Though it’s a far cry from the great superhero flick I was hoping for, the somewhat ungainly Iron Man 2 still qualifies as solid summer-blockbuster entertainment, thanks in large part to some well-done CGI set pieces and the cool and cocky charm of star Robert Downey, Jr.
Read More action, adventure, blu-ray, David, Don Cheadle, DVD, Garry Shandling, Gwyneth Paltrow, Iron Man 2, Jon Favreau, Jr., Justin Theroux, Mickey Rourke, PG-13, Robert Downey, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Sci-FiOriginally, Ridley Scott‘s Robin Hood was to be called Nottingham, and it was to star Russell Crowe as both the Sheriff and the Merry Man in Chief. That film might have been a moderately fresh take on a character that has been portrayed in film and television dozens if not hundreds of times. Instead, undoubtably [...]
Read More action, adventure, blu-ray, Cate Blanchett, Danny Huston, drama, DVD, Mark Strong, Matthew Macfadyen, Max Von Sydow, PG-13, Ridley Scott, Robin Hood, Russell Crowe, willA gym-toned Jake Gyllenhaal more than earns his action-hero stripes in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a surprisingly entertaining, Jerry Bruckheimer-produced period adventure based on a video game that wants to be Lawrence of Arabia but winds up closer to the Brendan Fraser version of The Mummy.
Read More action, adventure, blu-ray, David, DVD, Gemma Arterton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jerry Bruckheimer, Mike Newell, Prince of PersiaYou’d be hard-pressed to find a more apathetic actor right now than Sam Worthington, an Australian whose appearances in Terminator Salvation and the gazillion-dollar-grossing Avatar have inexplicably transformed him into Hollywood’s go-to guy for big-budget CGI extravaganzas, the latest being this adequately entertaining remake of the cheesy 1981 fantasy flick.
Read More action, adventure, blu-ray, Clash of the Titans, David, drama, DVD, Fantasy, Liam Neeson, PG-13, Ralph Fiennes, Sam WorthingtonDenzel Washington speaks softly and wields a very big knife in The Book of Eli, a stylish post-apocalyptic action tale directed by The Hughes Brothers that essentially serves as an $80 million sermon about the power of Christianity.
Read More action, adventure, blu-ray, David, Denzel Washington, drama, DVD, Gary Oldman, Gary Whitta, Jennifer Beals, Michael Gambon, Mila Kunis, R, The Book of Eli, The Hughes BrothersIn director Tim Burton’s marvelous version of Alice in Wonderland, 6-year-old and very sleep-deprived Alice has continuing strange dreams of a white rabbit (Michael Sheen), a giant rabbit hole, a mad tea party, and plants and animals that can talk. About 13 years later, a less than enthusiastic Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is being forced to [...]
Read More adventure, Alan Rickman, Alice In Wonderland, Anne Hathaway, blu-ray, Crispin Glover, DVD, family, Fantasy, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Michael Sheen, PG-, Robin, Tim Burton, VivianOftentimes, when a successful book is transferred to the big screen, the complaint is that the essence of the source material has been lost in translation due to any number of factors, legitimate or not. It’s not unreasonable; so many novels are unwieldy, overstuffed with minor characters and illogical narratives, that it’s usually unnecessary to [...]
Read More adventure, blu-ray, Charlize Theron, Cormac McCarthy, drama, DVD, J.D., John Hillcoat, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael K Williams, R, Robert Duvall, The Road, thriller, Viggo MortensenIt’s a peculiar thing to review a movie that has grossed enough money to launch the space shuttle twice or to build a complete Virginia-class nuclear fast attack submarine. Is there actually a point in doing so? If I say it’s overrated will that stop anyone from renting it? If I say it’s underrated will [...]
Read More action, adventure, Avatar, blu-ray, DVD, Fantasy, James Cameron, PG-13, Sam Worthington, Sci-Fi, willI can still recall the resonant voice of Roald Dahl reading aloud his classic children’s book “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” on my oft-played book-on-tape version (yes, I was a cassette-tape-listening child of the 80’s). Since I, at one point, pretty much knew the book by heart, I had to fight hard to avoid stringent comparison [...]
Read More adventure, Alex, animation, Bill Murray, blu-ray, comedy, DVD, family, Fantastic Mr. Fox, George Clooney, Jason Schwartzman, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, PG-, Roald Dahl, Wes AndersonFirst of all, anyone worried about this film staying true to the art of the original should know that author Maurice Sendak gave his full approval to director Spike Jonze, writer Dave Eggers, and their conceptual interpretation of his classic of childrens’ literature Where the Wild Things Are. This is not the Sendak book I [...]
Read More adventure, Alex, blu-ray, Catherine Keener, Dave Eggers, drama, DVD, family, Fantasy, Forest Whitaker, James Gandolfini, Karen O, Lauren Ambrose, Maurice Sendak, Max Records, Paul Dano, PG-, Spike Jonze, Where The Wild Things Are