In the animated comedy, “Free Birds”, a pair of turkeys named Reggie and Jake (voiced by Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson) travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving in 1621 so they can get their kind off the menu. When I first heard this concept, I thought it was unique, clever and had a […]
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: […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
The Wolverine himself, Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman, said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “we could have done better” with the first X-Men spinoff, 2009’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. I actually liked that film, but many comic book fans were hoping for more. Unfortunately, “The Wolverine” gives you less than what you’re looking for in a […]
“This Is The End” marks the directorial debut of comedian/actor Seth Rogen and longtime writing partner Evan Goldberg. The two also co-wrote this screenplay. They decided to go all-out and make a raunchy, creative, offensive and at times quite funny adult comedy about a subject that isn’t so funny: The End of the World. The […]
“Epic” is the latest animated feature from Blue Sky Studios – the makers of the hugely successful “Ice Age” series. It’s directed by the studio’s co-founder Chris Wedge and is loosely based on the children’s book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce. All the elements were in place for this […]
“The Place Beyond the Pines” is a generational crime drama from director Derek Cianfrance. He re-teams with his “Blue Valentine” star Ryan Gosling, who plays Luke. He’s a motorcycle daredevil rider who performs in a traveling carnival. Luke meets-up with former girlfriend Romina (Eva Mendes). He soon finds out that has a child with Romina […]
“The Croods” is DreamWorks Animation’s first film of 2013 (they followed with “Turbo” 4-months later). It’s directed by Kirk DeMicco (“Space Chimps”) and two-time Oscar nominee Chris Sanders (“How to Train Your Dragon”, “Lilo & Stitch”). While “The Croods” isn’t as funny or charming as any of those films, it is visually stunning and has […]
Fee…Fi…Fo…Fum! 2013’s first “giant” action/adventure, “Jack the Giant Slayer”, is a twist on the fairy tale classic – “Jack and the Beanstalk”. While it isn’t entirely Fun or Fancy, and certainly not Free, it’s pretty entertaining. Set in Medieval times, Jack (played by Nicholas Hoult of “X-Men: First Class” and “Warm Bodies”), lives on a […]