1987’s “RoboCop” re-defined the sci-fi/action genre, with Peter Weller starring as the Detroit detective who became a half man/half machine anti-crime hero. Two sequels followed in the 90s, and now director Jose Padilha (“Elite Squad”) brings this story back to life with a slightly updated remake. The problem is, since practically every man-machine concept movie […]
“The LEGO Movie” is an animated marvel. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”) assembled a dream-team voice cast, paired-up with a smart, fresh script, and some of the most incredible CGI wizardry ever put on screen for what might be the best animated film we’ll see all year. Emmet […]
“The Monuments Men” was originally one of the frontrunners for this past Awards Season, with 2-time Oscar winner George Clooney serving as star, director, co-writer and co-producer of the WWII drama. Sony gave it a prime December 18th release date, in hopes of bouncing back from the underwhelming Awards Season play of Clooney’s previous directorial […]
Based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, “Labor Day” is a romantic, suspense drama written and directed by Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”). It’s a tricky film to analyze and appreciate because, while it has several strong qualities, there are many critical flaws. Fortunately, the performances and emotional impact outweigh some absolutely ridiculous plot […]
“Ride Along” is the first box office smash of 2014 thanks to the appeal of its two stars: rapper turned actor Ice Cube and comedian Kevin Hart. The two play-off each other nicely in this solid, but not hysterical buddy-cop action comedy. The all-too-simple premise features Cube as veteran Atlanta PD detective James Payton. His […]
It’s Alive, and it’s Awful. “I, Frankenstein” is the perfect example of a “let’s bury it in January” film. From the cheesy visuals, to the lifeless performances, to some of the weirdest action sequences ever put on screen, this truly is a horror movie, as in “horr-ific”. Written and directed by Stuart Beattie (who’s contributed […]
There have been many “secret relationship” movies involving famous people brought to the big and small screen over the years. “The Invisible Woman”, directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes as legendary author Charles Dickens, is most recent and one of the best in the genre. Fiennes skillfully draws us into this story, making time and […]
The original Jack Ryan movies, beginning with 1990’s “The Hunt for Red October”, were both box office and critical successes, and are still considered to be some of the best spy/action films of the past 25 years. Now “Star Trek”‘s Chris Pine begins steering the ship of another reboot franchise with “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit”, […]
“The Legend of Hercules” was one of the first, and will likely end-up being one of the worst, movies of 2014. A beefed-up Kellan Lutz, who played one of Edward Cullen’s vampire brethren in “The Twilight Saga”, stars as the title Greek hero. We witness Hercules’ rise from birth (with some electrical assistance from his […]
“Lone Survivor” is based on the true story, chronicled in a 2007 book, of the Navy SEALS “Operation Red Wings” mission in Afghanistan in 2005. Director Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights”) begins the film by showing us who the “Lone Survivor” is going to be. For those who don’t know any details of this story going in, this decision […]