“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 […]
When I first heard the idea for “Grudge Match”, I immediately thought it was a winner: Sylvester Stallone (best known as Philadelphia fighter Rocky Balboa) and Robert De Niro (who won an Oscar for playing real-life boxer Jake La Motta in Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull”) play longtime rivals who meet in the ring one final […]
2004’s TV news comedy “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” is still one of Will Ferrell’s most popular films, even though it only grossed $85 million at the box office. Over the past decade, the film has become a “cult classic”, with fans demanding a sequel. And now their wish has been granted. As was […]
Peter Jackson directed the epic, Oscar winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. But his resume took a bit of a hit last year thanks to Part 1 of his new 3-Parter, the prequel to “LOTR” – “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”. It was long, dull, and shot using the previously unseen HFR (high frame rate) technology, which sped-up the […]
“Winds in the East – mist coming in. Like something is brewing – about to begin.” Colin Farrell’s opening lines in Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks” say it all. I predicted five months ago when the first, and only, trailer for this film was released, that the “Making of Mary Poppins” movie was going to be […]
Four years ago Morgan Freeman received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for playing legendary South African activist Nelson Mandela in the rugby-based film, “Invictus”. Now, Idris Elba takes-on the task of playing the iconic figure in “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”, which is based on Mandela’s autobiography. This is a full-on life story. The movie […]
“Philomena” is based on the true story of one woman’s quest to find the son who was taken from her when she was a young, unwed mother. Dame Judi Dench, best known for her Oscar winning eight minutes in “Shakespeare in Love” and as 007’s assistant, M, in the last seven Bond movies, shines in […]
2012’s blockbuster film, adapted from the blockbuster book, “The Hunger Games”, grossed over $400 million and ignited the career of star Jennifer Lawrence. Now an Oscar winner (and a nominee again this year for her performance in David O. Russell’s period crime drama “American Hustle”), Lawrence is “on fire” in Hollywood right now. And she’s […]
Director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest addition to his wonderful resume of animated films, which he claims are for children but are loved by fans of all ages, deserves to be remembered for a lot of reasons. But, sadly, “The Wind Rises”, will likely best be remembered as Miyazaki’s 11th and final film. At 72, he says […]
I did not expect, in the first minute of “The Book Thief”, that I would be reminded, rather heavy-handedly, of the fact that we all are going to die. This cheerful beginning is just the first of a series of drops from the voiceover narrator, aka: “Death” throughout the film. And all of them are […]