Dracula Untold (2014)

Dracula Untold (2014)

The allure of the prequel, from the studio’s standpoint, makes a whole lot of sense. After all, something can always occur before something else and you can pretty much make up your own rules. Dracula Untold, the latest in the Dracula saga that has served Universal well for decades, is a… Continue reading

Need for Speed (2014)

Need for Speed (2014)

It’s really amazing that it’s taken this long for Need for Speed, a popular and never-ending video game series, to get the big-screen treatment. On the heels of the mega-popular The Fast and the Furious and its sequels, there is a built-in audience for this kind of vehicular anarchy. And… Continue reading

22 Jump Street (2014)

22 Jump Street (2014)

Just because you know you’re a lame retread doesn’t mean you’re not a lame retread. Such is the lesson to be learned from 22 Jump Street, a self-aware sequel to the very good 2012 original that earns some early laughs before disintegrating into screaming matches and just plain unfunny, repetitive… Continue reading

I, Frankenstein (2014)

I, Frankenstein (2014)

I, Frankenstein is an endlessly silly Blade/Underworld mash-up that somehow never becomes unwatchable, mainly due to some decent action, visual effects, and Bill Nighy’s Billy Mack-gone-Goth routine. Aaron Eckhart stars as Adam, the supposedly horrendous creation of Dr. Frankenstein (he basically looks like a normal dude with some scars) whose… Continue reading

Blended (2014)

Blended (2014)

Adam Sandler, reigning king of the Filmed Vacation, is back for another luxurious trip short on belly laughs and long on gooey sentimentality and familiar slapstick. The strange part is that Blended comes close to working, mainly due to Sandler and Drew Barrymore’s chemistry and her likability. The comedy mine… Continue reading

The Monuments Men (2014)

The Monuments Men (2014)

“Damon, Murray, Blanchett, and Goodman are in? Well, then, our work here is done.” It seems more than likely that sentence or a variation thereof was uttered during the early stages of The Monuments Men, a dreary and largely uninteresting film about events that shouldn’t be dreary and uninteresting. A… Continue reading