Like The Hunger Games, Divergent is being established as a “young adult” futuristic science-fiction franchise centered around a likable young woman who has capabilities far beyond her own awareness. Both franchises begin with preposterous social systems as a basic premise, but […]
Continue reading »Category: Recent Releases
Sabotage (2014) ☆ ☆ 1/2
Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying, in his sixties, to re-establish himself as an action star after his stint in California politics. To his credit, he’s attaching himself to projects written and directed by good young filmmakers. However, the results have been […]
Continue reading »Non-Stop (2014) ☆ ☆
Setting a murder mystery on an airplane in flight is a neat premise — as long as it maintains suspense without sacrificing credibility. Non-Stop takes this premise and stretches it well past the breaking point by tossing in extortion, 20-minute death […]
Continue reading »The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) ☆ ☆ 1/2
A decade ago writer-director Wes Anderson was considered a wunderkind, following the releases of Rushmore (1998) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). He has had cult success since then, with The Darjeeling Limited (2004), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and Moonrise Kingdom (2012), but he has yet […]
Continue reading »Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
When I made my Oscar predictions I knew that this documentary was the front runner in its category, but I bet on an upset. That didn’t happen. Now that I’ve actually seen the film, I see why it won — […]
Continue reading »Frozen (2013) ☆ ☆ ☆
Pixar Studios has been the gold standard of animation for so long now that it seems surprising when another studio presents a movie of comparable quality. Especially the Walt Disney studio, because audiences have not embraced their films with the […]
Continue reading »Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) ☆ 1/2
The Coen brothers as filmmakers are hit and miss with me. For every one of their on-target skewers of life as we know it they produce something that I just don’t get, like Burn After Reading or O Brother, Where Art […]
Continue reading »Labor Day (2013) ☆ ☆ 1/2
Meryl Streep is the most honored performer in Academy Awards history, with a total of eighteen acting nominations — including a current one for August: Osage County, in which she once again proves her incredible range and talent. Over the […]
Continue reading »12 Years a Slave (2013) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
I have to admit that I have not been looking forward to seeing this, for the subject matter inevitably leads to viewer depression and guilt. Misplaced guilt, perhaps, but guilt nonetheless. My trepidation was absolutely realized; 12 Years a Slave is […]
Continue reading »The Monuments Men (2014) ☆ ☆
Cinema can serve as a wonderful introduction to real-life stories, especially those which have, for many reasons, remained largely hidden from public view. I have always held a special appreciation for movies like Argo (2012), or The Raid (1954) or The Man […]
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