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
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
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
The horrors of living in a surveillance society have been predicted and estimated for decades, and now that we’re actually in one I suppose we can take a step back and look at things objectively. Eagle Eye attempts to exploit the fact that the technology exists to track any human… Continue reading
Is it possible to not recommend a movie headlined by Robert De Niro and Al Pacino? One would think it to be an impossible feat, but leave it to screenwriter Russell Gewirtz and director Jon Avnet to muck up the whole works. There’s nary a bad thing to say about… Continue reading
Traitor is a serviceable thriller with a couple of nice twists and some amazing locations, but it never really decides what it wants to be. As an action/suspense film, it misses the mark by being too talky. As a drama and commentary on current geopolitical and religious themes, it’s too… Continue reading
The Dark Knight is an unbridled masterpiece; a dark and gloomy commentary on the state of our country today. Filmed in blacks and dark blues, there are only occasional rays of hope as Batman takes on Gotham’s latest batch of evil. Yet there is a feeling of giddiness as you… Continue reading
Get Smart is the latest in the endless chain of sitcoms, regardless of quality, getting the big screen treatment by Hollywood. I fondly remember watching the show on TV as a kid and being amused by the slapstick humor and sheer stupidity of Maxwell Smart, played to perfection by Don… Continue reading
You have to hand it to the comic book genre for producing the same story over and over until they get it “right.” That would be “right” according to the fans. Ang Lee’s 2003 telling of the Hulk wasn’t praised all that much, and rightly so. Fans wanted carnage and… Continue reading
It’s going to take a mound of evidence to convince me that Street Kings isn’t a parody. The film is entertaining, yes, but that often comes with police dramas laced with over-the-top tough-guy dialogue, brute violence, and a penchant for implausible plot twists. We know that director David Ayer and… Continue reading