Showing Tag: " thriller" (Show all posts)

REVIEW: With Authentic Memories of Trees on 6/10/21, LAPD Officer K Witnesses His Own Personal Miracle Through a Wallace Emanator & A Wooden Toy Horse

Posted by James Brown on Monday, October 9, 2017, In : 0.00% Water

Blade Runner 2049

Directed By: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, and Jared Leto

Denis Villeneuve has been on a hot streak in recent years. He started with the visceral abduction thriller Prisoners. Then, he delivered a beast of a movie in the epic crime drama Sicario. After that, he crafted last year’s sci-fi and awards darling Arrival. As he’s been putting out one hi...

REVIEW: Behind the Coagula of Get Out, TSA Agent Rodney Williams Handles the Situation of the Sunken Place

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, February 28, 2017, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Get Out

Directed By: Jordan Peele

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Lil Rel Howery, and Keith Stanfield

I know people have been flocking to theaters as a distraction from the outrage of the day from the Trump White House. Every single day, something frustrating, maddening, or downright disgusting takes place in this new era, and moviegoers need a break. For the first time in a while, I'm happy to report that there is a great new...

REVIEW: For Susan, The Creativity of Nocturnal Animals Is a Heartbeat Away from the Real World

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, November 24, 2016, In : 0.00% Water

Nocturnal Animals

Directed By: Tom Ford

Starring: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, and Michael Sheen

If you've been reading my posts this awards season, you've probably noticed that I haven't given too many sober ratings as of late. With the Oscars on the way, you would think there would be something fantastic that would come my way. So far, this has not been the case. That's about to change for the...

REVIEW: A Nonzero Sum Game, Arrival Is All About Using the Weapon Language, the Cornerstone of Civilization

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, November 13, 2016, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Arrival

Directed By: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Tzi Ma

It's been one hell of a week. For the better part of it, I've been sleepless and sick to my stomach as I reflect on bizarre, hateful turn of political events. It truly pains me to accept that Donald J. Trump will be moving into the White House toward the end of January. It's absolutely befuddling. America is speaking two languages, one of love and respect for our fellow ma...

REVIEW: The Girl on the Train Is a Mysteriously Dull Whodunnit

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 15, 2016, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The Girl on the Train

Directed By: Tate Taylor

Starring: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Allison Janney, Édgar Ramírez, and Lisa Kudrow

The 2016 awards season is off to its unofficial start (it really begins in earnest next month by most standards), and I have an interesting prediction this year. For the better part of this decade, we've had knockout films that have garnered a whole hell of a lot of prestige released in this month. Think 12 Years A S...

REVIEW: Hell or High Water, Comanche Brothers Toby & Tanner Howard Set Their Sights on Texas Midlands Bank

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, August 28, 2016, In : 0.00% Water

Hell or High Water

Directed By: David Mackenzie

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gil Birmingham, and Katy Mixon

August may be a poor time to catch high quality big budget blockbusters. Jason Bourne and Suicide Squad are most certainly potent examples of this. Still, it's an excellent time to catch great independent or low budget films. After all, the month of August is really the preamble to awards season and the glut of prestige films on the way in the next several months. I'...

REVIEW: From Treadstone to Ironhand & Deep Dream, Jason Bourne Explores His Connection to Richard Webb

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, July 31, 2016, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Jason Bourne

Directed By: Paul Greengrass

Starring: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Julia Stiles, and Riz Ahmed

The 2016 summer blockbuster season has been littered with big budget disappointments, especially when it comes to reboots of dormant or long-running franchises. Bryan Singer went up to bat and struck out with X-Men: Apocalypse, his latest installment in Fox's aging mutant franchise. Roland Emmerich returned twenty years too late in Independence Day: Resu...

REVIEW: Turn Out the Lights Given Diana's Skin Disorder & Her History at Mulberry Hills

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, July 24, 2016, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Lights Out

Directed By: David F. Sandberg

Starring: Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia, Billy Burke, and Maria Bello

It seems as if the box office might just be getting interesting again. We had the delightful Ghostbusters last weekend and have Star Trek Beyond this one. We even have Jason Bourne and Suicide Squad waiting in the wings. We're in the midst of a potentially really good wave of big blockbusters here. All the while, the undercurrent of horror and animated flicks t...

REVIEW: To Purge & Purify in This Election Year, The New Founding Fathers Target Presidential Contender Senator Charlene Roan

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, July 2, 2016, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Purge: Election Year

Directed By: James DeMonaco

Starring: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Mykelti Williamson

The political conventions are coming this month, and there's a lot that could potentially happen over the next several weeks. With donors backing out left and right, the Republican convention is seemingly in turmoil. It's also not clear who is willing to hold their nose and risk political suicide as Trump's vice presidential pick. On the other side of the aisle, we have a de...

REVIEW: In Now You See Me 2, Seeing Is Believing for the Four Horsemen & Their Leader Dylan Shrike on New Year's Eve

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, June 12, 2016, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Now You See Me 2

Directed By: Jon M. Chu

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Daniel Radcliffe, Lizzy Caplan, Jay Chou, Sanaa Lathan, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman

The magic of Harry Potter is coming back to life on the stage and screen this year. The forward-looking sequel Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has just arrived on stage. The backward-looking Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will arrive in theaters in November. While the boy who lived i...

REVIEW: Tackling Enfield in The Conjuring 2, Ed & Lorraine Warren Face Off With the Crooked Man Bill Wilkins & Demon Valak

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, June 11, 2016, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Conjuring 2

Directed By: James Wan

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Frances O'Connor, Madison Wolfe, Simon McBurney, Franka Potente, Benjamin Haigh, and Maria Doyle Kennedy

We all could use a good scare right about now. After taking a break from the genre with the action spectacle Furious 7 last year, James Wan is back with the follow-up to his 2013 hit The Conjuring. As fate would have it, I've found one of the rare horror movies of 2016 I don't loathe. I'm not putting The Conjurin...

REVIEW: Lovingly Short Sighted With Its Rabbit Bouquets, The Lobster Is One Horrific Sci-Fi Romance

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, May 31, 2016, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Lobster

Directed By: Yorgos Lanthimos

Starring: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, Olivia Colman, Ashley Jensen, Ariane Labed, Angeliki Papoulia, John C. Reilly, Léa Seydoux, Michael Smiley, and Ben Whishaw

Dystopian science fiction thrillers have been dominating the mainstream for the last several years. The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner all serve as pertinent examples. This hasn't held true to the same extent at the independent box office. There are hidden gems...

REVIEW: Despite Bird Protesters, Misty Mountains & Nixon's Angel of Death, The Nice Guys Will Be Happy

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, May 22, 2016, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Nice Guys

Directed By: Shane Black

Starring: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Keith David, and Kim Basinger

There are some folks in the industry who may not be widely known despite a well-documented history of commercial success. Shane Black is most definitely one of these individuals. He's the man who played a pivotal role in shaping mainstream action flicks into what they are today with his screenplays for Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon 2. He's ...

REVIEW: An Otherworldly Movie With Plenty of Daylight, Midnight Special Might Just Make You Believe

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, April 10, 2016, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Midnight Special

Directed By: Jeff Nichols

Starring: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Sam Shepard, and Jaeden Lieberher

Shotgun Stories. Take Shelter. Mud. These films are all the product of a singular director-actor combination, that of visionary Jeff Nichols and his muse Michael Shannon. The third time apparently wasn't the charm as the dynamic duo is back together again on the big screen with this weekend's Midnight Special. For his fourth collaboration with Sh...

REVIEW: Referring Up, Eye in the Sky Brings Down the Hellfire In Spite of the Rules of Engagement

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, March 19, 2016, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Eye in the Sky

Directed By: Gavin Hood

Starring: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, and Barkhad Abdi

There may never be another like the late great Alan Rickman. He truly was a distinguished thespian whose every word was delivered in a savory, captivating manner on the big screen. Whether you remember him as Hans Gruber, Sheriff George, Severus Snape, or any of the many other characters he's portrayed over the years, I pray you don't remember him for his final role as Blue Caterpillar in ...

REVIEW: In 10 Cloverfield Lane, You Don't Build the Ark After the Flood Starts or If Paris et ' J'aime

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, March 13, 2016, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

10 Cloverfield Lane

Directed By: Dan Trachtenberg

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, and John Gallagher, Jr.

After the massive hit Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the next thing on the radar of J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions was supposed to be Star Trek Beyond, or so we thought. As it turns out, Bad Robot got us with the quickness when it dropped the trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane earlier this year. It literally came out of nowhere when it landed online. The prospect of a se...

REVIEW: The Witch Crackles With Old School Horror & One Dysfunctional Puritan Family

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, February 27, 2016, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Witch

Directed By: Robert Eggers

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, and Lucas Dawson

Having the benefit of having reviewed hundreds and hundreds of films, I generally can size up a film in its first fifteen minutes or so. My ego lets me think I can do it in only five minutes sometimes. In the case of Robert Eggers's The Witch, I thought I had it pegged after the first few moments. I thought it was going to be a dry, fright-less affair. ...

REVIEW: In The Finest Hours, Coast Guard Man Bernie Webber Does Everything to Get Over the Bar to the SS Pendleton for April 16th with Miriam

Posted by James Brown on Wednesday, February 3, 2016, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Finest Hours

Directed By: Craig Gillespie

Starring: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz, and Eric Bana

The aftermath of Jonas is more of his old man winter plaguing us with bone-chilling cold this past week. As I hit the movies, the weather served as a frosty reminder that I had been absent from the box office for a little while. Fittingly, the first movie on deck for me was about being caught in the throes of a deadly winter storm. Yes, I'm talking about ...

REVIEW: A Tree with Strong Roots, The Revenant's Hugh Glass Learns That Revenge Is in God's Hands Not His

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, January 9, 2016, In : 0.00% Water

The Revenant

Directed By: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, and Will Poulter

"As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight. You breathe. Keep breathing. When there is a storm. And you stand in front of a tree. If you look at its branches, you swear it will fall. But if you watch the trunk, you will see its stability."
-Hugh Glass's Wife (Grace Dove)

The reigning Oscar champ is back! I may not have been rooting for Birdman throughout last ...
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REVIEW: On the Long Road to Red Rock with the Hangman & Daisy Domergue, Old Mary Todd's Calling The Hateful Eight to Minnie's Haberdashery For One Bloody Western

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, December 26, 2015, In : 0.00% Water

The Hateful Eight

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, and Channing Tatum

"You only need to hang mean bastards, but mean bastards you need to hang."

-The Hangman John Ruth (Kurt Russell)

Spend Christmas with someone you hate. Now, that's a catchy tagline. It also rings true right now for some moviegoers spending their Christmas holiday with loathsome family members the...

REVIEW: Hail Tyrant Macbeth, AKA Michael Fassbender in the Next Great Shakespeare Adaptation

Posted by James Brown on Monday, December 21, 2015, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Macbeth

Directed By: Justin Kurzel

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Paddy Considine, Sean Harris, Jack Reynor, Elizabeth Debicki, and David Thewlis

Here we are again with yet another Shakespearean adaptation at the box office. The fun thing about reviewing these films is that the narrative hardly ever factors into my review. It's all about the execution and the overarching creative vision driving each big screen take on the famed playwright’s theatrical works (if he wrote them)...

REVIEW: The Boston Globe's Spotlight Team Nimbly Tackles Systematic Child Abuse in the Catholic Church

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Spotlight

Directed By: Tom McCarthy

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, and Stanley Tucci

“If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one.”

-Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci)

As we’ve seen one adaptation after another arrive at the box office throughout the fall movie season, I’ve been highly critical of many of the films in terms of scope. Movies like Steve Jobs and Trumbo have failed to convey the grandness...

REVIEW: For the Nine Eyes Data Ghost, Spectre Tries to Stop A Deal Between The Pale King & One Cuckoo Mickey Mouse for L'Americain

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, November 7, 2015, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Spectre

Directed By: Sam Mendes

Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott, Monica Bellucci, and Ralph Fiennes

Is Daniel Craig out of bullets? Many have been considering this weekend's Spectre to be Craig's final outing as beloved British Secret Service agent James Bond. Yes, Daniel Craig has been around the block as 007 a few times. Yes, he had a tantrum saying he would rather kill himself than suit up again. However, he al...

