[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] Ridley Scott returns to the Alien franchise in a movie that really didn’t need to be an Alien movie, and would have been better if it were not. The first two-thirds are pretty solid sci-fi thriller fare, as the story’s ensemble cast of space faring scientists and corporate ne’er-do-wells arrive at a mysterious planet that may hold the key to humankind’s origins. I knew going …
[6] The latest film from Steven Soderbergh (Sex Lies and Videotape) is more of a bait and switch than I would have liked. Based loosely on the real life stripping exploits of star Channing Tatum, the film promises the fun and sizzle of a cheeky male revue. And while there are a good number of hot (and often hilarious) strip-show scenes, the narrative ultimately melts …
[7] Mark Wahlberg stars as a man whose childhood Christmas wish came true, giving him a walking, talking teddy bear buddy for life. The film is directed by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, and bares all the pop culture references, flashbacks, and sacrilege of his cartoon work. Ted certainly has its fill of good jokes — Patrick Stewart’s narration and spectacular references to Flash Gordon …
[7] Christopher Nolan wraps up his Batman reboot trilogy by pitting the vigilante superhero against the villain Bane and introducing Catwoman into the mix. Coming in with low expectations (how could they top the last one?), I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. The first half is rather cumbersome to get through, but never boring. The last half ratchets up both …
[8] Looper is a mash-up of mobster movie and sci-fi time travel flick, but rather than getting caught up in its own clever twists on a (let’s face it) hackneyed sci-fi sub-genre, the movie is wisely more concerned with creating an emotionally gripping story. It moves and builds perfectly, dividing your empathy for its fully-fleshed characters in a story that shuns black and white to …
[8] It’s so refreshing to watch heroes and villains who are over the age of 40. Skyfall repeatedly suggests that sometimes older is better, and I couldn’t agree more. Daniel Craig’s third turn as James Bond is at least as good as his first, Casino Royale. Javier Bardem makes an excellent villain and we also get to enjoy Judi Dench in a full co-starring role …
[8] AnnaLynne McCord gives a remarkable performance as a disturbed teenager whose vivid sex dreams and obsession with surgery spiral out of control in this sublime and disturbing coming-of-age horror comedy. First-time feature film writer/director Richard Bates, Jr. serves up a fast-paced script with surprisingly polished style. The film’s many dream sequences are exquisitely designed crashes of morbid imagery and sexual exaltation. The opening scene …
[8] A group of college kids go to a cabin in the woods, but that’s as far as we get into the story before director Drew Goddard and producer Joss Whedon turn the trope on its head. In a Scream-like fashion, The Cabin in the Woods subverts the familiar and offers a good time for horror fans. Pandering? Maybe. Entertaining? I say ‘hell, yeah.’ The …
[6] Pete Travis directs from a script by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Sunshine) this second attempt to bring the comic book character Judge Dredd to the big screen. This is a smaller-scale production than the 1995 Sylvester Stallone version, but it’s a tighter story with more tonal consistency (no Rob Schneider here, kids). Travis and Garland’s version starts off strong, introducing us to Judge Dredd …
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