Comic book-inspired movies like this often leave me cold, but I must admit that I warmed up quickly to The Wolverine. I cannot judge how faithfully or well it sticks to the literary backstory already produced, as I don’t read […]
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R. I. P. D. (2013) ☆ 1/2
Some movies are so blatantly imitative of others that it is difficult to fathom how they were ever allowed to exist. Such is the case with R. I. P. D., which is a pseudo-zombie version of the Men in Black movies […]
Continue reading »Paranoia (2013) ☆ 1/2
I love thrillers but in order to thrill me they must actually be thrilling. Nothing about Paranoia is thrilling, with the possible exception of seeing a bald Harrison Ford. No, not even that. A young up-and-coming computer geek (Liam Hemsworth) at […]
Continue reading »Kick-Ass 2 (2013) ☆ ☆ 1/2
I wasn’t a huge fan of the first film, but there were aspects that I enjoyed, including its no holds barred style. More of the same is present in this sequel, in which the kid whose father was bazooka-ed to […]
Continue reading »Elysium (2013) ☆ ☆
Based on his films District 9 (2009) and this year’s Elysium, writer-director Neill Blomkamp is keen to explore dystopian futures in which much of the world’s population is controlled by a much smaller segment. With lots of action scenes. Indeed, Elysium feels […]
Continue reading »The Way, Way Back (2013) ☆ ☆ ☆
The Way, Way Back is a sensitive, yet humorous, glimpse into the painful world of adolescence, following thirteen-year old Duncan (Liam James) as he spends a very awkward summer with his mother (Toni Collette) and her new boyfriend (Steve Carell) at […]
Continue reading »Still Mine (2013) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Films about older people have become more frequent recently, probably because so many of our finest actors have aged into senior citizen-hood and need good parts, and many of them are worthwhile. Still Mine definitely falls into that category; it is […]
Continue reading »Red 2 (2013) ☆ ☆ 1/2
I enjoyed the first Red, which boasted a cadre of senior citizen secret agents having to defend themselves when someone begins hunting them, all done with appealing performances, zippy dialogue and some slam bang action. A second viewing of it […]
Continue reading »Despicable Me 2 (2013) ☆ 1/2
The first of these animated films was cute, with villain Gru trying to steal the Moon but instead learning that building a happy family is more important. It bugged me that its message seemed to be that caring for children […]
Continue reading »Pacific Rim (2013) ☆ ☆ ☆
A throwback to the 1950s and ’60s Japanese monster movies which followed the original Gojira (Godzilla), Guillermo del Toro’s movie is a blend of titanium-plated Transformers-like robot technology and old-fashioned, rubber-suited monster mayhem on big city streets. It’s just as dorky […]
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