The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) Review
Click here to read my original The Taking of Pelham 123 review from 2009. RATING: (2 STARS) Three years went by between Tony Scott’s previous film, Deja Vu, and this. Before that and culminating with Deja Vu, he directed films in three consecutive years. Was he burnt out? Or creatively stuck? I’m merely speculating, but […]
Man on Fire Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Man on Fire was the first Tony Scott movie I ever saw. I was in high school and just getting into film. Denzel was the man, and this film cranks his badassery up to 14. I couldn’t have loved it more, and it was a film I couldn’t wait to revisit for […]
Money Monster Review
RATING: (2 STARS) In 2011, Brett Ratner of all people made a supremely silly but surprisingly enjoyable “capitalism is evil” movie called Tower Heist. It starred Ben Stiller as the leader of a group of rag-tag blue-collar workers who were swindled by their Madoff-esque employer and seek to get their money back by any means […]
The Wolfpack Review
RATING: (2 STARS) There’s a beautiful story somewhere in the mess that is The Wolfpack. There’s also an uplifting story, a terrifying story, a comedy, a tragedy, and who knows what else. So why is the end result such a mish-mash of tones and themes? Why doesn’t it know what it wants to be? Perhaps […]
The Theory of Everything Review
RATING: (2 STARS) The Theory of Everything wants to be a serious, important film full of ACTING and EMOTION. It wants to weave together science, faith, and love in a way that’s accessible and touching. And it wants to prove that the human spirit can overcome anything. All it really accomplishes is demonstrating that Benoît […]
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review
RATING: (2 STARS) The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is many things—a good film not being one of them. But in between non-sensical, neon-soaked action sequences and cliche-ridden superhero movie romance are some surprisingly acceptable moments. Electro’s transformation from bullied to bully is hardly inspired. Ditto Peter Parker’s exploration of his parents’ past. But these oddly (if […]
The Double (2014) Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Director Richard Ayoade’s The Double finds visual beauty in some objectively ugly places. The entire movie is bathed in harsh, obnoxious light, and a dusty, dirty film—”a patina of shit,” to quote the movie Michael Clayton—engulfs its characters, which supports the film’s themes that the working world is a suffocating, miserable place. […]
The Paper Review
RATING: (2 STARS) It’s almost stunning how quickly Ron Howard’s The Paper collapses in on itself. Here’s a film that’s mostly fine, if a little familiar, for 80% of its running time. But my God, when it fails, it fails spectacularly. Almost any good will Howard and his all-star cast build is gone by the […]
Lovelace Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Ordinary vs. extraordinary. Linda Boreman was the former, but she found herself in the midst of a situation that was very much the latter. Lovelace is both the name Boreman would carry throughout her adult life and the title of the, unfortunately, very ordinary cinematic chronicle of her bizarre career and horrific […]
The Canyons Review
RATING: (2 STARS) There’s something perversely mesmerizing about the cinematic train wreck that is The Canyons, the latest from director Paul Schrader. Maybe it’s the director’s confidence. This pulpy, sex-fueled story is utter nonsense, but it’s entertaining nonsense. The performances from porn star James Deen and tabloid queen Lindsay Lohan are abysmal, but they’re also […]
Broken City Review
RATING: (2 STARS) For a film that vacillates from scene to scene between barely passable and utterly forgettable, Broken City boasts some impressive names both on and off the screen. Mark Wahlberg leads a cast that also includes Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Barry Pepper, Jeffrey Wright, and Kyle Chandler. Allen Hughes (of Menace II Socity […]
The Company You Keep Review
RATING: (2 STARS) If there’s one thing to take away from Robert Redford’s The Company We Keep, it’s that few individuals keep better company than Redford. No film this year (unless, in the cast of Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder, we’re counting the many great actors and actresses missing from the final cut) boasts a […]
The Paperboy Review
RATING: (2 STARS) With The Paperboy, Lee Daniels has made a film best described as a brilliant disaster. His touch is unmistakable, interesting, and ballsy, but it’s also the film’s downfall. Watching The Paperboy, you can’t help but feel suffocated by an overwhelmingly unpleasant sense of camp. While blood, sweat, and Nicole Kidman’s urine spurt, […]
Hitchcock Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Hitchcock is a mostly harmless film, but it’s hard to believe there’s nothing exceptional about the film about one of the most exceptional films ever made. Cinema doesn’t get much better than Psycho, but its director’s making-of biopic is dull and lifeless. Its attempts at characterization are based largely around tall tales […]
Butter Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Butter isn’t just for spreading on toast anymore; It’s also the title of a pretty weak independent comedy directed by Jim Field Smith. The film’s characters are stock, and its narrative is both unfocused and disappointingly safe. For what’s supposed to be 90 minutes of skewering the ridiculousness of small town America, […]
Your Sister’s Sister Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Your Sister’s Sister is writer-director Lynn Shelton’s attempt to put an uber-realistic, mumblecore spin on a story that’s more than a little artificial. The end result is a film that wanders purposelessly toward a goofy conclusion. There’s talent on display—no doubt about it—but it never manifests itself into anything resembling a satisfying […]
