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Movie Review: Jobs
The film Jobs is best described as the rise, fall and rise again of the Apple Corporation. I found the lengthy, biography of Steve Jobs (founder of Apple) played by Ashton Kutcher to be reasonably interesting and undeniably inspirational. As a biography, it falls somewhat short. There was much more I would have liked to have known about Mr. Jobs. It is no secret that Jobs was known to be a bit rut...[Read More]
Movie Review: Only God Forgives
Reprehensible, pedophilic murderers are not usually the brand of character that is the focus of a revenge vendetta. If I am going to be encouraged in the course of a film to root for retribution for the fallen, then give me the opening slaughter of the family in Once Upon a Time in the West or “The Bride’s” wedding day massacre in Kill Bill. Revenge may be a tried and true motivation in the histor...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: The Mighty Avenger Returns in Thor: The Dark World
Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium opened this past weekend, and while it hasn’t received the near-universal acclaim of its predecessor District 9, by most accounts it is pretty good. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get out to see the movie over the weekend, but I plan to see it sometime this week. This week’s new Trailer Trashin’ column takes another look at one of my most ant...[Read More]
The Five Greatest Pre-J.J. Abrams Star Trek Movie Scenes
With the release of the second Star Trek feature from director J.J. Abrams, Star Trek Into Darkness, earlier this summer it seems like as good a time as any to have some fun and remember the best Star Trek movie scenes from earlier films that are, well, just plain fun. I would assume that by now, you’ve at the very least seen one of the Abrams-helmed Star Trek films. Critical reaction for Star Tre...[Read More]
Movie Review: Fruitvale Station
The timely Fruitvale Station tells the story of a day in the life of Oscar Grant and the events leading up to his fatal shooting on the subway. Not only does the social climate in which the film is released give it a heightened gravitas, but a singular performance by Michael B. Jordan elevates Fruitvale Station to a level it might not have achieved had the lead role not been in such capable hands....[Read More]
Movie Review: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
I think the critique of this film is best said as follows: If Rick Riordan’s prequel, Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief is given a rating of good to fair, then Riordan’s Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters would be classified somewhere between fair to poor. Maybe three years between films is too long. I had some high hopes for this adventure/fantasy, but was fairly disappointed by the mediocre special eff...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: They Messed with the Wrong Mexican Again in Machete Kills
First off, let me apologize to you, dear readers, for getting this week’s column to you so late – it’s been crazy busy on my end, and this got away from me. In happier news, over the weekend, I finally saw The Wolverine, and I have to say that I liked it more than I thought I would. More importantly, this week finally sees the release of Elysium, which I am planning to see as soon as I...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: Keanu Reeves Leads Japanese Warriors in 47 Ronin
[dropcap]I[/dropcap] spent a lot of time at the movies this past weekend. On Friday, I finally got to see Pacific Rim again, and it was just as much fun seeing it a second time. And on Sunday, I saw The Conjuring with a friend, and while I’m certainly not an authority of any kind on horror films, I thought it was quite good. We’re almost to the beginning of August, and the summer movie...[Read More]
Movie Review: The Wolverine
Let me get this out of the way, The Wolverine is not your typical Marvel mutant movie. If you’re hoping to see a smorgasbord of mutants show up to help the ol’ Canucklehead through the streets of Japan, where most of this film takes place, you’ll be extremely disappointed. I, on the other hand, wasn’t. After X3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I had had enough. I needed a fresh start. First Class was...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: The Hangover Meets Red in Last Vegas
The 2013 summer movie season continues on, with this week seeing the release of The Wolverine. It’s been getting some fairly good buzz, and I’m actually interested in seeing it. In the meantime, this week’s Trailer Trashin’ column looks at the upcoming comedy Last Vegas. Premise: Billy (Michael Douglas), Paddy (Robert De Niro), Archie (Morgan Freeman), and Sam (Kevin Kline)...[Read More]
Movie Review: Red 2
The action-comedy RED (2010), inspired by the limited comic book series of the same name from DC’s Homage Comics imprint, was an unexpected and pleasant surprise for moviegoers when it came out a few years ago. It successfully took what could have been a one-note joke of a concept – elderly spies having to come out of retirement – and turned it into a fun, entertaining movie. And thanks to t...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: Keri Russell Loses Herself in Austenland
Pacific Rim finally opened this past weekend – if you’ve read my review, you know I absolutely loved it – and while I was disappointed that it opened soft here, it is doing well overseas, so there’s still hope that it will ultimately be successful. I’m certainly going to go see it again. But now it’s time for something completely different, because this week’s Trailer...[Read More]