[9] When a movie’s main title is preceded by a lonely man riding a farting corpse off a desert island and across the ocean, you either leave the theater immediately, or settle in for a cinematic experience like no other. Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood) plays the lonely one, and Harry Potter himself (Daniel Radcliffe) plays the flatulent one. Dano’s about to hang himself …
[6] Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Seth Rogen are intrinsically likable enough to make this goofball movie watchable. Pegg and Frost star as two guys vacationing to Roswell, New Mexico, the UFO capitol of the world. Once there, they meet an alien named Paul (voiced by Rogen) who has escaped Area 51. The three embark on a road trip to return the alien to his …
[6] Marvel continues putting its superheroes in line, all leading toward its big Avengers free-for-all. This one focuses on the origins of the Avengers team leader, a weakling WWII soldier named Steve Rogers who volunteers to be part of an experimental ‘super soldier’ program that pumps him up into the shape of beefy Chris Evans. Evans endears you to Captain America more than the script or …
[5] I loathe Michael Bay, but to be fair, this movie wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The script pays little attention to logic and prays that you forget about certain plot elements until its convenient to resolve them, but the entire siege of Chicago sequence (really more of an entire act) is pretty nifty. Shia LaBeouf gives a bewildering, manic …
[6] While there are signs that Suicide Squad is a film rushed to completion and feels at times torn in different creative directions (sources report the studio made extensive revisions after the lukewarm reception of Batman vs Superman), the end product isn’t half bad. The first half of the film moves by very excitingly, as two-time Oscar nominee Viola Davis doles out backstory like it’s …
[6] J.J. Abrams’ comprehensive homage to Spielberg’s early career is a decent spooky kids’ adventure movie. It does a good job stirring nostalgia among 30-somethings like myself. It’s not as mysterious or suspenseful as one might expect from Abrams, the creator of TV’s Lost and producer of Cloverfield. But it does have a solid emotional grounding like much of Abrams’ other work. The film is …
[7] Director Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity) does a better job than most others in the past ten years bringing a superhero franchise to the big screen. What makes The Avengers work are character and humor, the elements from which Whedon has constructed a downright rabid cult empire. None of the ensemble cast get slighted in screen-time and Whedon does an admirable job …
[6] This isn’t a reboot — it’s damn near a paint-by-numbers remake of the 1984 original. But for a remake, it’s not too bad — thanks primarily to the all-female ensemble. While none of the women have a chance to truly soar with the material, they create a camaraderie that pulls the film together. Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy are the more level-headed of the foursome, while Kate …
[8] Bryan Singer returns to helm his fourth film in the X-Men series, and he hits another home run. This one picks up some number of years after the events of Days of Future Past, as an ancient all-powerful baddie named Apocalypse (played by Oscar Isaac, Poe from Star Wars: The Force Awakens) is accidentally resurrected in Egypt. To be honest, I don’t care for …
[7] It’s the third Captain America movie, but since most of the Avengers cast is reunited, it feels more like Avengers 3. Not that it matters — these movies all start to feel the same anyway. I like how this one starts, dealing with the aftermath of all the cataclysmic damage the Avengers team has accidentally caused in various countries while battling all their supernatural …
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