This is a series that has consistently surprised me, especially since I hate the premise (kids killing kids for entertainment, remember that?). It has evolved into a discourse about revolution and fighting against tyranny, which is all to the credit […]
Continue reading »Category: Recent Releases
The 33 (2015) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Another true story is fictionalized for film, and this time it is done with near perfection. The 2010 Chilean mine collapse made international headlines because thirty-three of the buried miners survived the initial collapse and banded together for seventeen days […]
Continue reading »Bridge of Spies (2015) ☆ ☆ ☆
History is always fascinating fodder for the cinema and the history of the Cold War, featuring two superpowers sparring with nuclear boxing gloves, is dripping with cinematic portent. The only problem is that history is complex, often slow to develop […]
Continue reading »Spectre (2015) ☆ ☆ ☆
I love the James Bond films, which have been being made almost as long as I have been alive. I didn’t see my first Bond film until the mid-1970s; it was Diamonds are Forever, and I was hooked immediately. While I […]
Continue reading »Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) ☆ ☆
Everyone and their mothers are trying to devise new, clever ways to employ zombies in mainstream entertainment (look soon for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, for instance). Zombies are the hottest ticket going, so putting zombies up against Scouts (not Boy […]
Continue reading »Our Brand is Crisis (2015) ☆ ☆
American political strategists are employed in Bolivia, to help orchestrate the campaigns of rival presidential candidates. One of the strategists, Billy Bob Thornton, is a smooth-talking operator with no discernible scruples; the other, Sandra Bullock, has been pummeled by life […]
Continue reading »The Martian (2015) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
It’s time to save Matt Damon again. First, Saving Private Ryan; then Interstellar. Now he’s all alone on Mars in The Martian, with the entire world awaiting word on whether he will make it back home to Earth. Ridley Scott’s film, based on […]
Continue reading »The Intern (2015) ☆ ☆ 1/2
Once upon a time Robert De Niro was among the greatest of our actors. He still has the talent, but three decades of mostly mediocre movies and some outright junk has dulled his reputation and overly familiarized his persona. But […]
Continue reading »Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) ☆ ☆ 1/2
Having liked the first Hotel Transylvania, I’ve been looking forward to this sequel. It’s cute and clever, though not as good as the original. It also seems to abandon its major theme at its action-packed climax. Par for the course as […]
Continue reading »Psycho (1960) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
I was lucky in my formative years to see many vintage films in actual theaters, where they are seen to best advantage. Thanks to Fathom Events, we still have that opportunity. Today I was able to revisit Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest […]
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