REVIEW: Truth Finds the Courage to Say FEA to Its Abusive Dad America

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, November 1, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Truth

Directed By: James Vanderbilt

Starring: Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett, Topher Grace, Dennis Quaid, and Elisabeth Moss

As much as the right wing tries to put every single one of our nation's woes on President Obama (and his liberal media), everyone has to admit that his direct predecessor George W. Bush left the United States FUBAR. The Iraq War. Hurricane Katrina. Scooter Libby. The Great Recession. The list goes on and on. Yes, Bush 43 has plenty of failures. Even Republican presid...

REVIEW: With Joy and Jack Newsome, Room Rolls, Wiggles Free, and Jumps to Greatness From A Garden Shed World

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, October 29, 2015, In : 0.00% Water

Room

Directed By: Lenny Abrahamson

Starring: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, Sean Bridgers, and William H. Macy

Brie Larson has been one to watch over the last several years. From bit roles in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and 21 Jump Street to meatier supporting roles in The Spectacular Now and Don Jon, Larson has stolen scenes in film after film. Her breakout lead role was equally impressive in the outstanding indie drama Short Term 12. Since then, she's had supporting roles in The G...

REVIEW: For A Monstrous Love, Many Women Have Sipped the Poisonous Tea at Allerdale Hall in Crimson Peak

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, October 25, 2015, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Crimson Peak

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, and Jim Beaver

I've been highly critical of the horror genre since I began STMR (and long before that as well). There are few films I've given high marks in recent years including slasher flick You're Next and supernatural horror flick It Follows. Still, the genre's been languishing in my eyes for quite some time. The proof is in the mockumentary-flavored pudding Hollywood ...

REVIEW: In Bridge of Spies, Standing Man James B. Donovan Gives Us More Than Just a 2-for-1 at Glienicke Bridge & Checkpoint Charlie

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 17, 2015, In : 0.00% Water

Bridge of Spies

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, and Alan Alda

"You're not worried?!"

-James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks)

"Would it help?"

-Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance)

There is such a thing as a match made in heaven on the big screen. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are living proof of this. You need to look no further than films such as Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, and The Terminal. Any collaboration between these two cinema legends is a 2-for-1 spe...

REVIEW: In The Martian, Ares Space Pirate Mark Watney Doubles As Iron Man to Pull Off Project Elrond & Survive More Than 500 Sols With Potatoes

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 3, 2015, In : 0.00% Water

The Martian

Directed By: Ridley Scott

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, and Mackenzie Davis

Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity may have hit a nerve in the human psyche and started a trend at the box office. Every year since Gravity's debut on the big screen back in 2013, we've had a space epic arrive. With each, we have interesting collective dialogue about the authentici...

REVIEW: In the Land of Wolves, Sicario Kate Macer Fights the Coming Medellin

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 3, 2015, In : 0.00% Water

Sicario

Directed By: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Victor Garber, and Jon Bernthal

There are lots of great movies out there, but there are few that I would characterize as beasts. There's a certain raw energy that marks these kinds of movies that's unmistakable. The Wolf of Wall Street had a beast-like ferocity. Whiplash raged. Mad Max: Fury Road roared into theaters earlier this summer. These are the kinds of great movies we don't get every day. Th...

REVIEW: Just Saying, Johnny Depp Is Psychotic & Cerebral As Top Echelon FBI Informant Whitey Bulger In Black Mass

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 19, 2015, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Black Mass

Directed By: Scott Cooper

Starring: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Corey Stoll, Peter Sarsgaard, and Dakota Johnson

Johnny Depp's career has hit a trough in recent years. Despite the billion dollar successes of Alice in Wonderland and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides several years ago, film duds such as The Tourist, Dark Shadows, Transcendence, and The Lone Ranger loom large on his recent filmography. Believe me, these duds a...

REVIEW: In Everest, The Last Word Always Belongs to the Mountain, Which Makes Its Own Weather for Adventure Consultant Rob Hall

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 19, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Everest

Directed By: Baltasar Kormákur

Starring: Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Michael Kelly, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, and Jake Gyllenhaal

Welcome back STMR readers! It's amazing how the box office kicks into high gear every year on the third weekend of September. It's like clockwork. The doldrums of late summer are now behind us, and the fall movie season is thankfully upon us. With it, we get a taste of more thought-provoking blockbusters as ...

REVIEW: Not Incontinence or the Stomach Flu, The Visit's Elixir Is Sundown Syndrome

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 12, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Visit

Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, and Kathryn Hahn

I came into The Visit with quite a few reservations to say the least, and it's not just the fact that I am returning to STMR after a bit of a hiatus. After all, we're talking about M. Night Shyamalan. He hasn't had a good movie in well over a decade. His previous feature film After Earth says it all in the way it sank the box office prospects of the unsinkable mov...

REVIEW: The Gift – Some Interesting Twists, But Otherwise A Bit Dull

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Wednesday, August 12, 2015, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The Gift
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Joel Edgerton

Starring: Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton, Wendell Pierce, and Busy Philipps

Billed as this generation’s Fatal Attraction, The Gift opened this weekend to rave reviews. While the film does pack a few surprises for audiences, the movie does not live up to expectations. The Gift serves as more of a public service announcement than a psychological thriller.

Simon (Jason Bateman) has a high powered new position in a security/technology ...

REVIEW: With Solomon Lane, the Bone Doctor & Ilsa Faust, Rogue Nation the Syndicate Gives IMF's Finest Gambler Ethan Hunt One More Impossible Mission

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, August 1, 2015, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Directed By: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Alec Baldwin, and Simon McBurney

"I can neither confirm nor deny any details without the secretary's approval."

-Agent William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), Impossible Mission Force

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get to the box office this weekend. The Impossible Mission Force (IMF) is back on the scene. Agent Ethan Hunt...

REVIEW: Theoretically, Pops & the Exiles of Time in Terminator Genisys Are Old, Not Obsolete

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, July 2, 2015, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Terminator Genisys

Directed By: Alan Taylor

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Lee Byung-hun, and J. K. Simmons

"Follow a straight line and don't look back.”
-Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke)

I recently read an article on Entertainment Weekly's website about the decline of the American actor. The article espouses that, after generations of heavyweights like Brando, Nicholson, Streep, and Pacino, there's no one picking up the mantle. The problem is pretty a...
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REVIEW: With the Indominus Rex, Velociraptors That Can Take Orders & An Aging Tyrannosaurus Rex, Jurassic World Tries to Up the Wow Factor

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, June 13, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Jurassic World

Directed By: Colin Trevorrow

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, B. D. Wong, and Irrfan Khan

Twenty two years ago this week, the perfect storm came together at the box office. Jurassic Park opened. As I reflect nostalgically upon this monumental moment in movie history, I realize that the stars had to align for Jurassic Park to be truly one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. The story had to be ther...
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REVIEW: O Negative High Octane Universal Donor Mad Max Rides on Fury Road With Furiosa for the Green Land With the War Boys Hot on Their Trail

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, May 16, 2015, In : 0.00% Water

Mad Max: Fury Road

Directed By: George Miller

Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoë Kravitz, Abbey Lee, and Courtney Eaton

At the beginning of the year, I said that 2015 was the year of the reborn franchise. Just look to upcoming installments for the Jurassic Park, Terminator, and Star Wars series. It's undeniable. There's one franchise introducing itself to a new generation of moviegoers this weekend that has a k...
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REVIEW: In True Story, Shortstop Christian Longo Gives Mike Finkel of The New York Times a Double Negative Wink

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, April 19, 2015, In : 0.09% Cocktails

True Story

Directed By: Rupert Goold

Starring: Jonah Hill, James Franco, Felicity Jones, Gretchen Mol, Betty Gilpin, and John Sharian

Both James Franco and Jonah Hill are extremely versatile actors. Having appeared in superhero movies, comedies, dramas, animated films, and everything in between over the years, these two are now perhaps a bit overexposed. I'm a fan of both of them. However, they're always in something at the box office. It's time for them to take a little break. With fourtee...
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REVIEW: Ex Machina's Turing Test of Magician's Assistant Ava & Her Bluebook Software Boasts One Intriguing Chess Match With No Power Cuts

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, April 19, 2015, In : 0.00% Water

Ex Machina

Directed By: Alex Garland

Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Oscar Isaac

There are many themes that have come to define the science fiction genre over the years. Space travel, time travel, and aliens are just a few that pervade the genre. One particular theme has stood out prominently in the last several decades, namely the battle of man versus machine. It's mankind against the artificially intelligent beings we've created. With films like The Terminator and The Matr...
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REVIEW: Sex Can Kill You When It Follows, Especially for Jay

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, March 22, 2015, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

It Follows

Directed By: David Robert Mitchell

Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, and Lili Sepe

If you've followed this site for any extended period of time, I'm sure you've discovered the fact that I have no love lost for the horror movies of today. These days, we get the millionth unwarranted entry in a long-running franchise, a supernatural horror flick that is stylistically akin to every other horror movie that's come out in the last twenty y...
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REVIEW: With the IRA on the Hunt in Belfast in '71, British Soldier Gary Hook Finds Himself in a Confused Situation & Has One Bloody, Brutal Night

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, March 22, 2015, In : 0.00% Water

'71

Directed By: Yann Demange

Starring: Jack O'Connell, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris, Sam Reid, Charlie Murphy, Paul Anderson, and Paul Popplewell

I must admit that I've been a bit of a pessimist when it comes to the cinematic landscape as of late. In the interest of full disclosure, there's nothing that's quite motivating me to make my way to my local theater. The next movie on my radar is Avengers: Age of Ultron, which will not arrive until May. While many would argue that this predisposes m...
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REVIEW: Into the Wind After Killing the Congo's Minister of Mining, The Gunman Jim Terrier Decides to Build a Half-Assed Treehouse

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, March 21, 2015, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

The Gunman

Directed By: Pierre Morel

Starring: Sean Penn, Idris Elba, Ray Winstone, Mark Rylance, Jasmine Trinca, Peter Franzén, and Javier Bardem

With director Pierre Morel of Taken fame at the helm, acting royalty Sean Penn in the lead role, and a host of acclaimed supporting cast members, The Gunman should have been far better than it turned out to be. On paper, it's cinematic gold. However, it's been abundantly clear in every trailer and TV spot that this film would hardly hit the spot. ...
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REVIEW: If We Run All Night With Jimmy the Gravedigger Conlon, We'll Cross This Line Together

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, March 14, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Run All Night

Directed By: Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring: Liam Neeson, Joel Kinnaman, Common, Ed Harris, Génesis Rodríguez, Vincent D'Onofrio, Boyd Holbrook, and Nick Nolte

"Wherever we're going, we'll cross this line together."
-Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris)

It's abundantly clear that Taken marked a turning point in Liam Neeson's career. As Bryan Mills, he became the action star we know and love today. Well, he may be getting ready to arrive at another turning point in his career. In a recent inte...
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REVIEW: No Longer Tetravaal's Scout 22, Black Sheep Chappie Becomes the Conscious RoboCop Copycat of 2015

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, March 8, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Chappie

Directed By: Neill Blomkamp

Starring: Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Watkin Tudor Jones, Yolandi Visser, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Sigourney Weaver, and Hugh Jackman

There's a fine line between a director utilizing recurring stylistic flourishes throughout his or her filmography and a director doing the same thing over and over again expecting the same success time and time again. Neill Blomkamp is flirting with this line. His first film District 9 focused on aliens living in the slums of a fut...
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REVIEW: In The Lazarus Effect, Zoe's Fiery Apartment Hell Nightmare Is the Bizarre DMT Compound of Horror Movies

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, February 28, 2015, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The Lazarus Effect

Directed By: David Gelb

Starring: Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover, Evan Peters, and Sarah Bolger

