“No Escape” sounds like the title of a direct-to-DVD (or, these days, direct-to-VOD) movie. But The Weinstein Company thought they could make a little bit of money at the end of an action-packed Summer by releasing it in theaters. But there’s “no escaping” the fact that this thriller belongs in a discount bin at Walmart […]
“The End of the Tour” is an immersive true-story drama starring two actors who give two of the year’s finest performances. For five days back in 1996, Rolling Stone writer David Lipsky (played by Oscar-nominee Jesse Eisenberg) travelled with and interviewed prolific, 34-year-old author David Foster Wallace (played by potential Oscar-nominee Jason Segel) as he […]
“Hitman: Agent 47” is a reboot (of sorts) in a film franchise that started, and should’ve ended, with 2007’s bomb “Hitman” starring Timothy Olyphant. Both of these movies are based on the popular video game series that’s been around for 15 years. While video games, especially the shoot-em-up variety, are typically have extremely thin storylines, […]
“American Ultra” is the latest in a long line of movies which suffers from the “Pulp Fiction” syndrome: the attempt to mix quirky characters, sarcastic comedy and very graphic violence into one wild, cinematic experience. No one’s been able to successfully pull it off since Tarantino over 20-years ago (including Tarantino himself). The result this […]
“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” is based on a semi-hit 60s TV series, and while director Guy Ritchie does a nice job capturing the style and feel of the decade with fashion, sets and music, he fails miserably at delivering a film with any actual substance. This should’ve been a light and fun summer popcorn spy […]
“Straight Outta Compton” is a biopic that chronicles the highs and lows in the careers of rappers Dr. Dre, Eazy-E and Ice Cube, who together formed the legendary ghetto rap group N.W.A. back in the late 80s. And while I can’t write what N.W.A. stands for, I can state that this is a solid and […]
Just when the world thought Meryl Streep had done just about everything an actress can do, her latest movie features the 19-time Oscar nominee singing Lady Gaga. As mother turned rocker, Ricki Rendazzo, title character in the musical dramedy “Ricki and the Flash”, Streep teams-up with fellow Academy Award winners Jonathan Demme (director of “The […]
Australian actor Joel Edgerton is best known to American audiences as the star of the MMA drama “Warrior” and as Tom Buchanan in Baz Luhrman’s version of “The Great Gatsby”. “The Gift” is Edgerton’s feature film directorial debut. It’s a tense and genuinely suspenseful thriller which he also wrote, co-produced and co-stars in, alongside the […]
20th Century Fox and Marvel have already made two “Fantastic Four” movies – the first released a little more than 10 years ago. Now they’re at it again, with a film that should’ve been called “Fantastic Four Origins”, because that’s exactly what it is – a 100 minute backstory to a potential sequel that should […]
UK-based Aardman is one of the most reliable animation studios operating today. Practically every feature and short they’ve produced has been a winner, led, of course, by their iconic creations – “Wallace & Gromit”. Now, with its first film since 2012’s non-stop laugh fest “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”, Aardman brings British TV animation staple […]