The Kingdom is a contemporary example of what a serious war action/drama used to be, even just a decade ago. Here we stand in a war that has already lasted longer than all of World War II and Hollywood’s method for handling the material is to shoot for the jugular,… Continue reading
The Brave One is alarmingly misguided; a film that wants so bad to be important and to have something to say. What is this supposed to be? A revenge drama? A satire on the films that precede it (i.e. Death Wish)? A black comedy? The screenwriters (all three of them)… Continue reading
I have spent the past several years crowing about how the action genre is dead and has been taken over by sci-fi and comic book adaptations. The days of the “body count movie” were thought to be over (mainly due to increasing similarities between reality and fiction), but along comes… Continue reading
Rush Hour 3 is the reeling definition of a cash grab. 1998’s original was fun enough, but since it went on to make untold millions we’re now subjected to the sequel machine, which started with 2001’s dismal and largely unfunny Rush Hour 2. This third offering blatantly breaks my sequel… Continue reading
The Bourne Ultimatum feels like the final chapter in a deluxe trilogy, and hopefully the series will take the high road and let things be. The franchise, first helmed by Doug Lyman with 2002’s The Bourne Identity, has really come out of left field and proven to be one of… Continue reading
I was always into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters, not so much the Transformers. I vividly remember some of my elementary school friends bringing over their Transformers, and we’d morph and battle them all day long. I was a sucker for durable plastic toys, as was any 8-year-old… Continue reading
It’s about damn time. Finally a movie that is a true summer feast and one that harks back to the steamy summers of decades past when studios regularly pumped out pure action movies with a sense of humor. When I think of summer, this is the kind of film that… Continue reading
Being the male that I am, I spent several of my elementary school years reading The Hardy Boys books. They were quick reads, loaded with action and wit. There was even a line of books that teamed up The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, the subject of Andrew Fleming’s latest… Continue reading
The original Fantastic Four had very little to offer, and this sequel has even less. That the first film was such a box office success came as a surprise to me at the time, but in hindsight 2005 was probably the apex of the comic book adaptation craze. The past… Continue reading
Mr. Brooks is that uncommon celluloid specimen that succeeds not only as a thriller, but as a biting black comedy. That this mix stays involving for its full runtime is a true rarity, but the screenplay, by director Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon, manages to stay a step or… Continue reading