When I saw the first trailer for “Gravity”, I knew this was going to be one of the movie events of 2013: Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts in trouble in space, along with some amazing visuals. And the film doesn’t disappoint. “Gravity” is a heart-pounding adventure, set in a unique location. Bullock’s Ryan […]
The tagline for “Rush” is “Everyone’s Driven by Something”. I was driven to see Ron Howard’s latest because of the very promising trailer (even though it gives away too much). “Rush” has a good cast, a well-respected director and an Oscar nominated screenwriter – Peter Morgan. And I was driven by something during the film: […]
In 2009, Sony Pictures Animation’s adaptation of the classic children’s story, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, was served-up to moviegoers, complete with an updated twist. Actually, it was a major overhaul. In fact, the only thing the popular book and the movie script had in common was the title. But the energetic food-fest about a young inventor with […]
Academy Award nominee Hugh Jackman was marketed as the star of “Prisoners”. Jackman plays the father of one of two abducted children in this mystery/crime/thriller. But it’s Jake Gyllenhaal who receives most of the screen time as the intense, straight-forward detective in charge of solving the case and saving the kids. “Prisoners” immediately grabs you, […]
Making a dark comedy based on one family’s life on the run from the mob: Interesting. Casting Robert De Niro and Tommy Lee Jones as the two main characters: Genius. Having Martin Scorsese as executive producer of the film that not only references the great director but works his classic movie, “Goodfellas” (which starred De […]
Vin Diesel is best known for the hugely-successful “Fast & Furious” movies. One of his other breakout roles was introduced in 2000’s “Pitch Black”: Richard B. Riddick. A sequel, “The Chronicles of Riddick”, followed in 2004. Nine years later, the cult character returned in the definitively titled – “Riddick” – one of the worst films […]
Believe it or not, the Hanna-Barbera animated series, “Top Cat”, ran for only one season on ABC, from 1962-63. But fifty years later, the classic cartoon returns with the release of “Top Cat: The Movie”, which is finally available on DVD. However, this big screen version, which was first released in Mexico in 2011, then […]
“In a World…” was the iconic opening line spoken by late movie trailer voice-over pioneer Don LaFontaine. Actress Lake Bell (“No Strings Attached”, “It’s Complicated”) uses that piece of dialogue as the basis for her feature film directorial debut of the same name. She also wrote the screenplay (a winner at Sundance) and stars in […]
Most critics have destroyed “Getaway”. And I’ll admit that it is one of those films that’s cheesy, way over-the-top, with logic taking a back seat to the action. But if you go along for the ride, as I did, it can also be a whole lot of fun. Ethan Hawke stars as former racecar driver […]
First there was Hannah Montana. Next came The Jonas Brothers, followed by the late Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. All of these artists have been the subjects of recent concert documentaries (or “con/docs” as I like to call them). The latest on this evergrowing list is the British boyband One Direction. When I […]