It's amazing how Hollywood can get horror so right on television and so wrong on the big screen fairly consistently. Just look to the recent successes of terrific shows like American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, and Bates Motel. Then, look to the recent failures of films like Annabelle, The Purge: Anarchy, and any Paranormal Activity film of your choosing. It's a st...
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REVIEW: Before the World Ends at Lollapalooza, Project Almanac's David Raskin Will Build a Halfway Decent Time Machine for MIT

Posted by James Brown on Friday, January 30, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Project Almanac

Directed By: Dean Israelite

Starring: Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Sam Lerner, Allen Evangelista, and Virginia Gardner

It's Super Bowl weekend! That means it's time for me to win some money on the big game. That also means that no one cares about the movies this weekend with the possible exception of diehard aficionados such as myself. As fate would have it on one of the quietest weekends at the box office historically, 2015 is a bit of déjà vu. Three years ago, we had...
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REVIEW: The Boy Next Door – A Surprisingly Entertaining Guilty Pleasure

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, January 24, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Boy Next Door
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Rob Cohen

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, John Corbett, Kristen Chenoweth, and Ian Nelson

I may be a lone voice, but I actually enjoyed The Boy Next Door. Before you start hurling rotten tomatoes at my head in the “Comments” section, let me explain myself. I went into The Boy Next Door with low expectations. From the film’s trailer, it seemed reminiscent of Jennifer Lopez’s Enough. I was concerned that this would come across as a mo...
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REVIEW: To Fuel His American Dream, Abel Morales Endures A Most Violent Year On the Most Right Path

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, January 20, 2015, In : 0.00% Water

A Most Violent Year

Directed By: J. C. Chandor

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola, and Albert Brooks

Margin Call, All Is Lost, and A Most Violent Year all have something in common, and it's not just that they're the first three feature films by prolific director J. C. Chandor. These terrific movies have not gotten the recognition they deserve at the culmination of awards season. The corporate thriller Margin Call about the 2008 financial crisis notched ju...
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REVIEW: American Sniper – A Gripping Tale Of Sheepdogs, Sheep and Wolves

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, January 17, 2015, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

American Sniper
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Sammy Sheik, and Cory Hardrict

The recent shootings at Charlie Hebdo and the subsequent anti-terrorist operations have brought terrorism and the conflict in the Middle East to the forefront. A film about the deadliest sniper in U.S. history and his service in Iraq is either ill-timed or perfectly timed, depending on one’s perspective.

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) was raised in Texas. His father ...
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REVIEW: Blackhat – R.A.T.s, Hackers And The Sexiest Man Alive Could Not Save This Film

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, January 17, 2015, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Blackhat
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Michael Mann

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Wei Tang, Viola Davis, Ritchie Coster, Holt McCallany, Yorick van Wageningen, and Leehom Wang

Every week, it seems like there is news of another data breach. We have seen major companies get hacked, including Target, Home Depot and many more. There was even a story about some mysterious Russians stealing over a billion passwords. However, the attack on Sony brought cyberterrorism to the forefront more than any other ...
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REVIEW: Taken 3 – Take Me Away From This Tired Franchise

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Sunday, January 11, 2015, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Taken 3
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Luc Besson

Starring: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace, Dougray Scott, Sam Spruell, and Leland Orser

In 2008, Taken transformed Liam Neeson into a bona fide action star at age 55. Known for Schindler’s List and Gangs of New York, among other films, Neeson became a kickass protagonist who could draw people to the box office for an action thriller. Unfortunately, Taken 3 is a pathetic attempt at cashing in on the success of the first ...
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REVIEW: Despite Some Engaging Blackjack, Roulette, & English 101, The Gambler Doesn't Quite Reach the F*ck You Position

Posted by James Brown on Friday, December 26, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Gambler

Directed By: Rupert Wyatt

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Michael K. Williams, and Jessica Lange

Some of you may know this already, but I'm getting ready for abdominal surgery in the next week and a half. I'll be out of commission for some time and will be handing over the STMR reins to the Sober Film Chick for a while. One of the many reasons for which I'm having the surgery so early in the year is so that I can make my annual trip to Las Vegas in late February...
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REVIEW: When the Last Shall Be the First On a Midsummer's Night, Miss Julie Obeys Jean Like a Dog & Kisses His Shoes

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, December 7, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Miss Julie

Directed By: Liv Ullmann

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, and Samantha Morton

I mentioned this earlier this year in my review of Under the Skin, but we haven't had a lot of weird ones at the indie box office this year. Few filmmakers are taking risks with the strange and bizarre, particularly in this later half of the year (with the obvious exception of Birdman). I understand their reasons, but I don't agree with them. Risks are the reasons for which many duds crash and b...
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REVIEW: An Ornithologist, Philatelist, & Philanthropist, Golden Eagle John du Pont Leads Wrestler Mark Schultz to Olympic Gold at the Foxcatcher Estate

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, November 23, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Foxcatcher

Directed By: Bennett Miller

Starring: Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, and Vanessa Redgrave

I don't know the story of John du Pont. I was just a kid when the multimillionaire wrestling enthusiast committed the heinous acts that made his name infamous. Not an Olympics enthusiast, I'm not terribly familiar with Mark or Dave Schultz either. Alas, the only gold medalist in the wrestling space with whom I'm familiar is Mr. Kurt Angle. I know. I should know more, but it mak...
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REVIEW: With His Company Video Production News, Nightcrawler Louis Bloom Offers A Professional News Gathering Service to Thriller Aficionados

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, November 1, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Nightcrawler

Directed By: Dan Gilroy

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, and Bill Paxton

I'm starting to think that Jake Gyllenhaal has been pigeonholing himself in the thriller genre over the last several years. Since 2012, he's appeared in End of Watch, Prisoners, and now Nightcrawler, all dark movies in their own ways. Though Prisoners was one of the outstanding films of 2013, it hasn't all been quality output from Gyllenhaal. While many moviegoers would go to bat for his tur...
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REVIEW: Boogeyman John Wick Is A Wolf Lured Back to Life at the Continental by Hen

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 25, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

John Wick

Directed By: David Leitch

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Willem Dafoe, John Leguizamo, and Ian McShane

Normally, I pay little attention to Rotten Tomatoes before I've drafted a review. I just saw the most bizarre thing though as I was pulling together a list of the cast members in John Wick. This weekend’s John Wick has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. My initial thought on this can be summed up in three word...
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REVIEW: For His Double-Time Swing Tempo for Caravan, Whiplash's Jo Jones Throws a Cymbal at Neyman to Turn Him Into the Next Charlie Parker

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 18, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Whiplash

Directed By: Damien Chazelle

Starring: Miles Teller and J. K. Simmons

On this weekend, I come face to face with my 27th birthday. Though that may sound a bit overdramatic, it is nonetheless true. With this, I've been reflecting on life, what I've done and where I've been in this first quarter of it. Coupling this with the fact that I was just at a dear friend's wedding a few weeks ago at which I opened up a figurative time capsule and saw some familiar faces from high school, the arr...
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REVIEW: Watching the Media Kill the Messenger Gary Webb Over the CIA's Dark Alliance With Nicaraguan Druglords Is One Good History Lesson

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, October 12, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Kill the Messenger

Directed By: Michael Cuesta

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Ray Liotta, Barry Pepper, Michael Sheen, Andy Garcia, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosemarie DeWitt, Paz Vega, Oliver Platt, Richard Schiff, Robert Patrick, and Michael K. Williams

History is often the best way to validate an opinion. We could all debate our friends and loved ones in perpetuity based on opinions alone, but facts are facts. Regardless of who’s writing history, there are always certain irrefutable facts. When...
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REVIEW: Thanks to A Sugar Storm at The Bar, Gone Girl Amazing Amy Dunne Trounces Her Husband Nick's Killer Smile

Posted by James Brown on Friday, October 3, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Gone Girl

Directed By: David Fincher

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Carrie Coon, and Scoot McNairy

"What are you thinking? What are you feeling? What have we done to each other? What will we do?"
-Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck)

Awards season has begun on a rather wicked note. Oddly enough, I find myself in the peculiar position of kicking things off admitting just how wrong I was about a movie. That movie is David Fincher's Gone Girl. I haven't read the boo...
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REVIEW: To Be The Equalizer For Russians Teddy & Pushkin, Old Man & Gladys Knight Pip Robert McCall Gets On That Midnight Train to Georgia

Posted by James Brown on Friday, September 26, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Equalizer

Directed By: Antoine Fuqua

Starring: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Bill Pullman, and Melissa Leo

Television and cinema are inextricably bound to one another. As such, there are numerous examples in which stories are brought to life across the two media. Some success on the big screen can foreshadow future success on the smaller one. Take the Marvel Cinematic Universe for instance. The success of The Avengers has created a home for its fol...
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REVIEW: Practicing the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Private Detective Matt Scudder Takes A Bloody Good Walk Among the Tombstones

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 20, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

A Walk Among the Tombstones

Directed By: Scott Frank

Starring: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, Eric Nelsen, Brian "Astro" Bradley, Sebastian Roché, and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson

It's been a rough year at the movies, but the fall is finally here and in full swing. We've gotten through the hurdles of a rather dismal summer box office season full of duds. With the fall, we can say goodbye to being inundated with explosions, wild nonsense masquerading as humor, and unwanted sequels or reboots (i.e. Trans...
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REVIEW: Despite Dealing With Cousin Marv, Eric Deeds, & Rocco the Pit Bull, Bartender Bob Handles The Drop For the Chechens

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 14, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Drop

Directed By: Michaël R. Roskam

Starring: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini, Matthias Schoenaerts, John Ortiz, Elizabeth Rodriguez, and Ann Dowd

We've lost a lot of cherished figures in the world of entertainment in the last couple of years. For those actors who were still in the game at the time of their passing, I'm always impressed by how many completed projects they have in the pipeline. Take Philip Seymour Hoffman for instance. We've already seen him in God's Pocket and ...
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REVIEW: In No Good Deed, Malignant Narcissist Colin Evans Unfortunately Puts His Violent Tendencies on Display at 17 Creston Lane

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 14, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

No Good Deed

Directed By: Sam Miller

Starring: Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson, Leslie Bibb, Kate del Castillo, and Henry Simmons

I miss slasher flicks. Aside from You're Next a little more than a year ago, we haven't had too many good ones in the last several years. It's all the paranormal, supernatural stuff that dominates nowadays. I prefer my antagonists to be a little more interesting like Jason Voorhees or Ghostface. That being said, I'll take it where I can get it these days, or so I tho...
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REVIEW: Thanks to the Philosopher's Stone, As Above, So Below, As I Believe the World to Be, So It Is in Hell

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, August 30, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

As Above, So Below

Directed By: John Erick Dowdle

Starring: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, and François Civil

Summer 2014 is coming to a close. The excitement I put forth back in May when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 arrived hasn't materialized into a wealth of big budget blockbusters behind which we all can rally. While I have lauded smaller films like Chef, Snowpiercer, and Boyhood, we peaked too early with films like Godzilla and X-Men: Days of Future Past. It's been downhill ever s...
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REVIEW: The November Man Peter Devereaux & Alice Fournier Don’t Exactly Rock Arkady Fedorov's Presidential Campaign in Belgrade

Posted by James Brown on Friday, August 29, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The November Man

Directed By: Roger Donaldson

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Luke Bracey, Olga Kurylenko, Eliza Taylor, Caterina Scorsone, Bill Smitrovich, and Will Patton

As I begin typing my review of the recently released The November Man, I realize that there's a certain pointlessness to it all. The studio behind this spy movie green-lit a sequel before the original even arrived in theaters. Unless they have the next Guardians of the Galaxy on their hands, I wouldn't exactly deem this to be a w...
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REVIEW: Since It's Shocking to Kill a Good Priest, Calvary Is All About Brendan Gleeson's Father James Lavelle Dodging Death

Posted by James Brown on Monday, August 11, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Calvary

Directed By: John Michael McDonagh

Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, and Dylan Moran

"Do not despair; one of the thieves was saved.
Do not presume; one of the thieves was damned.”
-St. Augustine

The Catholic Church has had a serious scandal on its hands for more than a decade now. The atrocities done to innocent children over the years will haunt the victims for the remainder of their lives and the church until the end of its days. That being said, the...
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REVIEW: With Cameras Recording Time Capsules, The Tornado-Chasing Titus Team Wades Pointlessly Into the Storm at Silverton High School

Posted by James Brown on Friday, August 8, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Into the Storm

Directed By: Steven Quale

Starring: Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Max Deacon, Nathan Kress, and Arien Escarpeta

Like clockwork, the month of August routinely amounts to a cesspool of cinematic mediocrity. This weekend is quickly proving to be the ultimate example of this. Despite four movies arriving at the mainstream box office this weekend, I'm not impressed with a single new arrival. Unfortunately, this is likely to hold true for the...
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REVIEW: Lucy – A Somewhat Confusing Tale About What Happens When A Woman Uses 100% Of Her Brain

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Sunday, July 27, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Lucy

SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Luc Besson

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, Amr Waked and Analeigh Tipton

As the credits flickered on the screen at the end of Lucy, the patrons in my theater sat stunned by the film’s abrupt end. They murmured in confusion trying to ascertain what had just happened. I share their confusion.

