“Heaven is for Real” is based on the best-selling book of a boy’s near-death, life-changing experience. Director Randall Wallace follows-up his 2010 horse-racing drama, “Secretariat”, with another inspiring true story. Greg Kinnear is excellent as Todd Burpo, a loving husband to wife Sonja (Kelly Reilly from “Flight”) and father to daughter Cassie and fun-loving four-year-old […]
Kevin Costner has a long history with sports movies. He made “Bull Durham” and “Field of Dreams” back-to-back in the late 80s, took a swing at golf with “Tin Cup” in the mid-90s, and returned to baseball “For the Love of the Game” at the end of that decade. 2014 marks Costner’s return to the […]
“Rio 2” is the sequel to 2011’s animated musical hit from Blue Sky Studios, the makers of the “Ice Age” series. “Rio” had a very average story, eye-popping, candy-colored characters and over-the-top musical numbers. The same can be said for this sequel, which is unfortunately unlikable. Blu and Jewel (again voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and […]
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has raised the bar yet again with the return of The Star Spangled Man with a Plan. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is the sequel to 2011’s highly entertaining “The First Avenger”. In that film we were introduced to a scrawny Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) who was asked to […]
The biblical epic, “Noah”, has been generating a lot of controversy from Christian groups angry with the film’s interpretation of the classic story. Yes, much of this latest big-screen adaptation is new material, highly dramatized, and a little far-fetched. Even so, “Noah” is flooded with rich performances from a star-studded cast, impressive visuals, and an […]
“Divergent” is the latest best-selling book-series film adaptation specifically designed for tween and teen girls starring a female heroine out to save her family and community. Clearly the idea is to duplicate the incredible successes of “The Hunger Games” and “Twilight” franchises, but make no mistake, “Divergent” isn’t remotely as entertaining as any of the […]
It’s time to raise the curtain and light the lights again, as the beloved Muppets have returned to the big screen in a new adventure. Frankly, I was surprised Disney announced a sequel almost immediately after the release of the 2011 reboot (simply titled “The Muppets”) since it didn’t cross the $100 million mark at […]
I instantly became a fan of off-beat and quirky director Wes Anderson after seeing his 2009 animated masterpiece “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, based on the book by Roald Dahl, and starring the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray. “Mr. Fox” actually topped my list of the Best Films of ’09. However I was […]
“I feel the Need…the Need for Speed” was an iconic quote from Tom Cruise in 1986’s “Top Gun”. Video game mogul Electronic Arts decided to capitalize on the phrase by releasing the first of over 20 games with the trademark “Need for Speed” beginning in 1994. Now Disney has entered the car racing franchise to […]
Father-son relationship issues, bullying at school, parent/principal/social worker meetings, loads of anger, frustration, serious tones and no laughs. All the ingredients of a bad, live-action family comedy. But, amazingly, these are only some of the unnecessary plot elements in DreamWorks’ latest animated feature, “Mr. Peabody & Sherman”, which lacks all the fun and wonder of […]