Kingsman: The Secret Service emerged as one of the biggest surprises of 2015; an astute and self-aware roast of the spy movie genre (read: Bond movies) that delivered almost incomprehensible carnage with sly wit and likeable characters. Easier said than done. Most importantly, it didn’t take itself remotely seriously and,… Continue reading
Still Alice is an honest and refreshingly level-headed (read: non-manipulative) look at a horrible disease and the toll it takes not only on the diagnosed, but also friends and relatives. Nothing particularly new or revelatory happens, but its matter-of-fact approach coupled with a stellar cast saves it from the Lifetime Disease… Continue reading
Non-Stop features such a brilliant set-up that you spend most of the film wondering if it can pay it off. The answer is no. But for three-quarters of the run-time it is a taut, tense thriller that demands and keeps your attention. Once the Big Reveal is made, things go… Continue reading
Guys like Nicolas Cage, not in a disturbing way, but in a bona-fide man-crush kind of way. The same thing happens when Mike Ditka walks into an unsuspecting Chicago sports bar. Why compare the two? Because Cage, at least of late, has made ridiculously entertaining films (see “guilty pleasures”) with… Continue reading