In the film, Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is studying abroad in Taiwan. In the midst of her studies, she takes in the city’s nightlife. She meet...

REVIEW: A Most Wanted Man Stumbles About Hamburg for Two Hours In Search of Terrorist Charity Seven Friends Navigation Company

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, July 27, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

A Most Wanted Man

Directed By: Anton Corbijn

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, Daniel Brühl, Nina Hoss, and Robin Wright

The world is still reeling over the loss of the great Philip Seymour Hoffman earlier this year. He was truly one terrific actor who could elevate the caliber of a film with his mere presence on screen. With the passing of any celebrated artist who was still in the game at the time of his or her death, fans typically flock to theaters to see tha...
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REVIEW: During the Annual Purge, Carmelo's Call to Action Against the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) Doesn't Bring the Anarchy

Posted by James Brown on Friday, July 18, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The Purge: Anarchy

Directed By: James DeMonaco

Starring: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez, and Zoe Soul

In an era when the latest and greatest scary movies are almost always about something supernatural, it's nice to see some good old fashioned horror movies where people kill people. I'm tired of ghosts, demons, and possessed mirrors dominating the horror landscape. I prefer movies that tap into the darkness inside each and every one of us and leverage this to ratchet up...
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REVIEW: To Deliver Us From Evil, Sergeant Ralph Sarchie Must Use His Radar, His Discernment of Spirits, to Stop Mick "Jungler" Santino #Invocamus

Posted by James Brown on Friday, July 4, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Deliver Us From Evil

Directed By: Scott Derrickson

Starring: Eric Bana, Édgar Ramírez, Olivia Munn, Sean Harris, and Joel McHale

"Invocamus Vi Ingredi Ab Inferi”

Hollywood hasn't figured out what to do after the success of the horror genre in 2013. In a reactionary move to box office gold, they're mostly releasing halfway decent movies from a singular niche genre, possession films. Just look at the slew of flicks we've had featuring demons trying to make their way into the world. They incl...
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REVIEW: Giving Kronoles for No More Protein Bars, the Snowpiercer Train's Tail Bucks Balance & Preordained Position to Take Wilford's Sacred Engine

Posted by James Brown on Friday, July 4, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Snowpiercer

Directed By: Bong Joon-ho

Starring: Chris Evans, Kang-ho Song, Go Ah-sung, Jamie Bell, Alison Pill, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, and Ed Harris

For a guy who supposedly would like to retire from acting in a few years, Chris Evans of Captain America fame seems to be a consistent presence at the box office. He reprised his role as the elder Avenger in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He's got two other comedies on the horizon later in the year in A Many Splintered Th...
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REVIEW: Watch Me Tell You How Third Person's White is Indeed the Color of Trust, Belief, & the Lies Michael Tells Himself

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, June 28, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Third Person

Directed By: Paul Haggis

Starring: Liam Neeson, Milan Kunis, Adrien Brody, Olivia Wilde, James Franco, Moran Atias, Maria Bello, and Kim Basinger

It's not too often that we get Paul Haggis sitting in the director's chair. After all, it's been four years since The Next Three Days and seven since In the Valley of Elah. He spends far more time writing movies like Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, though he hasn't been particularly active on this front in the last several years eit...
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REVIEW: In Australian Western The Rover, Three Robbers Get a Bloody Lesson in Why Not to Steal Another Man's Car

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, June 22, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Rover

Directed By: David Michôd

Starring: Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, and Scoot McNairy

I've been begging for something fresh and original over the last several weeks. In my reviews of The Signal, The Grand Seduction, and Think Like a Man Too, I've been critical of filmmakers for not taking the road less traveled and offering up the same old predictable, formulaic stuff. Well, my wish is apparently director David Michôd's command. His latest film, The Rover is unlike anything I've seen...
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REVIEW: 2.3.5.41...The Signal at Area 51 is What MIT Student Nick Eastman Finds When He Goes Looking for the Hacker Nomad

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, June 14, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Signal

Directed By: William Eubank

Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, Beau Knapp, and Lin Shaye

Alien movies are a dime a dozen. Just think about it. In the last couple of months, we've had the likes of Under the Skin and Edge of Tomorrow. We have the likes of Earth to Echo, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Guardians of the Galaxy in the coming weeks. This makes it especially difficult to craft an exceptional alien flick. After all, what can top E.T. phoni...
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REVIEW: When Operation Monarch Goes Awry in Janjira, Godzilla Takes On the 2 MUTOs & Restores Balance in Magnificent Fashion

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, May 17, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Godzilla

Directed By: Gareth Edwards

Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston

"The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control... and not the other way around. Let them fight."
-Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe)

It's sometimes amazing to watch how cinema has evolved with technology, and I'm not talking about elaborate, expensive special effects. What I'm talking about is how our technological prog...
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REVIEW: In The Quiet Ones, Poltergeist Doll Evey Dwyer, Her Host Jane, & the Devil Worshiping Lilitu Give Us Two Boring Knocks

Posted by James Brown on Friday, April 25, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The Quiet Ones

Directed By: John Pogue

Starring: Jared Harris, Sam Claflin, Olivia Cooke, Erin Richards, and Rory Fleck-Byrne

I've said that I'm tired of found footage horror films, but I have to say that I'm tired of supernatural horror flicks in general. Poltergeists have simply been overdone in recent years. Paranormal Activity, Insidious, & The Conjuring have all flooded our theaters. I'm more of a slasher fan of Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street, exactly the types of old schoo...
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REVIEW: Creating a R.I.F.T. in Academia with the Artificial Intelligence Pinn, Will & Evelyn Caster Don’t Take Transcendence to the Next Level at Brightwood

Posted by James Brown on Friday, April 18, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Transcendence

Directed By: Wally Pfister

Starring: Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy, Cole Hauser, and Paul Bettany

The last couple of years haven't been terribly awesome for iconic movie star Johnny Depp. Dark Shadows and The Lone Ranger weren't exactly box office successes beloved by audiences worldwide. In fact, they were duds that cost their respective studios hundreds of millions of dollars. With this in mind, I wouldn't exactly have high box office hop...
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REVIEW: Thanks to the Lasser Glass in Oculus, Tim and Kaylie Confront Their' Bloody, Troubled Childhood Right in the Mirror

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, April 13, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Oculus

Directed By: Mike Flanagan

Starring: Katee Sackhoff, Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Rory Cochrane, Annalise Basso, and Garrett Ryan

In the horror department, 2014 has some big shoes to fill. In the wake of a diverse slate of films back in 2013 including You're Next, The Conjuring, and The Purge, scary movie lovers rightfully have some pretty high expectations. Considering flicks like Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones and Devil's Due, this year's entries into the genre have missed th...
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REVIEW: Dark Vengeance – Literally Made For Television

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Tuesday, March 4, 2014, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Dark Vengeance
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Keoni Waxman

Starring: Steven Seagal, Warren Christie, Sarah Lind, Tzi Ma, Meghan Ory, and George Takei

As a child of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, I have a certain affinity for cheesy martial arts/crime/sci-fi fare. I grew up on films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal. For heaven’s sake, I’ve seen Cyborg multiple times. Thus, I am not opposed to the resurgence of 80’s actors, who are provi...
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REVIEW: In Non-Stop, Air Marshal Bill's Magic Blue Ribbon Isn't a Bad Defense from Terrorists Who'll Kill a Passenger Every 20 Minutes for $150MM

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, March 1, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Non-Stop

Directed By: Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Nate Parker, Michelle Dockery, Linus Roache, Scoot McNairy, and Corey Stoll

"Someone on this flight is threatening to kill someone every 20 minutes, unless $150 million is transferred to this account number."
-Bill Marks (Liam Neeson)

Year after year, Liam Neeson continues to cash in on the success of his 2008 action thriller Taken. We've seen this guy — who was once considered a more dramatic actor — try to chann...
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REVIEW: Thérèse and Laurent Don't Make a Sound & Keep Quiet In Their Secret Affair

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, February 23, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

In Secret

Directed By: Charlie Stratton

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Felton, Oscar Isaac, and Jessica Lange

I've shied away from indie cinema for the last several weeks or so. Things typically remain quiet on this front during the awards season. Sure, I've missed a couple of foreign flicks such as Gloria and Like Father, Like Son, but indie theaters have primarily been screening awards darlings like Her, Dallas Buyers Club, and 12 Years a Slave. Given that the awards season is coming to an ...
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REVIEW: With The Wolf & The Albino on His Hit List, Cancer-Stricken Ethan Has 3 Days to Kill With Zoey as a Father Who Clearly Doesn't Know Best

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, February 22, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails

3 Days to Kill

Directed By: McG

Starring: Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen, Richard Sammel, and Eriq Ebouaney

McG isn't exactly a director who gets me excited for a movie. Sure, he's had a decent movie or two in his time. A great example is 2012's This Means War. At the same time, he's had many more missteps with films like Charlie's Angels and Terminator Salvation. His problem is that he tends to make undercooked films flush with gaping plot holes and underwhelmi...
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REVIEW: The Hunt A.K.A. Jagten – A Modern Day Scarlet Letter

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, February 8, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Hunt
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Thomas Vinterberg

Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Alexandra Rapaport, Annika Wedderkopp, and Lasse Fogelstrom

Within the last week, Hollywood has been rocked as the molestation allegations against Woody Allen resurfaced. Allen’s stepdaughter Dylan Farrow wrote an open letter chastising Hollywood for honoring the man who allegedly molested her as a child. Battles have been waged on daytime talk shows disputing the issue, and articles have be...

