Film Review: Safe House
Denzel Washington plays the CIA’s most dangerous traitor, Tobin Frost, who stuns the intelligence community when he surfaces in South Africa. When the safe house to which he’s remanded is attacked by brutal mercenaries, a rookie (Ryan Reynolds) is forced to help him escape. I honestly was wondering just what made this by-the-books thriller good...
Film Review: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Right to the point. The fourth Mission Impossible movie is good. Very good. So good as an action thriller, in fact, that it’s the only movie released this year that wouldn’t be completely overshadowed by a 7 minute preview of The Dark Knight Rises. A series of events lead to the death of an IMF...
Film Review: In Time
I imagine a light bulb literally appeared and went off over writer/director Andrew Niccol’s head when he realized that he could use time as a one to one metaphor for money. I’m sure that at the time, the possibilities seemed endless. In Time, Andrew Niccol’s’ new sci-fi thriller stars Justin Timberlake as Will Salas, a...
Film Review: Moneyball
Moneyball makes a compelling story out of a not so compelling subject. In the film, based on the book by the same name that’s also a true story, Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, the General Manager of the 2002 Oakland A’s. They’ve just lost their three biggest stars to the deep pockets of the Yankees,...
Film Review: Warrior
Sometimes, brothers just have to fight it out. That about sums up the compelling, if improbable sports drama, Warrior, a film about two brothers who share a seriously troubled past and end up chasing after the same goal, a UFC Championship and the 5 million dollars that come with it. Tom Hardy stars as Tommy...
Film Review: Contagion
Stephen Soderbergh’s latest film is a very eye opening look into what a real outbreak might be like. The scariest part is, apparently, us. Contagion chronicles various events surrounding an international viral outbreak and the attempts to contain, control and cure it. The movie is put together as a series of interconnected stories told simultaneously,...
Film Review: Colombiana
Zoe Saldana is absolutely beautiful. And this film knows it. Olivier Megaton, the director, shoots Saldana from numerous angles in so many different poses and lighting setups and at various stages of disrobing, that it seems like there is nothing we don’t know about her body. In one scene, she sits in a see-through shirt...
Film Review: Green Lantern
About a year ago DC comics came out with an animated movie for Green Lantern, and it left me asking, could a DC character be a hit in a live action movie other than Batman? I’m happy to say yes. Certainly this movie wasn’t spectacular. It had its flaws. But for an origin movie, it...
Film Review: Captain America: The First Avenger
Much like they’ve done with comic books, Marvel has created a singular universe on the big screen in which all it’s characters can exist. That’s quite an amazing accomplishment in Hollywood. Consider some of the things that would involve. Thorough, longsighted planning; a general overall story would have to be developed. The order in which...
Film Review: Kung Fu Panda 2
The original Kung Fu Panda was a very pleasant surprise. Very few other computer animated movies that weren’t made by PIXAR could captivate an audience as well, emotionally. It was cute. But now that we know what to expect, could the creators of the original rise to the bar that they set? In a word,...
Film Review: Thor
Thor, as played by Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek 2009) is cocky, presumptuous, and impulsive. Yet, despite all his flaws, his charm and good nature make him impossible not to like. Thor the movie is quite the same. It presents itself as epic. It never quite gets there. But you’ll love it for trying. Thor, the...
Film Review: Fast Five
In a pre-credit sequence, Vin Diesel’s character is sprung from a prison transport bus in extravagant fashion, by Paul Walker and friends, driving cars. It’s quite ridiculous. Ludicrous even. The result is an incident, no human could survive unharmed. At the end of scene however, everyone in the audience clapped. Reviewing a film like Fast...
