Prequels are always problematic because they begin with a distinct disadvantage. They do not continue the story in the original film or series, and even worse, the elephant in the room is that they need to fit into the time line and plot as laid out before without any radical changes. For all of the […]
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, […]
Certain movies and scenes stay with you forever. That’s the power of the moving image on our impressionable minds. I feel conflicted when someone remakes an iconic movie because I don’t want to taint my memories of the original with variations of scenes or new people in the same situations. The 2015 Poltergeist brings up […]
A resilient survivor teams up with a resourceful counterpart looking to find her way back home in the frenetic chase film Mad Max: Fury Road. George Miller‘s seminal franchise began with 1979’s Mad Max, starring a very young, unknown Mel Gibson. It held the title of most profitable film for two full decades, spawned two […]
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 […]
Sex is a dangerous activity in horror movies. From the earliest black-and-white films in which vampires seduce women to the later slasher flicks in which the killer spies on couples, people tend to drop their guard when engaged in sex and then have to deal with the consequences. Had two young camp counselors been doing […]
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 […]
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 […]
A super-secret government spy agency races against time to halt the maniacal plans of an evil tech genius in Kingsman: The Secret Service. Hidden behind a veil of secrecy, there exists a British security service that specializes in deep, covert missions. Their goal is to protect the country and the world from countless unexpected dangers. […]
A Nazi-era submarine rumored to be carrying untold riches is the target of a maritime salvage crew in Black Sea. Undersea salvage is a dangerous way to make a living. Captain Robinson (Jude Law) knows the risks. He’s been taking more of them in a day than most people do in their entire lives, all […]