REVIEW: Born From Death, the Antichrist Comes Through a Pregnant Sam During Her Last Hour in Devil's Due

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, January 19, 2014, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Devil's Due

Directed By: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Starring: Allison Miller, Zach Gilford, Sam Anderson, and Robert Belushi

"Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour."
1 John 2:18

It's the third weekend of the year, and we've already gotten our second found footage horror movie (the first being Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones). It's needless to say that I'm gett...
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REVIEW: Jack Ryan Is a Napoleonic Shadow Recruit Who Meets Us Halfway in Waterloo

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, January 18, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Directed By: Kenneth Branagh

Starring: Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Branagh, and Keira Knightley

After his noble turn as Jonathan Kent in Man of Steel last year, Kevin Costner is trying to make a comeback this year. As of right now, he's got five movies slated for release in 2014. I think he's trying to fill the void of the all-American male movie star. The proof is in the pudding. Next month, Costner will portray a Secret Service agent in action thriller 3 Da...
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REVIEW: Unlike the Movie, Marcus Luttrell, Frogman & Lone Survivor of Operation Red Wings, Is Saved by the Code of Honor Pashtunwali

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, January 11, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Lone Survivor

Directed By: Peter Berg

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, and Eric Bana

"There’s a storm inside of us. I’ve heard many team guys speak of this. A burning. A river. A drive. An unrelenting desire to push yourself harder and further than anyone could think possible."
-SO1 Mark Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg)

I try to stay away from other critics' reviews before I see a movie. Every now and then, however, my eyes wander, and I find myself delving into ...
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REVIEW: Out Of the Furnace – Although the Acting Is Compelling At Times, This Depressing Tale Has a Bad Ending

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, December 7, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Out of the Furnace
SoberFilmChick

Directed By: Scott Cooper

Starring: Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana, and Sam Shepard

Merry Christmas movie lovers! We have hit the second best time of the year for movies. This week is a slow one as it does not contain any big budget releases. During a brief hiatus from blockbusters like The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Frozen and the new Hobbit movie, Relativity Media released its dark drama, Out of t...
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REVIEW: At a Homefront With Meadows & Horse Trails, Ex-Narc Phil Broker & His Daughter Maddy Get Into a Feud With Meth Cook Gator

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, November 28, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Homefront

Directed By: Gary Fleder

Starring: Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, and Kate Bosworth

Jason Statham movies are always hit-or-miss for me. You certainly get good action sequences, but not much else. He's an action star, not an acclaimed actor. Recognizing this reality, I'm a little ambivalent about his latest thriller Homefront. He offers plenty of great fight sequences and amusing trash talking, but there's no depth to his character whatsoever. The sad thing is that Home...
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REVIEW: All the Dumplings in the World Can't Help Spike Lee Answer the Fundamental Question About Evergreen Oldboy Joe Doucett

Posted by James Brown on Wednesday, November 27, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Oldboy

Directed By: Spike Lee

Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Imperioli

We're seeing an interesting trend this month at the box office. Hollywood is in the mood to distribute English-language remakes of successful foreign films. Last weekend, Ken Scott gave us an Americanized version of his Canadian comedy Starbuck with Delivery Man. It's safe to say that this flick was horrendous. Now, this Thanksgiving week, we have a much bolder remak...
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REVIEW: All Is Lost for the Virginia Jean and Her Crafty Captain Robert Redford

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 26, 2013, In : 0.00% Water

All Is Lost

Directed By: J.C. Chandor

Starring: Robert Redford

In the 2012 awards season, veteran directors stepped up to the plate. We saw the likes of Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Kathryn Bigelow, and Ang Lee rising to the occasion and putting out great movies. To some extent, the opposite is happening this year. For instance, first-time director Ryan Coogler has got plenty of Oscar buzz for his poignant drama Fruitvale Station. The same can be said for director Steve McQueen, who ...
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REVIEW: #HaveYouBeenBad? For All Its Drugs, Diamonds, & Cheetahs, The Counselor Strangely Doesn't Fit the Bill

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 26, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

The Counselor

Directed By: Ridley Scott

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt

Some movies seem like the perfect recipe for success on paper but unexpectedly turn out to be failures on the grandest of scales. Until today, the best example in recent memory was the 2007 thriller Lions for Lambs. The film starred Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, and Robert Redford. To top things off, Redford was playing multiple roles by sitting in the director's chair ...
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REVIEW: Julian Assange May Have Hundreds of Volunteers in The Fifth Estate, But They Don't Get the Information Revolution Started Right

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 19, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The Fifth Estate

Directed By: Bill Condon

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl, Anthony Mackie, David Thewlis, Alicia Vikander, Stanley Tucci, and Laura Linney

As the media unanimously covered the GOP's shutdown of the federal government and their manufactured debt ceiling crisis, some news fell through the cracks this week. Recently, a judge in New York approved the NSA's continued bulk collection of Americans' call logs, something to which I would imagine most Americans are vehementl...
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REVIEW: Yankee Irish Captain Phillips Grabs Seat 15 for Dear Life When Somali Pirates Board the Cargo Ship the Maersk Alabama as Fishermen

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, October 6, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Captain Phillips

Directed By: Paul Greengrass

Starring: Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener, and Barkhad Abdi

The fall movie season undoubtedly had a rocky start. We had a rough first few weeks with duds like Getaway, Riddick, and The Family. With movies like these, I was beginning to get a little disillusioned with Hollywood. Once the awards contenders began landing at the box office in rapid succession, however, things kicked into gear. Over the last several weeks, we've had great films like Priso...
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REVIEW: Runner Runner – Richie Furst Fails in This Online Gambling Drama, #nodisrespecttobenaffleck

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, October 5, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Runner Runner
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Brad Furman

Starring: Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton, Anthony Mackie, and Ben Affleck
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I knew that Runner Runner was going to be a bad movie. I am not a part of the “I hate Ben Affleck” fan club. To the contrary, Affleck has had some great films: Good Will Hunting, Dogma, Argo, and The Town to name a few. I did not join the countless fanatics that practically shut down Twitter when Affleck was cast as the new Batman. I think he is a radically d...
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REVIEW: Given Clear Skies with a Chance of Satellite Debris, All Eyes Are on Dr. Ryan Stone and Her Journey Over that Big Blue Earth with No Gravity

Posted by James Brown on Friday, October 4, 2013, In : 0.00% Water

Gravity

Directed By: Alfonso Cuarón

Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, and Ed Harris

When it comes to technically impressive films, Avatar has long been my gold standard. There's nothing quite like being immersed in James Cameron's daring vision of Pandora. While I've got tremendous respect for the movie from a special effects standpoint, I've always thought that the story lacked substance. When I initially heard of Gravity, I had similar concerns. The trailer looked incredible, but ...
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REVIEW: Prisoners Is One Intense Abduction Thriller Chock Full of Snakes, Torture, and Mazes

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 21, 2013, In : 0.00% Water

Prisoners

Directed By: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, and Paul Dano

It's official. The awards season has begun at the box office. Though we've had some early contenders such as Fruitvale Station, Blue Jasmine, and The Butler, we've now hit that time of year where we'll see more of the movies that will be competing for golden statuettes in January and February of next year. Last year around this time, we had Pau...
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REVIEW: Whether Meredith or Parker Crane, the Bride in Black and His Mother of Death Make Chapter 2 of Insidious Worth Skipping

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 14, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Insidious: Chapter 2

Directed By: James Wan

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkins, and Barbara Hershey

It's Friday the 13th, and I don't have a new Jason Voorhees flick to go see. Slasher flick You're Next is still in theaters, but I could use something fresh. What we have instead this weekend is James Wan's follow-up to his 2010 horror flick Insidious. While I certainly am no fan of the series, it's hard to deny that the Saw director found success earlier this year in ...
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REVIEW: Despite a Triple Threat Match Amongst Box Boy Santana, Big Daddy Johns & Riddick on Not Furya, This Sci-Fi Flick Lacks a Spine

Posted by James Brown on Friday, September 6, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Riddick

Directed By: David Twohy

Starring: Vin Diesel, Jordi Mollá, Matt Nable, Katee Sackho, Dave Bautista, Bokeem Woodbine, Raoul Trujillo, and Karl Urban

The fall movie season is officially underway, which means I should think about taking a break for a few weeks from the box office. I genuinely wouldn't miss much. We've got The Family, another action movie penned by writer-director Luc Besson who I've yet to forgive for the abysmal Taken 2 last year. We've got Battle of the Year, a Step ...
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REVIEW: Former Race Car Driver Mr. Brent Magna Meets His Greatest Fan in One Stupid Movie Titled Getaway

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, August 31, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Getaway

Directed By: Courtney Solomon

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez, Jon Voight, Bruce Payne, Paul Freeman, Rebecca Budig, and James Maslow

There have been a lot of bad movies this year, and the pain just won't stop for whatever reason. We've had horror movies that have made me cringe at how inept the victims are, spoof movies that have made me wonder how high the writers were during the creative process, and action movies that have made me laugh at their goal to outdo Michael Bay with bi...
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REVIEW: After the Bombing of Borough Market in London-Based Thriller Closed Circuit, MI5's Powers are at Play But Beyond John Crowley's Control

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, August 29, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Closed Circuit

Directed By: John Crowley

Starring: Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall, Ciarán Hinds, Jim Broadbent, Riz Ahmed, and Julia Stiles

The all-encompassing reach of covert government organizations has been a hot topic for discussion this year. That's largely thanks to whistleblower Edward Snowden and his disclosures about the NSA several months ago. The American government is getting all the data in the world on us, and I use the term "us" fairly loosely. If you use the Internet, you're one of...
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REVIEW: With Machetes, Axes & Crossbows, the Lamb, Fox & Tiger Unleash Hell in You're Next

Posted by James Brown on Friday, August 23, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

You're Next

Directed By: Adam Wingard

Starring: Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Barbara Crampton, and Rob Moran

Hollywood has been on a mission to reinvigorate the horror genre this year. With movies like The Purge and The Conjuring serving up plenty of original terror, studios have given me some semblance of hope that future films will do just the same, if not more. Given that I had lost all hope in the genre for the better part of a decade, this is quite n...
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REVIEW: Cool Technology Like 3DPS and the Accura Phone Can't Make Up for a Lack of Thrills in Corporate Thriller Paranoia

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, August 17, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Paranoia

Directed By: Robert Luketic

Starring: Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, Amber Heard, Harrison Ford, Lucas Till, Embeth Davidtz, Julian McMahon, Josh Holloway, and Richard Dreyfuss

Corporate life is something that sounds cool on paper but is insanely difficult to make interesting on the big screen. Sure, rivalries in the workplace exist. People often face complex real-world challenges, and there are those who cheat to get ahead. Nonetheless, the vast majority of any white collar worker's ...
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REVIEW: Meerkat Frey Forever Grabs All the Fruit She Can From Elysium While Standing on Hippo Max

Posted by James Brown on Friday, August 9, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Elysium

Directed By: Neill Blomkamp

Starring: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura, and William Fichtner

2013 has been a pretty good year for sci-fi lovers. We've had plenty of fun with movies like Oblivion, Star Trek Into Darkness, and even Pacific Rim. If District 9 director Neil Blomkamp has anything to say about it, we're not done quite yet. Hitting theaters this weekend, his latest film Elysium is the last big science fiction film until the like...
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REVIEW: In 2 Guns, Robbing Tres Cruces is Worse Than Robbing the Bank Across the Street From a Diner With the Best Donuts in Three Counties

Posted by James Brown on Friday, August 2, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

2 Guns

Directed By: Baltasar Kormâkur

Starring: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Paula Patton, James Marsden, Bill Paxton, Edward James Olmos, and Fred Ward

The summer movie season is starting to wind down. It's been an underwhelming summer to say the least. With bomb after bomb after bomb hitting the box office, we've been continuously disappointed. The duds have included films like After Earth, White House Down, The Lone Ranger, and R.I.P.D. Though there have certainly been standouts lik...
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REVIEW: With the Angel of Vengeance Running the Show, Only God Forgives Is Drive on Crack in Thailand

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, July 20, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Only God Forgives

Directed By: Nicolas Winding Refn

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Vithaya Pansringarm

Ryan Gosling has been all about re-teaming with his past directors this year. He did just that in The Place Beyond the Pines with his Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance. He's doing it again this weekend by getting back together with his Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn in Only God Forgives. Despite repeat collaborations with directors who each took Gosling's caree...
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REVIEW: In The Conjuring, Demonologist & Clairvoyant Ed & Lorraine Warren Endure Infestation, Oppression, & Possession With Witch Bathsheba

Posted by James Brown on Friday, July 19, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Conjuring

Directed By: James Wan

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Mackenzie Foy, and Joey King

The slate of horror movies at the box office has actually impressed me this year. There's largely been a step away from the outright torture porn that’s dominated the genre in recent years and a step toward what perhaps may be the next generation of horror films. With Evil Dead earlier this spring and Carrie later in the fall, remakes sadly aren't going anywh...
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REVIEW: Unfortunately for Vampires Clara and Eleanor, Neil Jordan Throws the Pages of Their Story at Byzantium to the Wind

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, July 14, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Byzantium

Directed By: Neil Jordan

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton, Sam Riley, Jonny Lee Miller, and Caleb Landry Jones

As prevalent as vampire movies are, it's difficult to find a good one. The ones we've gotten in recent years say enough. Just go torture yourself with Twilight, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, or Kiss of the Damned. Like the horror genre as a whole, it's bad, but it just keeps on going. When Neil Jordan, the director who created the delightfully devilish show The B...
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REVIEW: For White House Down, the Pen is Not Quite Mightier Than the Sword Despite Being a Die Hard Knockoff With Political Overtones

