[7] Three teenaged boys run away from home and build a house in the woods where they live off the land, experiment with facial hair, and let a pretty young girl come between them. The boys are played with plenty of charisma and personality by Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, and Moises Arias. The film vacillates between awkward comedy and semi-drippy melodrama — a bit of …
[6] Michael Fassbender stars as a lawyer who reaps the whirlwind when he tangles with drug lords in this Ridley Scott film penned by author Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy’s screenplay will test the patience of many. It contains an abundance of two-person dialogue scenes — one after the other for the entire first half of the film. All the action, tension, and dramatic high points are …
[3] Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, and Rebel Wilson headline this flick written and directed by Leslye Headland (based on her stage play). It’s about three self-absorbed young women who somewhat reluctantly agree to be bride’s maids for a mutual acquaintance. Bachelorette is supposed to be a comedy, but it’s so darned mean-spirited and ugly, I had a hard time mustering any laughs. Am …
[3] Eleven years ago, young Kaylie and Tim saw their father murder their mother. By the end of that night, Tim would be put in an institution for killing their father and Kaylie would enter the foster care system. Cut to now: Tim is discharged from the institution, now a young adult. Kaylie is there waiting to take him home to the scene of the …
[6] Another installment in the Marvel movie franchise is never going to excite me. But if you want to be distracted for a while, Captain America: The Winter Soldier isn’t bad. The plot centers around conspiracy, betrayal, and assassination — far more compelling stuff than whatever mystical/magical bullshit Thor 2 and The Avengers were about. Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson are both pretty to look …
[7] I love movies. But unlike most other people who love movies, I don’t love Wes Anderson movies. To me they’re a case of too much style over too little substance. I never care about the story or the characters, and I’m usually more inclined to fall asleep than chuckle at anything. And while The Grand Budapest Hotel is probably my favorite Anderson flick so …
[5] If you love the Muppets, this eighth Muppet movie won’t disappoint you too badly, though it’s far from their best effort. Director James Bobin (Flight of the Conchords) and writer Nicholas Stoller return for their second entry in the franchise, after the great success of 2011’s The Muppets. This time, Kermet is replaced with the world’s most dangerous frog, a Russian gulag escapee named …
[6] Taking a cue from the staged reality antics of Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Bruno), Spike Jonze, Johnny Knoxville, and director Jeff Tremaine team up for a slightly more scripted endeavor than their usual daredevil showcases. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa features Knoxville under old age makeup, playing a horny old widower suddenly charged with the care of his young grandson. The two hit the road …
[7] A police cadet (Hanno Koffler) nervously begins an affair with a fellow officer-in-training (Max Riemelt), throwing his marriage into disarray and inviting scorn from both his family and the police force. Gay dramas tend to be didactic and end in tragedy, and while this offering from Germany doesn’t fully avoid those pitfalls, it turns out to be better than most others of its kind. …
[8] Disney’s 50th feature-length animated movie is their best in many years. Tangled recaptures the charm, humor, and spirit of the studio’s second renaissance, the late 80s/early 90s period that saw such hits as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Quite simply, I laughed and I cried, thoroughly engaged with the characters and the storytelling. And when I thought I had Tangled figured out, it gave …
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