I was all set to hate this big-screen version of The A-Team the moment I learned Liam Neeson had been cast as Colonel ‘Hannibal’ Smith, the role made so memorable by a cigar-chomping George Peppard in the same-named 80′s TV show. Turns out that, for its first two acts, at least, this is a not [...]
Read More action, adventure, blu-ray, Bradley Cooper, David, DVD, Gerald McRaney, Jessica Biel, Joe Carnahan, Liam Neeson, Patrick Wilson, PG-13, Sharlto Copley, The A-Team, thrillerOnce upon a time there was an animated ogre named Shrek. He was in a movie that made a lot of money, so its studio said, what the heck? There are enough ideas for a few more rounds. We’ll make some sequels and try not to run the idea into the ground. They came close, [...]
Read More adventure, animation, comedy, David, DVD, Eddie Murphy, PG-, Shrek, Shrek Forever AfterCouch-jumping theatrics aside, Tom Cruise is still a movie star, and also the main reason to see Knight and Day, a breezy, Hitchcockian action comedy co-starring Cameron Diaz that nails the action stuff but veers a little off course when it comes to the comedy.
Read More action, adventure, Cameron Diaz, comedy, David, James Mangold, Jordi Molla, Knight and Day, Marc Blucas, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, PG-13, Tom CruiseHaving apparently run out of theme park rides to turn into mediocre movies, Disney, it seems, has decided to take scenes from its own films–in this case the Mickey Mouse portion of Fantasia–and turn them into loud, overblown star vehicles for Nicolas Cage and his growing collection of wigs.
Read More action, adventure, Alfred Molina, blu-ray, comedy, David, DVD, Jay Baruchel, Jerry Bruckheimer, John Turteltaub, Nicolas Cage, PG-, Teresa Palmer, Trevor RabinLike a phoenix rising from the proverbial ashes of his stalled career, Sylvester Stallone managed to make himself relevant again a few years back with the fourth Rambo flick. With The Expendables, his massively entertaining, testosterone-fueled extravaganza of fistfights, firepower and fireballs, he rockets right past mere relevance and back to the top of the [...]
Read More action, adventure, blu-ray, David, Dolph Lundgren, DVD, Eric Roberts, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, R, Sylvester Stallone, The Expendables, thrillerIt’s gotten to the point now where the mere mention of M. Night Shyamalan elicits either a laugh or a groan. It wasn’t so long ago that he was producing some truly phenomenal films–I for one believe that The Sixth Sense is a genuine masterpiece, even (or especially) when you look past its spooky bits [...]
Read More Aasif Mandvi, action, adventure, Blu-, Dev Patel, DVD, family, M Night Shyamalan, PG-, The Last Airbender, willScott Pilgrim vs. The World has all the ingredients to be one of the great cult favorites: it’s unique, funny, didn’t perform well at the box office, and a large percentage of the people who watch it probably won’t see the appeal. Oh, and most importantly, it’s set in Canada. It’s the third film directed [...]
Read More action, adventure, comedy, DVD, Edgar Wright, Michael Cera, PG-13, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, willUntil I saw Adrien Brody in the energetic Predators, the fifth flick to feature the dreadlocked, crab-faced alien hunters first encountered by Arnold Schwarzenegger two decades ago, I never even imagined the guy as an action hero. But Mr. Skinny pumped some iron, got himself a crew cut and a macho attitude and, voilà, proves [...]
Read More action, Adrien Brody, adventure, Alex Litvak, blu-ray, David, DVD, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Finch, Nimrod Antal, Predators, R, Sci-Fi, thriller, Topher GraceAmong some of those who study the long stretch of Western history commonly known as classical antiquity, the period is bookended by two Greek names: Homer (not the yellow one) at the beginning and Hypatia at the end. The latter name is not a household one, which is regrettable for a number of reasons. Hypatia [...]
Read More adventure, Agora, Alejandro Amenabar, drama, DVD, History, Hypatia, Max Minghella, R, Rachel Weisz, romance, willTake heed, gentle reader: we are witnessing the Golden Age of Animation. At this year’s Oscars, the Animated Feature category swelled from its perennial selection of three computer-generated features (usually Pixar’s winner and two also-rans) to five brilliant and varied films, only one of which was computer generated (Up). The surprise nomination was the somewhat [...]
Read More adventure, animation, blu-ray, Brendan Gleeson, DVD, Evan McGuire, Fantasy, Genndy Tartakovsky, Nora Twomey, The Secret of Kells, Tomm Moore, will