Posted by James Brown on Friday, June 28, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

White House Down

Directed By: Roland Emmerich

Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, James Woods, Garcelle Beauvais, Lance Reddick, Joey King, Rachelle LeFevre, and Michael Murphy

It's been one hell of a week. The very foundations of American democracy have been rocked by an outright malicious Supreme Court. Our Congressmen continue to extend their record streak of sitting on their asses doing nothing. We’re ultimately left to suffer from all...
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REVIEW: In World War Z, the Number 12 Train Helps the World's Best Serial Killer Mother Nature Infect Everyone Except the 10th Man

Posted by James Brown on Friday, June 21, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

World War Z

Directed By: Marc Forster

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox, and David Morse

I've rarely seen a film more plagued with production issues than World War Z. There have been twenty million rewrites to the screenplay, an adaptation of the 2006 novel by Max Brooks. The movie, which has been in the works for six years, had a really hard time getting financing. To cap off this movie's woes, casting changes took place throughout filming. With all of this, ...
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REVIEW: In The East, Preventing Eco-Terrorist Jams Proves to Be a Challenge for Hiller Brood Operative Sarah Moss

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, June 8, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The East

Directed By: Zal Batmanglij

Starring: Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page, Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez, Julia Ormond, Patricia Clarkson, and Jason Ritter

"We are the East. We don’t care how rich you are. We want all those who are guilty to experience the terror of their crime. It’s easy when it’s not your life. Easy when it’s not your home. But when it’s your fault, it shouldn’t be so easy to sleep at night — especially when we know where you live. Lie ...
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REVIEW: Blessed Be the New Founding Fathers of America, a Nation Reborn With One Big Moral Dilemma Called The Purge

Posted by James Brown on Friday, June 7, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Purge

Directed By: James DeMonaco

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Adelaide Kane, and Max Burkholder

America is the poster child for gun-loving nations across the globe. I'm not going to delve too deep into the divisive, often illogical misconceptions that are floating around the web about whether or not we should arm ourselves to death, but I can't deny that this has been a hot button issue this year. What I will delve into are the many, many victims of gun violence and some of the mal...
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REVIEW: From a Porn Lab to the Mob, The Iceman is One Cold-Blooded Contract Killer

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, May 19, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Iceman

Directed By: Ariel Vromen

Starring: Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta, James Franco, David Schwimmer, Stephen Dorff, and Erin Cummings

Michael Shannon might just be the most underrated actor of his generation. Despite a very impressive filmography and a long list of memorable characters on screen, Shannon has never attained mainstream popularity and is still relatively unknown to the movie-going public at large. It's unfortunate because he's a really prolific ac...
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REVIEW: In the House Is All About Math Tutor Claude Peeping Through the Keyhole at Middle Class Woman Esther and Her Watercolors

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, May 12, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

In the House

Directed By: François Ozon

Starring: Fabrice Luchini, Ernst Umhauer, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner, Yolande Moreau, and Denis Ménochet

I write so many reviews that I find myself struggling sometimes to get a review started. Writing my fifth review this weekend, I've once again found myself in this very familiar place, stuck on the introduction. I don't have a damn clue what to write to get this review on In the House going. Fittingly, this indie is a film that's all ...
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REVIEW: Mud, Ellis, & Neckbone Make One Good Deal for a Boat, a Pistol, and Love

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, April 28, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Mud

Directed By: Jeff Nichols

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Shannon, Sarah Paulson, Sam Shepard, and Stuart Greer

Matthew McConaughey has been pigeonholing himself recently. He's been in a slew of Southern-themed indie flicks. Think Bernie. Think Killer Joe. Think The Paperboy. While these are all distinct films, they share some geographic similarities, which isn't necessarily a plus for McConaughey's filmography. I'd very much like ...
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REVIEW: If You're a Member of the Weather Underground Organization Like Nick Sloan, Secrets are the Only Company You Keep

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, April 14, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Company You Keep

Directed By: Robert Redford

Starring: Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, Jackie Evancho, Brendan Gleeson, Brit Marling, Anna Kendrick, Terrence Howard, Richard Jenkins, Nick Nolte, Sam Elliott, Stephen Root, Keegan Connor Tracy, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Cooper

Robert Redford has been a busy man as of late. He's joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Nick Fury's boss in Captain America: Winter Soldier. He'll be appearing in survival thriller All...
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REVIEW: In the Bloody Hypnosis Thriller Trance, Strawberry is the Word You Can't Forget

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, April 13, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Trance

Directed By: Danny Boyle

Starring: James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent Cassel

I rarely find myself in a guessing game while at the movies. You've got to be a really great director to keep me on my toes wondering what's real and who's got what agenda. There's no film in recent cinema history that does this better than Inception, but this doesn't mean that I shouldn't welcome worthy imitators. Once again, I find myself in a guessing game of sorts while watching Danny Boyle's latest...
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REVIEW: With Bank Robbers, Corrupt Cops, and Bitter Sons, The Place Beyond the Pines is the Place Where Luke and Avery Show Their True Colors

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, April 6, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Place Beyond the Pines

Directed By: Derek Cianfrance

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Ben Mendelsohn, Rose Byrne, Mahershala Ali, Bruce Greenwood, Harris Yulin, Dane DeHaan, Emory Cohen and Olga Merediz

"If you ride like lightning, you're gonna crash like thunder."
-Robin (Ben Mendelsohn)

I am a big advocate of filmmakers who take creative risks. Many are so afraid of crashing and burning that they don't think or do anything outside the box, particularly in main...
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REVIEW: In Evil Dead, the Intervention for Drug Addict Mia Seriously Backfires, and the Evil Book Takes Withdrawal to New, Bloody Lows

Posted by James Brown on Friday, April 5, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Evil Dead

Directed By: Fede Alvarez

Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, and Elizabeth Blackmore

We lost a true legend this week. Roger Ebert, the man who invented modern film criticism and one whose works I've read for years, has passed away. He will definitely be missed. While we'll never get the chance to hear his thoughts on the films of tomorrow, his words are just as relevant today in an era of remakes and adaptations. This is definitely the case for ...
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REVIEW: In Like Someone in Love, Millipedes Akiko and Noriaki Quarrel All the Time

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, March 24, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Like Someone in Love

Directed By: Abbas Kiarostami

Starring: Rin Takanashi, Tadashi Okuno, and Ryo Kase

Love might just be the most dangerous force on Earth. Some people really can't handle it when they're rejected by the one they love. It devastates them to the point that they just snap. They become a danger to any and every person around them. That being said, this is something we've seen depicted on the big screen many times before with countless angry husbands, wives, boyfriends, and gir...
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REVIEW: Olympus Has Fallen – They’ve Taken The White House! Where is Dennis Rodman When You Need Him?

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Sunday, March 24, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Olympus Has Fallen
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua

Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Rick Yune, and Dylan McDermott

Late last weekend, I was flipping through cable channels and I stumbled across Air Force One on the Starz network. I was reminded of what a well-done presidential, terrorist, kidnapping action flick looks like. Olympus Has Fallen is decent, but it is no Air Force One.

In Olympus Has Fallen, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is a par...

REVIEW: In Stoker, Both India and Charlie Put Dad's Belt to Bloody Good Use

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, March 17, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Stoker

Directed By: Park Chan-wook

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Nicole Kidman, Dermot Mulroney, Jacki Weaver, and Phyllis Somerville

"He used to say, sometimes you need to do something bad to stop you from doing something worse."
-India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska)

With the indie box office back in full swing post awards season, all I've heard about is Oldboy director Park Chan-wook's latest thriller Stoker. With good will for Chan-wook and his strong cast, the film has had lots of buzz. ...
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REVIEW: In Beyond the Hills, No Confession or Exorcism Can Cure Alina's Evil Spirit or the Movie

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, March 16, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Beyond the Hills

Directed By: Cristian Mungiu

Starring: Cristina Flutur, Cosmina Stratan, Valeriu Andriutâ, Dana Tapalagâ, Catalina Harabagiu, Gina Tandura, Vica Agache, Nora Covali, Dionisie Vitcu, Ionut Ghinea, Liliana Mocanu, Doru Ana, and Costache Babii

Exorcism movies are frequent, but intelligent ones are a rare gem. Like the horror genre as a whole, teen-oriented mindless exorcism movies are the norm. We're plagued with films like The Devil Inside and The Last Exorcism Part II as oppo...
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REVIEW: The Call Packs Plenty Of Suspense And Emotional Pull, But Veers Off Course When Berry Leaves The Hive

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, March 16, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Call
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Brad Anderson

Starring: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, and David Otunga

Going in to see Halle Berry’s new suspense thriller, I had low expectations. WWE films are not usually known for their high quality. I assumed with David Otunga, WWE Wrestler and former contestant on I Love New York as part of the cast, The Call would be more mindless “entertainment.” Given that the movie's trailer was incredibly revealing, I assum...

REVIEW: Heaven or Hell, Lore Will Do What She Must to Get to Her Omi in Hamburg

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, March 10, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Lore

Directed By: Cate Shortland

Starring: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai-Peter Malina, Nele Trebs, and Ursina Lardi

In my review of Emperor, I wrote that I was tired of movies about World War II. I said that filmmakers had covered every aspect of the second Great War and that there was nothing more that could be done. Honestly, I'm going to have to retract the second part of that statement. There was one thing I had never fathomed I would see in a World War II movie, but it's here with Australian war ...
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REVIEW: In Revenge Flick Dead Man Down, 719 Is All About Killing the Devil Slowly, Not When You Find Him

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, March 9, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Dead Man Down

Directed By: Niels Arden Oplev

Starring: Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Terrence Howard, Dominic Cooper, Isabelle Huppert, and Wade Barrett

Noomi Rapace's career has been on the rise for quite some time now, and it's well-deserved given her raw acting talent. In the last couple of years, the original girl with the dragon tattoo has gotten some major exposure on the big screen. Rapace had a supporting role alongside Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shado...
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REVIEW: In The Last Exorcism Part II, Abalam Fails to Seduce Us When Nell Says This Demon Isn't Real

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, March 2, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

The Last Exorcism Part II

Directed By: Ed Gass-Donnelly

Starring: Ashley Bell, Julia Garner, Spencer Treat Clark, Muse Watson, and Louis Herthum

When it comes to horror movies nowadays, I'm at my wit's end. They all just suck. Dark Skies, Texas Chainsaw, and Paranormal Activity 4 are all potent examples of the genre's decline in recent years. The good news is that we've had fewer horror movies in recent months. The bad news is the downward spiral of this genre continues. This weekend's The L...
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REVIEW: Snitch – The Rock Enters The Drug War To Save His Son, But Doesn’t Quite Lay The Smackdown

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Sunday, February 24, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Snitch
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Ric Roman Waugh

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Michael Kenneth Williams, Benjamin Bratt, Jon Bernthal, Rafi Gavron

I am a huge fan of Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson. He is an amazingly charismatic wrestler and he has parlayed that into an impressive movie career (i.e. The Rundown, Fast Five). Thus, I was enthusiastic about his new movie Snitch. I anticipated a butt-kicking father out for justice for his son. I thought it had the potential to be a ...

REVIEW: In Dark Skies, the Sandman and the Grays Do Nothing But Let Us Down

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, February 23, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Dark Skies

Directed By: Scott Stewart

Starring: Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton, and Dakota Goyo

It's Oscar weekend. I'm happy to say that we're at the end of another lengthy awards season. While it means that awards shows are thankfully at an end, it also means that we're almost through the worst part of the year for moviegoers. The key word there is almost. Unfortunately, snoozers are still crowding movie theaters. This weekend, the new snoozer at the box office goes by the name of Dark Skies...
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REVIEW: After Your Latest Outing in A Good Day to Die Hard Detective McClane, Forget the Vacation in Chernobyl. Just Retire.

