It is difficult for me to imagine a more ill-conceived feature film than this one. Even with television audiences embracing shows like “Once Upon a Time” and “Grimm,” the idea of bringing fairy tales to life on the big screen is […]
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Quartet (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆
Some films are ensemble pieces, and this one truly fulfills that description. From the four leads (Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins and Billy Connolly) through the supporting players (Michael Gambon, Sheridan Smith, Andrew Sachs, Gwyneth Jones, Michael Byrne, etc.) […]
Continue reading »Side Effects (2013) ☆ ☆
I’m not a huge fan of Steven Soderbergh’s work, but I respect his artistry. Side Effects looks and sounds really good; it is a professionally-made thriller that isn’t easy to decipher and is generally quite effective. But it is also a […]
Continue reading »Stand Up Guys (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Stand Up Guys is a funny senior-citizen mob comedy, yet it is also a sharp character study. The thing I like most about Fisher Stevens’ movie is that it gets better and better as it goes along; not too many films […]
Continue reading »Gangster Squad (2013) ☆ ☆
Gangster Squad is one of those movies that look and sound great, but which do not hold up to close scrutiny or linger lovingly in the memory in the way the really good movies do. Gangster Squad is like the lite version […]
Continue reading »Parker (2013) ☆ ☆ 1/2
There have been at least a handful of cinematic versions of the comic crime novels of Donald E. Westlake (writing as Richard Stark). All of the previous versions, I believe, have changed the name of the protagonist Parker, until this […]
Continue reading »Warm Bodies (2013) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
The preview intrigued me, and I am happy to report that the movie is even better than I expected. I’m talking about Warm Bodies, the zombie-themed romantic comedy scripted and directed by Jonathan Levine. It posits that the apocalypse has […]
Continue reading »Movie 43 (2013) 1/2
What a waste. Quite literally, in one segment. That’s why calling Movie 43 a piece of crap is apropos. If this junk is what movie humor has evolved to, then the future is frightening, both for the format, and for audiences […]
Continue reading »Broken City (2013) ☆ ☆ 1/2
A strong cast helps put across what is a somewhat muddled political drama. Mark Wahlberg stars as a former NYC cop pushed off the force due to his role in a shooting (for which he is publicly exonerated). Seven years […]
Continue reading »Zero Dark Thirty (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to The Hurt Locker is a tough, brutal, violent, somber, contemporary war drama that examines how we have fought the war on terror in the Middle East, and, eventually, caught Osama bin Laden. It has to be tough, […]
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