Public Enemies is Michael Mann’s best film since 1995’s Heat, but it’s not without its faults. What is refreshing is to see an old-school gangster flick with a stellar cast. This is a very intriguing portrait of John Dillinger, the famed bank robber and the FBI’s first-ever “Most Wanted” man.… Continue reading
Here’s the simplest way to put it: if you liked the over-the-top, brutal finale of Pineapple Express, you’ll most likely find yourself enjoying Observe and Report, a file that is plenty mean-spirited in its own right. Sometimes aiming for straight gross-out gags and other times targeting oddly-timed and prolonged verbal… Continue reading
I suppose there’s no good time to release The International these days. After all, who wants to watch a movie about corrupt banks that siphon money for nefarious purposes at the expense of their clients? Sounds a lot like real life to me. While the subject matter does hit a… Continue reading
Friday the 13th may be the only film I can think of that could roll the credits after the first twenty minutes and have most people leave happy. The following seventy minutes are basically a drawn-out version of the first twenty, but I’ll be damned if this movie isn’t way… Continue reading
Inkheart, based upon the bestselling novel by Cornelia Funke, fits right in to the current trend in Hollywood of the written page becoming a reality. The very notion arouses all kinds of childhood memories (“what would my favorite character be like if he/she were real?”), and for the most part… Continue reading
Yes Man certainly marks a return to comedy form for Jim Carrey. It’s essentially a carbon copy of Liar Liar (replace those lies with the word “yes”), but it’s refreshing to see him back in something funny and harmless after clunkers like Fun with Dick and Jane and The Number… Continue reading
There are many facts of life, but one is that Hollywood will be making Bond films until the end of the time. That much I have conceded. That reality was a much darker one after, say, Die Another Day, but after the upstart that was Casino Royale, Bond is now… Continue reading
Approaching an Oliver Stone film is one of the toughest things to do for a film critic. The man is a lightning rod for controversy, whether it is accusations of revisionist history or outright bias. That he is the one directing the first biopic about President George W. Bush will… Continue reading
It’s pretty apparent that Hollywood wouldn’t mind if the War on Terror lasted one hundred years (hey, it’s the only figure we’ve been given to work with). The post-9/11 thriller factory is still working at full capacity, but Body of Lies emerges as more of a cautionary espionage tale than… Continue reading
Whenever I hear the word “quirky” being used to describe a movie, I can’t help but shudder. Ever since the success of last year’s Juno, screenwriters all across Hollywood have been competing for “Most Quirky Screenplay,” which usually means throwing around dialogue that sounds like no one and playing music… Continue reading