Posted by James Brown on Friday, February 15, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

A Good Day to Die Hard

Directed By: John Moore

Starring: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch, Radivoje Bukvic, Cole Hauser, and Yuliya Snigir

I can't believe it's been 25 years since the original Die Hard came out. Arguably the most influential action movie of all time, this beloved film has reached its silver anniversary and is now legitimately a classic. This year marks a time to celebrate and honor John McClane for what he's done for action movies. With that in mind, Bruce Willis...

REVIEW: Knife Fight – The Master Of Disaster Shows The End Justifies The Means In This Political Drama

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Sunday, February 10, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Knife Fight
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Bill Guttentag

Starring: Rob Lowe, Jamie Chung, Carrie-Anne Moss, Julie Bowen, and Eric McCormack

“To win in politics, you have got to be the person who is willing to bring a gun to a knife fight.” – Paul Turner (Rob Lowe)

My early year movie slump continues. I have yet to see a stellar film this year and I was hoping against hope that the Rob Lowe driven political indie Knife Fight would jump start 2013 for me. Unfortunately, it did not.

Pau...

REVIEW: With Murder, Insider Trading, & Conspiracy, Sleepwalking is One of the Milder Side Effects of Depression Drug Ablixa

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, February 9, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Side Effects

Directed By: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Channing Tatum, Ann Dowd, Vinessa Shaw, Polly Draper, and David Costabile

In this first full week of February, I'm going to go ahead and declare it. Our January slump is over! We've been plagued with junk movies for weeks now, but that rough patch has finally come to an end. Some good movies are hitting theaters once again. The director up at bat this weekend is Steven Soderbergh, and he kn...

REVIEW: Even With the Chaos from Danzinger and Chicago, Parker Doesn't Follow Through on Delivering a Decent Action Flick

Posted by James Brown on Friday, January 25, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Parker

Directed By: Taylor Hackford

Starring: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Clifton Collins, Jr., Bobby Canavale, and Nick Nolte

Jason Statham is one of the busiest action stars in the business, but it's rare that he actually produces something good. In the last two years alone, he's appeared in The Mechanic, Killer Elite, and The Expendables 2. This guy is clearly in the habit of making bad movies. That's why it's so fitting for him to grace theaters dur...

REVIEW: Lily, Mama, Victoria. The Helvecia Cabin is a Full House of Horror

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, January 19, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Mama

Directed By: Andres Muschietti

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse, and Daniel Kash

"A ghost is an emotion, bent out of shape, condemned to repeat itself, time and time again, until it rights the wrong it was done."
-A Local Record-keeper

We don't get too many ghost stories at the box office. I'm talking about real ghost stories, not Paranormal Activity. I'm talking about films like last year's The Woman in Black. I'm talking about ...

REVIEW: Like the Bolton Village Sale, Broken City Just Doesn't Add Up

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, January 19, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Broken City

Directed By: Allen Hughes

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Barry Pepper, Kyle Chandler, Natalie Martinez, and Jeffrey Wright

January must be trash collection month at the box office because Hollywood keeps dumping crap onto the big screen. Our latest junk film is Broken City, a crime drama starring Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. If released any other time of the year, it's something that would have been considered a worthwhi...

REVIEW: In Zero Dark Thirty, Maya's Canaries Follow Courier Abu Ahmed to Deliver Justice Upon Osama bin Laden

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, January 12, 2013, In : 0.00% Water

Zero Dark Thirty

Directed By: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Kyle Chandler, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Strong, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Duplass, Scott Adkins, and Taylor Kinney

History seems to be the predominant story of this awards season. It's the history of our sixteenth president and his fight to pass the Thirteenth Amendment in Lincoln. It's the history of six American diplomats making a fake movie to escape Iran in Argo. It's the history o...

REVIEW: Texas Chainsaw 3D Can't Get Around the Good Book or August 19th

Posted by James Brown on Friday, January 4, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Texas Chainsaw 3D

Directed By: John Luessenhop

Starring: Alexandra Daddario, Dan Yeager, Tremaine Neverson (Trey Songz), Tania Raymonde, Thom Barry, Paul Rae, and Bill Moseley

Most bad movies just suck, but some can actually be fun to watch. While I'm a man who believes that a few beverages with some kick can make any movie an enjoyable experience, some of the rotten ones are laughably bad all on their own. It's been a while since I've seen a bad horror movie that I actually somewhat enjoyed, ...
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REVIEW: Like James Barr's Crime Scene, Jack Reacher is Too Good to Be True

Posted by James Brown on Friday, December 21, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Jack Reacher

Directed By: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall, Werner Herzog, and Richard Jenkins

"There's this guy. He's a kind of cop, at least he used to be. He doesn't care about proof, he doesn't care about the law, he only cares about what's right. He knows what I did. You can't protect me. No one can."
-James Barr (Joseph Sikora)

Last year around this time, I was raving about Tom Cruise in his fourth outing as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible...

REVIEW: Despite the Comedy, Home Looks Like a Much Better Option Than Deadfall

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, December 8, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Deadfall

Directed By: Stefan Ruzowitzky

Starring: Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnam, Kate Mara, Treat Williams, Kris Kristofferson, and Sissy Spacek

We're in this annual post-Thanksgiving slump at the box office. All studios want to capitalize on the holidays, so releases are clustered around Turkey Day and Christmas. Between the holidays, we're stuck with several weekends of nothingness. Last year, it was something we just witnessed at mainstream theaters. This year, however, the ...

REVIEW: Like America, Killing Them Softly is All About the Almighty Dollar

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, December 1, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Killing Them Softly

Directed By: Andrew Dominik

Starring: Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, and Sam Shepard

In recent years, a lot of people have begun to think that America has lost its way, that we're on a downward trajectory as a people, and that the highest offices in government go to the highest bidders. While we can certainly debate the first two points, there's no debating the final one. After all, we live in an America where th...

REVIEW: The Wolverines Throw Some Dirt on Red Dawn

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, November 22, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Red Dawn

Directed By: Dan Bradley

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas, Connor Cruise, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Propaganda films are not known for being of the highest quality. I'm not saying this is a hard and fast rule. After all, Casablanca, one of the greatest movies of all time, has its roots in World War II themed propaganda. What I am saying is that quality movies are hard to find within the genre. That's why I'm so surprised that an...

REVIEW: In Skyfall, The Last Two Rats Eat Each Other Alive for Our Pleasure

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, November 8, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

Skyfall

Directed By: Sam Mendes

Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Lim Marlohe, and Albert Finney

I can't believe it's been four years since Daniel Craig's last outing as James Bond in Quantum of Solace. We've all certainly missed 007, his shaken martinis, and his happy trigger finger. That being said, Skyfall is upon us! It's been a year full of hype ranging from an appearance by Craig at the 2012 Olympics with Queen Elizabeth, an ...

REVIEW: The Loneliest Planet May Just Be the Most Boring Too

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, November 3, 2012, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

The Loneliest Planet

Directed By: Julia Loktev

Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Hani Furstenberg, and Bidzina Gujabidze

The Loneliest Planet has been a film I've been curious about for some time now. Having garnered quite a bit of love on the festival circuit and even getting nominated for a Best Feature Gotham Independent Film Award, I was of the mindset that this was going to be a great film. However, I'm going to have to go against the grain here and say that The Loneliest Planet is a thor...

REVIEW: Alessa & the Order of Valtiel Don't Bring the Darkness in Silent Hill: Revelation 3D

Posted by James Brown on Friday, October 26, 2012, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D

Directed By: Michael J. Bassett

Starring: Adelaide Clemens, Sean Bean, Kit Harrington, Carrie-Anne Moss, Malcolm McDowell, Radha Mitchell, Deborah Kara Unger, and Martin Donovan

I'm so happy that this is the last weekend of October! That means we get a reprieve from bad horror movies for a couple of months. So far in the fall, we've had Sinister, Paranormal Activity 4, and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D. All of these attempted fright fests leave a lot to be desired ...

REVIEW: Argo is No Longer a Fake Movie or a Fake Hit

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 13, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Argo

Directed By: Ben Affleck

Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, and John Goodman

Argo couldn't have come to theaters in a more timely fashion. Just several weeks after the attack in Benghazi that left the US ambassador J. Christopher Stevens to Libya and three other Americans dead, we revisit a similar situation, the Iran Hostage Crisis during which the lives of 52 embassy employees were put in grave danger for a total of 444 days. While the film was put into production lo...

REVIEW: Mr. Boogie is Anything But Sinister. Try Infinitely Boring.

Posted by James Brown on Friday, October 12, 2012, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Sinister

Directed By: Scott Derrickson

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Thompson, James Ransone, Clare Foley, and Michael Hall D'Addario

Halloween is on the horizon. That means it's the season of crappy horror movies! That's unfortunately what we as moviegoers are subjected to on an annual basis. A couple of long-running franchises such as Paranormal Activity or Saw release their next terrible installments, and a few newcomers typically fall flat. This weekend, we have a horror newbie...
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REVIEW: I'm Not Getting Good Vibrations About The Paperboy. This is a Weird One!

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, October 6, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The Paperboy

Directed By: Lee Daniels

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, David Oyelowo, Macy Gray, and Scott Glenn

Every once in a while, I catch a flick that leaves me feeling weird afterward. I don't know quite how to describe it. A film of this nature leaves me with seven words streaming through my mind: "What the hell did I just watch?". These flicks typically come out of left field, and it takes a while for me to process everything I've witnessed. ...

REVIEW: When a Dog Gets a Bone, It Makes a Sequel...Taken 2

Posted by James Brown on Friday, October 5, 2012, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Taken 2

Directed By: Olivier Megaton

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, and Rade Šerbedžija

Taken was one awesome movie. Despite the mediocrity around him, Liam Neeson rose to the occasion to turn a formulaic action flick into something much, much more. Over the last four years, the film has become a beloved cult film. When I first learned of the sequel Taken 2, I thought Liam Neeson would come back and give us everything we loved about the original all over again. It ...

REVIEW: Looper Closes the Loop. Bruce Willis is Killing It!

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 29, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

Looper

Directed By: Rian Johnson

Starring: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan, Piper Perabo, and Jeff Daniels

Time travel is quintessentially sci-fi. Some of the greatest sci-fi flicks have turned the time and space continuum on its head. What would cinema be like today if Marty McFly never went back to 1955 or if the Terminator never went back in time to kill John Connor? Time travel is a cornerstone of the science fiction genre, and Rian Johnson decid...

REVIEW: End of Watch is a Cop Mockumentary with a Foul Mouth

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 23, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

End of Watch

Directed By: David Ayer

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick, Natalie Martinez, America Ferrera, Frank Grillo, and David Harbour

We've had our fair share of bromances this year. With This Means War, 21 Jump Street, and Savages having already rolled into theaters in the last several months, it's safe to say that there has been plenty of male bonding on the big screen. With David Ayer's cop mockumentary End of Watch hitting movie theaters this weekend, it's al...

