October 29, 2016 “Army Of One” (*1/2 out of four) was an artificial and heavy-handed true story “comedy” set in the mid 2000’s about Gary Faulkner (Nicholas Cage), a handyman who believed that God (Russell Brand- don’t ask) sent him on a mission to find and kill Osama Bin Laden and he actually ventured to Pakistan to carry out this task. Cage does actually look and sound like the real Gary Faulkner when you see him over the end credits but his whiny voice, histrionics, and weird appearance make this tough going. For a much more intense and exciting look at the hunt and killing of Bin Laden, watch Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” instead. Continue reading →
October 29, 2016 To some, 1975’s “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (*1/2 out of four) was brilliant, original, and daring. To me, this homage to sci/fi musicals about a couple (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) whose car breaks down and are held hostage by a transvestite dancing nut (Tim Curry) is self-indulgent, freakishly weird (to put it mildly), incomprehensible, and (after a while) boring. Even the music is mediocre and poorly staged, with the exception of “Let’s Do The Time Warp Again.” It’s being re-released and was playing at Proctor’s tonight for it’s 40th anniversary. You may want to judge for yourself. If you must watch, you may want to see it in a theater, because the audience participation and interaction is far more entertaining than anything in the movie. They must have had some really good drugs in the ’70’s Continue reading →
October 26, 2016 “Masterminds” (**1/2 out of four) was a hit-and-miss but entertaining comedy based on the true story of the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery about a none-too-bright redneck security guard (Zach Galifianakis) who orchestrates the robbery and is subsequently backstabbed by his cohorts (Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig) and takes it on the run. No great shakes but ocassionally very funny, well-cast, and likeably dumb. Jason Sudeikis is a standout in an unusual role as a hard-core hitman. Continue reading →
October 25, 2016 “Fear, Inc.” (*1/2 out of four) was an irritatingly stupid horror thriller about a horror movie fanatic (Lucas Neff) who signs him and his friends up for an interactive reality horror game in which they are stalked and which re-enacts scenes from famous horror movies (“Friday The 13th”, “Halloween”, just to name a few). At one point, one of the characters mentions how all of this is exactly like the movie “The Game” to justify this movie ripping that movie off. Potentially clever horror thriller is bungled by routine filmmaking and stupid characters. Neff, who looks a lot like Layne Staley and Chris Barron from the Spin Doctors, is good but his character is annoying. Continue reading →
October 25, 2016 “Inferno” (*** out of four) was a sturdy third entry in “The Da Vinci Code” series about Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) who wakes up in a hospital in Italy with amnesia and teams up with a doctor (Felicity Jones) to find out more about what happened before he was nearly killed and to foil a deadly global plot involving Dante’s Inferno. Plenty of twists and turns in this fast-paced adventure, which is anchored by director Ron Howard’s craftsmanship and Tom Hanks’ effortless charisma. Overlength is it’s main fault. One of the rare series that has improved as it’s gone along. Continue reading →
October 25, 2016 “The Birth Of A Nation” (*** out of four) was a powerful re-telling of D.W. Griffith’s 1915 story set in Virginia in the 1830’s when a slave (Nate Parker who also produced, directed, and wrote the script) led a rebellion against his slave-traders and owners after his wife and others were abused and murdered which turned into an uprising. Parker does an impressive job on both sides of the camera and tells a story with convincing period detail and punctuated by brutal violence. Particular kudos to Elliot Davis’ rich cinematography. This generated some controversy due to past rape allegations against Parker but he has still made a stirring and effective film. Continue reading →
October 25, 2016 “Nine Lives” (**1/2 out of four) was a predictable but cute family comedy about a stern businessman (Kevin Spacey) who finds himself transported into the body of the family cat, where he tries to find out secrets regarding his business and also his relationship with his wife (Jennifer Garner). Spacey’s wisecracks are a good antidote for slow spots in the script. Nowhere near as bad as many reviews said but not nearly as deft as “The Richest Cat In The World” or “That Darn Cat.” Continue reading →
October 25, 2016 “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” (** out of four) was a tired sequel to the 2012 adaptation of Lee Child’s blockbuster book starring Tom Cruise once again in the title role as a former military officer who has become a nomadic drifter and is framed for murder and is forced to take it on the run with a female officer (Coble Smulders) accused of espionage. A definite improvement over the original but that’s not saying much. Sporadically exciting but story is routine and hard to get involved in. Cruise is OK but miscast as Reacher. He should follow the title suggestion and “never go back” to this series and focus on his next “Mission: Impossible” movie instead. Continue reading →
October 25, 2016 “Ouija: Origin Of Evil” (* out of four) was a real snooze set in 1965 in which a young mother and her two daughters run a scam involving ouija board predictions and subsequently bring supernatural evil into their home. Allegedly a prequel to the 2014 original but it’s virtually the exact same movie and that’s not meant as a compliment; talky and boring. 1987’s “Witchboard” looks like a masterpiece next to this and told the same story with much more style and scares. Annalise Basso’s strong lead performance is films only virtue. Continue reading →
October 25, 2016 “Mr. Church” (** out of four) was a schmaltzy coming-of-age story about the relationship between a young girl (Britt Robertson) and her cook (Eddie Murphy) of 15 years and how it changes both of them. Initially, he is only hired for 6 months but after her mother (Natascha McElhone) passes away he becomes her caretaker. Nicely told and acted but the more it goes on, it’s slow pace and lack of story becomes monotonous. Murphy is terrific in an unusual role for him. A disappointment from director Bruce Beresford, whose “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Rich In Love” this sometimes resembles. Continue reading →
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