When it comes to movie mayhem, nobody holds a candle to Sylvester Stallone. In the movies he has destroyed people on a very personal level (the brutal Rocky fights, the underrated Nighthawks, even the first Rambo movie, First Blood), and then, […]
Continue reading »Category: Recent Releases
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆
The conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy is a mixed bag for me — though I have generally liked each entry, and that is true this time as well. For all of Nolan’s genuine artistry and dedication to making his […]
Continue reading »Total Recall (2012) ☆ ☆
I don’t really understand Hollywood’s sudden desire to remake Paul Verhoeven’s unofficial sci-fi trio of 1987 – 1997, but new versions of RoboCop and Starship Troopers are underway and Total Recall is now in theaters. There was no good reason to remake Total […]
Continue reading »The Campaign (2012) ☆ 1/2
Just in time for prime political season comes this Congressional comedy from Jay Roach, best known as the director of all three Austin Powers comedies and the first two Fockers family comedies. A highbrow he is not, much to the detriment […]
Continue reading »The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) ☆ ☆
Marc Webb’s reboot of the Columbia Pictures / Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy is entertaining enough, yet its very existence is troubling. Let me address that for a moment. Raimi’s trio of webbed movies were released in 2002, ’04 and ’07. Thus, […]
Continue reading »To Rome with Love (2012) ☆ ☆
Woody Allen’s latest is a mixed bag. It combines classic whimsy with gorgeous Continental scenery (many of his most recent films have been shot on location in Europe), typically Allenesque neurotic characters and a genuine interest in promoting romance and […]
Continue reading »The Watch (2012) ☆
There are films, and then there are movies. The Watch is definitely a movie, and not a very good one. The initial distinction involves seriousness of subject or purpose, though there are movies that are quite serious, or at least seriously […]
Continue reading »People Like Us (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆
Often one movie’s premise will remind me of another’s, and such is the case with the unusual family drama People Like Us, in which someone discovers, upon the death of a parent, that he has a grown sibling, in this […]
Continue reading »Brave (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆
It has taken Pixar a dozen movies before the wildly successful animation company has finally employed a female protagonist. This 12 – 1 ratio may be reflective of the industry in general, though it is probably still low; in other […]
Continue reading »Prometheus (2012) ☆ ☆ ☆
I’ve delayed reviewing Prometheus for a week or so, hoping that time would deepen my perspective of it. My quandary is that while I absolutely applaud it as intelligent science-fiction (which has become ever more rare these days), I actually did […]
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