I find it difficult to properly review a movie like this. For one thing, this is a movie rather than a film. Its artistic intentions are minimal and are almost all of a technical nature, concerning stunt work, martial arts […]
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Into the Storm (2014) ☆ ☆
I’ve been wanting to see this movie ever since I saw its preview, in which a gigantic tornado devastates a small town. In the preview, and in the film, the tornado hits an airport and lifts huge airliners into the […]
Continue reading »A Most Wanted Man (2014) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
John Le Carré has been writing espionage novels for half a century now, and some classic movies have resulted, chief among them The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), The Little Drummer Girl (1984), The Constant Gardener (2005) and two TV […]
Continue reading »Magic in the Moonlight (2014) ☆ ☆ 1/2
Woody Allen is at it again, exploring love and death in an engaging romance set in France during the 1920s. For much of the movie love takes a back seat to death, as the story centers on a spiritualist (Emma […]
Continue reading »Lucy (2014) ☆ ☆ 1/2
French filmmaker Luc Besson is audacious. Sometimes that means really good, as in 1994’s Leon: The Professional, which introduced young Natalie Portman to the world. Sometimes it means really, really bad, as in 1997’s The Fifth Element, which is crazy, puerile […]
Continue reading »Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) ☆ ☆
Judging by its astounding 8.8 rating at IMDb (out of 10; it would currently qualify as the 10th – 13th best movie of all time by that parameter), people really, really like this intergalactic misfit superhero movie. I enjoyed it […]
Continue reading »Begin Again (2014) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Once in a while — a great while — a movie comes along that startles me with its execution, that kicks me in the head like a mule and makes me remember just why I love movies in the first […]
Continue reading »Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
I really liked Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and this sequel, which occurs some ten years after the events of that film, is even better. The original 1968-1973 quintet ranged from astonishing to cheesy; 20th Century-Fox couldn’t or […]
Continue reading »Jersey Boys (2014) ☆ ☆ ☆
I’ve always enjoyed the music of The Four Seasons, especially after the band adapted the name Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Their hits of the 1970s are bright and bold, and lots of fun to sing. Yet when the […]
Continue reading »Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) ☆ ☆
Maybe because “Transformer” toys didn’t exist when I was a kid and I was too old for them when they did appear, I’ve never thought much of the concept. It doesn’t seem even remotely believable that big ol’ transformers can […]
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