The trailer for “Closed Circuit” leads you to believe that this is going to be an action/suspense thriller about hidden cameras and the fact that we’re being watched at all times. But it turns out that’s not what “Closed Circuit” is about AT ALL! There are no action scenes (other than a two-second, minor car […]
“The Spectacular Now” stars Miles Teller as Sutter, an 18-year-old high school senior whose philosophy is to live in the moment/live in the “Now”. While I can relate to that, Sutter isn’t taking his “Now” too seriously. He works at a clothing store, but doesn’t care much about academics or his future. He likes to […]
British comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, along with director Edgar Wright, have collaborated on modern cult classics “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”. The third film in their self-titled “Cornetto” trilogy is “The World’s End”, a comedy about drinking beer and this past summer’s continuing theme of zombies that, by the end, […]
Tween girls, Rejoice! Yet another romantic action/fantasy book series that you so adore has made its way to the big screen. Following this year’s “Beautiful Creatures”, “The Host” (and Part 2 of the “Percy Jackson” series) comes “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”, the film version of book 1 of what will eventually be a […]
“Paranoia” is perfect example of a film that deserved to be buried at the end of August. While Relativity Media bounced-back a bit with “Don Juan” and “Free Birds”, I’m not sure if the studio will be able to recover from this misstep. Much of the reported $35 million budget likely went to co-stars Harrison […]
“Jobs” is not a complete biography of one of the most influential icons of the modern age of technology. Instead, the film focuses on a slice of Apple founder Steve Jobs’ life and career. The movie begins with Jobs introducing the IPod at the 2001 Apple town meeting. Director Joshua Michael Stern (“Swing Vote”) then […]
“Lee Daniels’ The Butler” is an impressive and effective film, inspired by a true story. As a young boy in the 1920’s Cecil Gaines grew up on a cotton plantation, the son of a slave, who is shot to death by his owner. Cecil is then taken in by the elder, female owner (Vanessa Redgrave), […]
“Planes” is a Disney animated film. However it’s not a Pixar film or from Walt Disney Animation Studios (which recently made “Bolt”, “Tangled” and “Wreck-It Ralph”). Instead, “Planes” was created by DisneyToon Studios, who usually make Direct-to-DVD films. And that’s exactly what this film was supposed to be. That is, until late last year, when […]
“Elysium” is writer/director Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to his 2009 Best Picture Academy Award nominee “District 9”. He teams-up again with that film’s breakout star, Sharlto Copley, who joins Oscar winners Matt Damon and Jodie Foster in yet another of 2013’s movies in which Earth is no longer a great place to live. Let’s spin the […]
2010’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” aimed to become the next “Harry Potter”: an adaptation of a popular book series about a heroic boy-figure and his best friends fighting to save their world and ours. Even though it only grossed $89 million in the US, a $227 million worldwide total was good […]