REVIEW: With Fraud & Involuntary Manslaughter on His Résumé, Robert Miller Has No Problem Playing the Devilish Role of the Patriarch in Arbitrage

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 15, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Arbitrage

Directed By: Nicholas Jarecki

Starring: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Nate Parker, and Laetitia Casta

Well, I'm back. While I've been gallivanting around Spain and Portugal, I didn't miss much based on what I've been reading. The Words and The Cold Light of Day tanked from the start, and the box office suffered its worst weekend in nearly four years. It sounds like I picked the right time to go on vacation. Now that I'm back on the movie scene, the first ite...
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REVIEW: With Spankings, Jumping Jacks, & Rape, Compliance Shows That Prank Phone Calls Aren't So Harmless

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, August 26, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

Compliance

Directed By: Craig Zobel

Starring: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, and Pat Healy

With Killer Joe earlier this month, I thought I had seen the sickest stuff I would see this summer. It's an NC-17 film, so there shouldn't really be anything else that can leave me in a cold, dejected state quite like that. What could top what Matthew McConaughey's Joe did with a chicken leg from KFC? Well, I found it in Craig Zobel's Compliance. Apparently, sick, twisted prank phone calls are more unnerving...
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REVIEW: When the Rat Becomes the Unit of Currency, a Specter by the Name of Robert Pattinson Haunts Cosmopolis

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, August 26, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Cosmopolis

Directed By: David Cronenberg

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Paul Giamatti, Samantha Morton, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric, Juliette Binoche, and Kevin Durand

As I mentioned in my review of Robot & Frank, the other futuristic movie this weekend is David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis. Before I began writing this review, I did something I rarely do. I went to Rotten Tomatoes to check out the Tomatometer, and I was thoroughly disappointed. Apparently, Cosmopolis has a rating of 64% on RT. That...
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REVIEW: While No Brakes May Mean Death for Wilee, Premium Rush is the Deadliest Thing of All for the Coyote Man

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, August 25, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Premium Rush

Directed By: David Koepp

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Aaron Tveit, Dania Ramirez, and Jamie Chung

For all of us drivers out there who live in or near a major city, I have to say one thing. Bikers suck and can be annoying as hell. They're either hogging too much road thereby slowing us down or they're acting crazy and trying to get us killed in accidents. With this in mind, I come to David Koepp's Premium Rush a very jaded moviegoer. It's hard for me to feel e...
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REVIEW: Aaron Cross Takes Up the Bourne Legacy, While Sin-Eater Eric Byer Tries to Burn Operation Outcome Down to the Ground

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, August 11, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Bourne Legacy

Directed By: Tony Gilroy

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Joan Allen, and Albert Finney

The Bourne Legacy is a film that's had a shadow cast over it from the day it was announced. It's the Jason Bourne movie without Jason Bourne. With Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon departing the franchise, it's a new chapter in the series. Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Duplicity) is taking the director's chair from Greengrass, while Jeremy Renner (The Avengers, Mission: ...
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REVIEW: Killer Joe Actually Made KFC Disgusting. No More Chicken for Me.

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, August 5, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Killer Joe

Directed By: William Friedkin

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon, and Thomas Haden Church

The feared NC-17 rating is a label few studios and filmmakers willingly embrace. These bold few often take sex and violence to new heights. They defy the MPAA and do what they need to do to get their message across in an artistic way. It's been nine months since an NC-17 film has graced even a handful of theaters around the country. While Steve McQueen's Sh...
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REVIEW: For the Love of Strong Weed, Savages Gets Down to Bloody Business

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, July 8, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Savages

Directed By: Oliver Stone

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively, Salma Hayek, Benicio del Toro, Emile Hirsch, and John Travolta

We're at the peak of the summer movie season. There is something for everybody right now. We've got a lot in theaters, but we really hadn't had a movie that gets down and dirty in a bloody, brutal way until now. This weekend Oliver Stone comes to fill this void with his new movie Savages. With all the sex, drugs, and guns in this flick, you'll...
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REVIEW: With Super Secret Handshakes, Earthworms, & Time Travel, Sound of My Voice Puts Its Own Spin on Cult Movies

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, May 13, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Sound of My Voice

Directed By: Zal Batmanglij

Starring: Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius, and Brit Marling

Let's be real. Cults are for suckers. The weak-minded fools of the world believe any crap that their leaders spew, no matter how far-fetched it may be. They just go along believing in their "wise" leaders and taking their marching orders. That's what makes cult movies so interesting. We get to watch these fools in action or what we imagine them to be. Zal Batmanglij's Sound of My Voi...
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REVIEW: Quoth The Raven, "Nevermore Shall I Torture Myself with This Crap!"

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, April 28, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The Raven

Directed By: James McTeigue

Starring: John Cusack, Alice Eve, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Luke Evans, Kevin McNally, Pam Ferris, Sergej Trifunovic, Ian Virgo, and Sam Hazeldine

2012 supposedly marks the end of the world. Since I'm writing this review, I'm inclined to think otherwise. Hell, I'd argue that 2012 marks the year history will be rewritten. We've got Abraham Lincoln becoming a vampire hunter. We've got Snow White becoming an action hero. We've even got Edgar Allan Poe becoming...
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REVIEW: Lockout Takes Crappy Movies to the Next Frontier—Space

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, April 14, 2012, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Lockout

Directed By: James Mather and Stephen St. Leger

Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joseph Gilgun, Lennie James, and Peter Stormare

April is really a filler month in the box office schedule that's hit-or-miss for moviegoers. More often than not, the release schedule is filled with crap. The heavy hitters released in March are still hanging around in theaters, and the new stuff is just the preamble to the summer blockbuster season. The futuristic thriller Lockout is just...
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REVIEW: Brake- Don’t Stop For This Crap

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, April 14, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Brake
SoberFilmChick

Directed By: Gabe Torres

Starring: Stephen Dorff, Chyler Leigh, JR Bourne, and Tom Berenger

Imagine Die Hard if Bruce Willis was trapped in a glass coffin for an hour and a half and all he had was his wits to battle terrorists. Oh yeah, and Bruce was neither charismatic nor funny. Does that sound entertaining? No? Well neither was Brake.

In Brake, Secret Service agent Jeremy Reins (Stephen Dorff) wakes up in a glass coffin. Much to his horror, he is being held captive by t...
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REVIEW: ATM - Getting A Few Bucks Has Never Been So Deadly

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, April 7, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

ATM
SoberFilmChick

Directed By: David Brooks

Starring: Alice Eve, Josh Peck, and Brian Geraghty

I am always paranoid if I use an ATM at night. I have a fear that someone is going to sneak up behind me and rob me just as I’m keying in my code. The ATMs that require you to swipe your card to enter into a windowed room at the front of a building are even worse because then you’re trapped in a room. So ATM the movie is really my paranoia come to life, but on crack.

ATM is the story of David (B...
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REVIEW: Silent House Is Authentically Mediocre

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, March 10, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Silent House

Directed By: Chris Kentis and Laura Lau

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Julia Taylor Ross, and Haley Murphy

These days, the horror genre is more predictable than ever. You get a few kills, a few hot girls, and more than a few bad actors. When there's talk of the downfall of modern mainstream cinema, the conversation wouldn't be complete without mentioning how crappy horror flicks are these days. That's why I'm so surprised that the talented young actr...
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REVIEW: We Need To Talk About Kevin...Seriously. This Kid Is Evil!

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, March 8, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Directed By: Lynne Ramsay

Starring: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, and Ezra Miller

Some kids are just born monsters. From the moment they arrive, you know they're rotten to the core. Their parents can dish out all the love and affection in the world. They can try to instill some semblance of moral values. They can do everything in their power to give these black sheep normal lives. At the end of the day, they're just pure evil in human form. There's absolutely n...
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REVIEW: Gone is a Well-Intentioned Thriller on Crack

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, February 25, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Gone

Directed By: Heitor Dhalia

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Carpenter, and Wes Bentley

Amanda Seyfried is one actress who is definitely on the rise. She has the talent to do great things in her career. She just hasn't had the right roles. Having been in films such as Dear John, Jennifer's Body, and Red Riding Hood, she hasn't exactly built a stellar filmography. Seyfried is so much better than the films she makes. Unfortunately, she's added another bad film to her résumé — Heito...
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REVIEW: I'm Not a Racist, But I Know Somebody Who Is — Dave Brown in Rampart

Posted by James Brown on Monday, February 20, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Rampart

Directed By: Oren Moverman

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ned Beatty, Anne Heche, Steve Buscemi, and Sigourney Weaver

It's good to see a movie about a hardcore racist. Hollywood has been obsessed in recent years with sugary dramas about overcoming racial barriers. They show harmonious relationships where an upstanding white member of the community helps out some downtrodden, oppressed blacks. Just look at films like The Blind Side and The Help. They're movies that make you feel good abou...
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REVIEW: Kill List - A Brutal, Disturbing Thriller

Posted by Mary Dieng on Sunday, February 12, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Kill List
Mary Dieng

Directed By: Ben Wheatley

Starring: Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley, MyAnna Buring, and Emma Fryer

Confused and Disturbed. That would describe my feelings at the end of viewing Kill List. WTH would also be appropriate. Kill List is the story of Jay (Neil Maskell), an ex-British soldier who has hit hard financial times. He has not worked in over eight months and his wife Shel (Myanna Buring), also a former soldier, is irate. The film begins with them bickering at a dinner pa...
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REVIEW: Safe House Plays It Too Safe

Posted by James Brown on Friday, February 10, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Safe House

Directed By: Daniel Espinosa

Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson, and Sam Shepard

These last several months have been an interesting time for movies with big actors. Time and time again, we've all been asking whether great acting is enough to make a movie great. Well, the results have been mixed thus far. In J. Edgar, Leonardo DiCaprio gives a powerhouse performance. The problem is that the movie absolutely sucks. In The Iron Lady, Meryl Stre...
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REVIEW: The Woman in Black Takes Us Way Back

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, February 4, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Woman in Black

Directed By: James Watkins

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer, Sophie Stuckey, Liz White, and Alisa Khasanova

Most scary movies these days just don't get the job done. Ghost stories and old school thrillers have gone out of fashion. We're left with remakes of 80s slasher flicks like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th that can never quite live up to the originals. Alternatively, we get unnecessarily gory films that are tantamount to torture po...
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REVIEW: The Man on a Ledge Should Go Ahead and Jump Off. It Would Make My Day.

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, January 28, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Man on a Ledge

Directed By: Asger Leth

Starring: Ed Harris, Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Anthony Mackie, Jamie Bell, and Génesis Rodriguez

In any heist flick, there's a certain amount of crap that filmmakers pull that will just never be believable, but we as moviegoers let it slide. We suspend our disbelief. In Fast Five, did you really think Toretto and O'Conner were able to swap vaults with their team members while they were all driving at 80 to 90 miles per hour? In the Ocean's flick...
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REVIEW: The Grey Is a Smart Movie, But It's Also Really Stupid

Posted by James Brown on Friday, January 27, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Grey

Directed By: Joe Carnahan

Starring: Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson, Nonso Anozie, and James Badge Dale

Attention everyone! It's that time of year for a kick-ass Liam Neeson B-movie, and no actor in the world wanted to go toe-to-toe with the famed Irish actor this time around. Liam Neeson has beaten the hell out of every human badass on camera and is now relegated to fighting wolves. Writer/director Joe Carnahan took a stab at bringing a wolf ...
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REVIEW: Haywire Satisfies But Does Not Electrify

Posted by Mary Dieng, Esq. on Saturday, January 21, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Haywire
Mary Dieng

Directed By: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Michael Angarano, Antonio Banderas, and Michael Douglas

Maybe my expectations were just a little too high. Maybe, I’m a dreamer. I was excited to see Haywire. And why not? A film directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, the Oceans series, Contagion) with a cast that includes new “it” actor Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas and Ewan McGregor is de...
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REVIEW: For The Darkest Hour, Take Ben's Advice. Drink Religiously.

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, December 27, 2011, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

The Darkest Hour

Directed By: Chris Gorak

Starring: Olivia Thirlby, Emile Hirsch, Rachael Taylor, Max Minghella, and Joel Kinnaman

The movie industry has been pretty bipolar this year. 2011 has had some really great films, but there have been plenty of horrible flicks that have driven up my bar tab. It just so happens that Summit Entertainment has been at the forefront of half-assed filmmaking over the past twelve months. They've given us crap like The Three Musketeers and The Twilight Saga: ...
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REVIEW: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a Good Old Fashioned Espionage Flick

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, December 18, 2011, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Directed By: Tomas Alfredson

Starring: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Ciarán Hinds

The Cold War is the perfect backdrop for any spy thriller. There was so much palpable tension and corruption back then that it just makes things easy for filmmakers. The only problem is that these films are always about the feud between the United States and the Soviet Union. Other countries had interests in what ha...
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REVIEW: Don't Be Afraid of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, August 30, 2011, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Directed By: Troy Nixey

Starring: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, and Bailee Madison

2011 has not been a particularly great year for horror flicks. There's just been one waste of fake blood after another. Bringing Guillermo del Toro into the horror fold for a run at producing Don't Be Afraid of the Dark was a beacon of hope. His well-documented creativity and unique visuals would have been a welcomed addition to the genre. It was supposed to be the light at the end of t...
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