Billed as a high-concept actioner, Looper is really more a high-concept drama. It works on both levels, but still runs into many of the same plot-hole traps that other time-traveling films encounter. At the same time, there’s something to be said for a pretty original story (remember those?) that poses… Continue reading
Frankenweenie sure feels like a deeply personal film for Tim Burton, the world’s favorite outsider director. It is, after all, a touch-up of his 1984 short film of the same name. This one comes up with the full Disney works: 3D, stop-motion, and daring black-and-white (I can only imagine the… Continue reading
“War has rules, mud wrestling has rules – politics has no rules.” – Ross Perot That’s the quote on the opening title card of The Campaign, and it’s a pretty apt description of the film itself. In a political world gone crazy with outlandish accusations and endless pots of money,… Continue reading
Safe House is the kind of well-made, exciting action film that delivers the goods fans are looking for. It never aspires to be anything more, as evidenced by the run-of-the-mill corrupt government story at its core. You’ve seen it all before, but it doesn’t matter. This flick is more about… Continue reading
The Woman in Black should satiate those looking to see Daniel Radcliffe wandering down dark hallways for an hour and a half, but that’s about it. This is one unimaginative, largely scare-free experience that exploits every haunted house cliché known to man, down to boo scares with random animals and… Continue reading
Man on a Ledge falls firmly into the category of the “time filler” film. It’s a competently made, never dull suspense yarn that seems perfectly content being average and unassuming. The problem is that it’s a little too unassuming. A setup like this should wring suspense out of the audience… Continue reading
Red Tails has supposedly been in the Hollywood pipeline for over twenty years, never finding financing because of the African-American-driven cast. George Lucas has been behind the project from the beginning, and finally became so fed up with the studio system that he decided to finance the film himself. The… Continue reading
Rampart faces the age-old dilemma where the lead performance is better than the film itself. This is, perhaps, Woody Harrelson’s best performance, but he’s stuck in a narrative that’s never in a big hurry to get anywhere. Just when you think it’s about to come to a dynamite resolution, it… Continue reading
Why are these movies so depressing? Having seen both Happy Feet films, I have left both with a sense of puzzling sadness. That takes some effort considering the central basis for the films are talking, singing penguins. But both films have also had unsettling agendas, putting our beloved penguins in… Continue reading
The Muppets is an absolute treasure, both as a tribute to devoted fans and for kids today, who likely haven’t even heard of them until now. In a Hollywood practically driven by crass consumerism and gimmicks, The Muppets never feels like such for an instant. This one is from the… Continue reading