstones and its sequel. I was not impressed when I heard that there was going to be a live-action version of Cinderella. After all, the original Disney classic is one of the […]
A troubled former mob hit man comes to his estranged son’s rescue in Run All Night. Jimmy Conlon (Liam Neeson) has seen better days. He and his longtime best friend, Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris), grew up together and have an enduring promise to always stick together. Shawn’s seedier talents led him to become a top […]
Six different stories of tension and release come together in Wild Tales. It’s the stuff of campfire legend. Everyone sidles up next to the fire, wraps themselves in a warm blanket and settles in as each participant regales the group with one incredibly tense story after another. This time around, the fire is the big […]