[8] Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) directs his second installment of the prequel trilogy to the famous sci-fi franchise. War isn’t as epic and enthralling as the spectacular Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, but it’s still a damn fine conclusion to the story of Caesar (Andy Serkis). It’s also kinda neat to see how it dovetails into the original film series. The plot is stripped …
[8] I was not looking forward to Baby Driver, because I haven’t especially cared for any other Edgar Wright movie I’ve ever seen. (Watching Scott Pilgrim in the theatre with a full house was actually one of the most depressing movie-going experiences of my life.) Fortunately, I would never have known Baby Driver is an Edgar Wright movie unless you told me. Because unlike Shaun …
[6] Sally Field and James Garner star in this story of a divorced mother who moves to a small town and tries to open a successful horse ranch. She quickly befriends the town pharmacist (Garner) and the two strike up a surprisingly unsentimental relationship. The plot thickens when the ex-husband comes to town trying to patch things up, creating a love triangle that has to …
[7] Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop, Turkish Delight) draws upon his memories growing up in 1940s war-torn Holland for this adaptation of Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema’ autobiography. When the Nazi’s occupied the Netherlands, Roelfzema and several classmates left college to join the resistance. Soldier of Orange begins with fraternity initiation, shortly before war was declared. Rutger Hauer plays Roelfzema’s alter-ego, Erik, who spends the first half of the picture …
[8] Director Kevin Reynolds (Waterworld, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves) delivers his best effort to date with this telling of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. Jim Caviezel stars as Edmond Dantes, a man betrayed by his friend Fernand Mondego (Guy Pierce) and falsely imprisoned for thirteen years in a hellish prison. Richard Harris plays the elderly priest who accidentally burrows his way into …
[7] Lucille Ball and John Carradine are among the 12-passenger crew of a small passenger plane that crashes in South America. The motley crew, which includes a child, a socialite, and a prisoner sentenced to death, must work together to repair the plane’s engines before deadly natives attack. Five Came Back is a well-paced ensemble that packs a couple of memorable shocks and surprises, including …
[8] This ensemble drama from Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan is perhaps the most metaphor-laden movie I’ve ever seen. The screenplay (cowritten by Kasdan and his wife, Meg) gets pretentious and overreaching at times, but a well-meaning message and a strong cast do a lot to compensate for it. Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Mary McDonnell, Steve Martin, Alfre Woodard, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeremy Sisto are …
[8] Close-knit friends from a mining community share a harrowing experience during their tour of duty in Vietnam. Michael Cimino’s three-hour long film focuses primarily on the aftermath of the ordeal, now one of the most famous scenes in movie history, a deadly game of Russian roulette forced upon prisoners at a POW camp. Robert DeNiro plays the most level-headed friend, who tries to help …
[7] An unusual sequel of sorts, The Godfather Part II spends equal time in the past and the present, exploring the early life of Vito Corleone (with Robert DeNiro taking over the mantle from Marlon Brando) while also following the continuing story of Vito’s son Michael (Al Pacino reprises his role). Thematically and emotionally, the movie plays like a long and redundant epilogue to the first …
[7] While I enjoy parts two and three, I have the same general problem with both of them. Why do they exist? The first film tells a complete story, but part two (with its shuffling of prelude and epilogue) plays like an index and part three is very clearly a coda (Coppola even wanted to name it “The Death of Michael Corleone”). However good they …
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