[4] Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore star in this clunky mystery about a New York detective tasked with prying information from a distressed woman whose toddler was kidnapped in a stolen car, while also trying to prevent an escalating race riot. Yeah. Freedomland is a hot mess of a movie. Jackson’s two objectives don’t seem to have any connection to one another and the …
[4] Samuel L. Jackson stars as an ex-cop trying to raise two small children on his own. But when Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington move in next door, Jackson’s character has a problem living next to an interracial couple. He goes above and beyond to try and intimidate the new neighbors into leaving the neighborhood, until its pretty much all-out war between them. Other than …
[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 …
[8] Spike Lee explores racism from multiple angles in Do the Right Thing, a provocative but entertaining ‘day in the life’ flick set in a Brooklyn community on the hottest day of the summer. Films that deal with racism tend to be either maudlin or one-sided, so I was glad to see Lee present the issue as the complicated one that it is. Scenes between …
[9] I don’t generally like heist/swindle movies, but this Quentin Tarantino flick (his third, because he’s counting) based on a novel by Elmore Leonard got under my skin with its rich characters and dialogue. Pam Grier plays a flight attendant who smuggles gun money from Mexico to the States for a bad motherfucker played by, who else? Samuel L. Jackson. But when ATF agents (Michael …
[10] A breath of cinematic fresh air that magically dignifies exploitation and elevates dialgoue to an art form. Writer/director Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill) assembles a stellar cast highlighted by the return of John Travolta, previously languishing in talking baby movie exile. In the chaptered non-linear screenplay, he’s paired with Samuel L. Jackson playing two hit men who wax philosophic between jobs. Bruce Willis …
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