(USA) Pardon my writer’s mentality for getting anal about words and meaning, but whenever someone says “it’s already done,” does it not imply that something is, in fact, complete? So why is it parroted repeatedly on screen, throughout the trailer and movie alike, as a lame...
(USA) If you liked the first movie, you’ll like this movie. Which first movie? Well, if you’re unaware of existing “Star Trek” lore and have only just jumped on the bandwagon with J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot, you’ll like this flick. On the other hand, if you’...
(USA) The first problem with the “Snitch” is that I kept waiting for Dwayne Johnson to Hulk-out and turn into The Rock. Yes, we should all learn to let go, but it’s difficult when the ex-WWE wrestling star chooses to maintain his He-Man frame, in a role where you’re meant to...
(USA) Fracking. For those uninitiated, it’s a hot topic these days in the United States: a natural gas extraction technique that uses a hydraulic drill and a mixture of pressurized water and chemicals to fracture subterranean rock, harvesting the reserves that lay beneath. It’s a...
(Chile/France/USA) One might try to fault a director for making an upbeat, humorous film about a historic takedown of a brutal dictator; after all, it seems as logical as intentionally making a contemporary film look dated, or as simple to pull off as making “no” mean “yes....
(USA) Here’s the thing. Robert Downey Jr. does Tony Stark—Iron Man’s unsubtle alter ego—effortlessly, convincingly, and with such breezy charm that he’s easily the best thing about superhero movies right now. The man could do it locked inside an iron suit with a...
Danny Boyle is sort of like a British Steven Soderbergh. Both directors are shameless genre-hoppers who employ frequent collaborators, achieved great acclaim in their early careers (for “Trainspotting” and “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” respectively), made crowd-pleasing...
Will someone please, please stop Hollywood from turning Stephenie Meyer’s books into films. From vampires and werewolves to aliens and their strong-female-opponents, Meyer (that “writer” who brought us the “Twilight” “series”) has a way of pillaging badass...
Maybe it’s the wide, multi-lane avenues, the desolate industrial locations, the bullet-train convenience or the sparing use of violence intended to please censors. Maybe it’s just the Mandarin banter. Regardless, there’s plenty of evidence here for fans of Johnnie To that the...
(USA) Action/Sci-fi. Directed by Joseph Kosinski. Starring Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Melissa Leo. Category IIA. 126 minutes. Opened Apr 11.
This year’s blockbuster season is kicking off with—what else—a Tom Cruise-fueled sci-fi flick. It...
