Play casting director for a moment; would you cast Al Pacino as an aging Neil Diamond-like pop star going through a late-life crisis? Pacino certainly would not have been my first choice — and yet he pulls it off, rather […]
Continue reading »Month: April 2015
Child 44 (2015) ☆ ☆
Serial killer stories have become passé at this point, though the best of them, on the big screen and on television as well, can still be highly effective. Child 44 looks for a compelling variance on the subject by detailing a […]
Continue reading »Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015) ☆ 1/2
Silly, stupid comedies are not my thing, yet I’m always hopeful that the next one I see will be smart and clever. Alas, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 did not elevate its game to the level of cleverness that I had […]
Continue reading »While We’re Young (2015) ☆ ☆
This movie was rather confounding to me. I liked the first preview I saw, mainly because of the music (Wings’ “1985,” an all-time favorite of mine). Then the second preview I saw revealed an important plot point I would rather […]
Continue reading »Woman in Gold (2015) ☆ ☆ ☆
While I respect and enjoy virtually every aspect of cinema, I have wondered just what it is that makes it so powerful. The answer, I think, is human behavior. No matter how filmmakers present their stories, how they are intertwined […]
Continue reading »Effie Gray (2015) ☆ ☆
Historical subjects as seen in movies vary in perspective due to many factors, chief among which is time. The passing of time changes opinions, positions, societal customs and fashions, and even basic facts can be reassessed. Thus, an event, or […]
Continue reading »Insurgent (2015) ☆ 1/2
The second of four planned Divergent series dystopian adventures (Allegiant will be split into two parts) suffers from the same issues as the first one, and simply isn’t very compelling. A post-apocalyptic society is divided into five factions, each of which contributes […]
Continue reading »