Saturday, February 2, 2013
The latest zombie movie out shows you that you don't have to have a pulse to fall in love.
Good girl meets ghoul in the latest romantic comedy called Warm Bodies. Nicholas Hoult plays a teenage zombie slacker who falls head over heels in love with Teresa Palmer, who is very much alive. Somehow the chemistry between the two works, even though the flirting can be a bit awkward. You never really know what thoughts are lurking behind those blank stare, but enough about non-zombie supporting cast member John Malkovich. Warm Bodies is a fun little film that has successfully mashed up a romantic comedy, slapstick and cheese. The teenage and Twilight film crowd should eat it up, even though it lacks brains. (Drum roll.) The flick-o-meter gives Warm Bodies a solid three out of five. There's tons of cheese in this film, lots of plot holes…
Monday, December 24, 2012
Tom Cruise plays an ex-Army investigator who puts the smackdown on just about everyone he meets.
Tom Cruise delves out the punishment as an ex-miltary guy roped into a murder investigation. He's got to take out the bad guys, save the girl and find the real killer in Jack Reacher. The Jack Reacher book series has been popular for years; now it's moving to the big screen under Cruise control, with the actor as a quiet and deadly man. Cruise is the rare action star who brings both brawn and brains to a role, but in this case he's limited by a weak script. He does, however, excel during the action scenes. Packing quite a punch. A real kick in the pants. See the video here, you will know what I'm talking about. What you see is what you get in this movie. Action, reaction, Cruise being brutal and brash; it's all here. The crime that draws …
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Sunday, December 16, 2012
Hold onto your hats, kids; we're heading to Middle Earth again with Peter Jackson and company.
After years of waiting, it's finally coming to theaters – Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Bilbo Baggins, a kicked-back, happy-go-lucky Hobbit, joins Gandolf the Grey and 13 dwarves on a dangerous quest to reclaim their homeland and their treasure from Smaug the dragon. The film is a staggering 160 minutes. But unlike any of the Lord of the Rings films, it takes about an hour for anything to really get going. Once it does, though, game on, with non-stop chase scenes and action sequences. On the journey they run into every kind of creature imaginable. The problem is, most of them are CGI creations. That was a big misstep, I think. In the Lord of the Rings films most of the monsters were just guys in makeup, and there was a…
Saturday, December 8, 2012
The only wide release movie this week is so bad there is a good chance it's on the way to home video by Christmas.
Gerard Butler plays a divorced ex-jock who needs to be a father to his kid in the terrible romantic comedy Playing for Keeps. Jessica Biel plays his ex-wife who just happens to be getting remarried. Uma Thurman and Catherine Zeta-Jones play a couple of horny housewives who can't resist Butler. Dennis Quaid has a small role as a creepy team soccer dad who loves throwing money around. This may be one of the worst romantic comedies I have ever seen. Butler is a decent actor but this is not his finest hour. He stumbles though the movie as a good-looking, bumbling fool. The notion that no woman in town, even those who have suffered most from his womanizing, can resist this hunky, dim-witted, loser guy is, well, offensive and even misogynistic…
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Brad Pitt plays a hitman who is sentimental and deadly.
Brad Pitt is a hitman brought in to restore some much needed street credibility to a weak-looking mob syndicate in Killing Them Softly. Pitt prefers to kill victims “softly” from a distance rather than watching them get “touchy-feely” up close. While trying to fix things he works alongside local mob lawyer Richard Jenkins. James Gandolfini resurrects the spirit of Tony Soprano as a boozing, hooker-loving hit man who has lost his killer touch. Ray Liotta plays a poker manager wrongfully accused of ripping off the mob. They are a solid cast in a dark, artsy movie peppered with hard-to-watch violent scenes. Slow-motion bullets fly and brain matter splatters. They all try to convey the message that capitalism and organized crime are mirror …
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Saturday, November 24, 2012
Jack Frost takes a 3D animation adventure to save all that is good in the world.
Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman draft Jack Frost to be in their gang to guard against all things evil as they protect the magical state of childhood in Rise of the Guardians. Stars such as Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Hugh Jackman, Chris Pine and Isla Fisher lend their voices to this visually stunning film perfect for the holiday season. I'll be the first one to say that it's easy to be cynical about holiday movies but this one won't let you. This certainly isn't a Judeo-Christian holiday-themed film, as you might imagine. That's what makes it a better than your average Christmastime film. Turning these mythical beings into superheroes is clever. If it does well at the box office I see a franchise in the making. …
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Saturday, November 17, 2012
Popular Dracula-Werewolf soap opera franchise ends with a big thanks to fans.
The love triangle between Bella (Kristen Stewart), her husband Edward (Robert Pattinson), and Werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) comes to an exciting conclusion in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part Two. Bella finally gets what she wants. She's a vampire; she's married to a vampire; now she has a half-vampire, half-human kid. That the child is from a mixed marriage doesn't sit well with some of the vampires, causing a bit of a problem. Be ready for a few surprises as the final act of the movie kicks up the stakes with a few twists and turns where anything could happen. Fans of the series will enjoy the film for its romance, humor, and a sweet ending to a series they love so much. Non-fans? Well, there isn't much going on for you here. …
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Saturday, November 10, 2012
He's got the tux, the cars, the gadgets, the girls…James Bond is back and better than ever!
Daniel Craig is back in his best Bond performance to date in Skyfall. On the 50th year of the franchise and the 23rd in the series, this is one of the best Bond films yet, and I have seen all of them. The opening chase scene may be the best ever, and it sets the tone for a really good spy thriller and pure Bond fantasy. Javier Bardem plays the villain in this one. He's creepy good as the bad guy, making this movie that much better. We learn more about Bond in this film than any of the others as he tries to come to grips with his mortality and the fact that his type of spying has become obsolete due to technology. But, as you might have guessed, when it's time to kick some butt… who you gonna call? A great supporting cast including Judi …
Sunday, November 4, 2012
The bad guy in an old video game is about to become the good guy in a new movie. It's a wreck the whole family should enjoy.
The bad guy in a low-resolution '80s video game is a reluctant villain who tears down buildings with his sledgehammer fists. He's ready for a change in today's high-resolution world in Wreck-It Ralph in 3D. In order to break out of his bad-guy image, Ralph travels to grand game central where there is access to every video game in the world. If he can win a few levels, who knows, he may become that good guy he has always wanted to be. The movie's clever writing and strong character development meets a solid voice-over cast that includes John C. Reilly as Ralph, Sarah Silverman as the voice of Vanellope and Jane Lynch as Sgt. Calhoun. There are dozens of retro games for the grown-ups and a solid storyline for the kids. As in the tradition of…
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Saturday, October 27, 2012
This week's review is like getting six movies for the price of one. It's nearly a three-hour mind-bender they may just leave you scratching your head.
Six major plot lines taking place over 500 years – featuring the same actors playing multiple roles – is what you get with "Cloud Atlas." All of the stories are crosscut together, jumping back and forth from one another across different time periods ranging from a 19th century South Pacific sea voyage to the distant post-apocalyptic future where humanity lives on the very brink of extinction. The cast includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Susan Sarandon, Hugo Weaving and Hugh Grant. They do their best to tell the secrets of the universe and the human heart while leaving you, well, confused. "Cloud Atlas" is simply too long and too scatterbrained. The central message is that we are all connected from womb to tomb and our lives are …
