Archive for the Tag 'crime'

THE MECHANIC – Reviewed by David

It may share the same plot and title, but this souped-up remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson/Jan-Michael Vincent thriller The Mechanic is really just another excuse for action star Jason Statham to shoot guns and kick butt, albeit one that director Simon West (Con Air) shoots and edits with energetic efficiency.

THE GREEN HORNET – Reviewed by David

Mind-bending indie director Michel Gondry (The Science of Sleep) proves so capable at crafting crackling action sequences in the $120 million big-screen version of The Green Hornet that it’s a shame star Seth Rogen had to go and ruin the rest of the movie.

THE NEXT THREE DAYS – Reviewed by David

What was first an 88-minute French film called Pour Elle is now a 133-minute, big-studio thriller starring Russell Crowe and directed by Paul Haggis that, despite needing a bit of trimming, turns out to be a solidly entertaining effort.

FASTER – Reviewed by David

Its title makes it sound like the latest installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise, but Faster is actually a stylish and surprisingly good revenge thriller starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (who coincidentally appears in the fifth F&F entry next month) and Billy Bob Thornton that looks and feels a little like film [...]

THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST – Reviewed by David

The cinematic escapades of Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s pint-sized Goth hacker end with a whimper in The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, a redundant, talky and overly long affair that will probably prove a must-see for fans of the books but had me constantly checking my watch and shaking my head [...]

RED – Reviewed by Will

It takes a while for RED get around to explaining its title, but it won’t spoil anything if I tell you it’s an acronym: “Retired, Extremely Dangerous.” This tag is specifically applied to Bruce Willis, who plays former CIA operative Frank Moses, and more generally to the motley (and all-star) assortment [...]

SAW: THE FINAL CHAPTER – Reviewed by Noah

After being betrayed by the organization who hired him, an ex-Federale launches a brutal rampage of revenge against his former bossRR
Someone once said, “The difference between good pornography and bad pornography is the addition of plot.” I think it might have been Gandhi.

TAKERS – Reviewed by David

Takers is the epitome of slick Hollywood entertainment, a fabulously flashy piece of action filmmaking featuring a plethora of pretty boys and virtuoso set pieces that mostly make up for the fact that the thing doesn’t have an original thought in its handsome little head.

THE AMERICAN – Reviewed by J.D.

Of the many things that George Clooney and I have in common, and the list grows longer year after year, the one that People magazine hasn’t commented on as much is our shared love of cinema of the 1970’s. We have tended to show our appreciation for this era in different ways; [...]

THE TOWN – Reviewed by Joyce

There’s not that much to say about The Town, except it was good. Really good. The Town is Ben Affleck’s baby—he adapted the screenplay, he directed it, and he starred in it. It’s hard to believe that the goofy, half drunk kid I saw on Inside the Actor’s Studio nearly ten years ago, could have [...]

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