King Of California
Mike Cahill creates a character based comedy that works and holds interest but plods along and doesn’t suck us in like it should for most of the film.The premise sounds fun, and is at times, but it is very deliberately paced and feels far longer then its hour and a half run time. The movie […]
The Nines
John August has created an interesting and experimental film that works on a number of levels but doesn’t quite gel into something really wonderful.Ryan Reynolds stars in three chapters that are all connected, how they are connected is revealed over the course of the film. Melissa McCarthy is also interwoven with Reynolds characters along with […]
Cassandra’s Dream
Woody Allen’s second endeavor into crime drama, after the excellent Match Point, is another solid effort with excellent work from the cast, but a story that doesn’t really surprise on many levels.We are quickly introduced to Ian and Terry (Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell, respectively) who are looking to purchase a small sail boat. We […]
Breach
Billy Ray’s directorial follow up to the excellent Shattered Glass is a solid political thriller that is diminished by the fact that we know the outcome from the opening frame.The story tells the events leading up to the arrest of Robert Hanssen, a FBI operative who was the biggest double agent spies in the history […]
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
The most entertaining documentary I have ever seen is this little seen gem about Donkey Kong and the fight to own the world record on the classic arcade game.Billy Mitchell is the arcade video game player of the 80’s and the owner of the world record of Donkey Kong at 874,300. Billy in the present […]
Hot Fuzz
Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost have re-teamed for a send of buddy action films and they do a marvelous job for the most part, but still fall short of their previous effort Shaun of the Dead.Nicholas Angel (Pegg) is the premier officer in London, capturing numerous medals and awards for his valor. Angel […]
In the Valley of Elah
Paul Haggis’ new film is a crime procedural with an anti-war message laced through out and while it is very effective emotionally at times there is not real mystery to the proceedings and the movie doesn’t excel above being just good.Based on a true story, Tommy Lee Jones stars in this now Oscar nominated performance […]
Stardust
Matthew Vaughn’s follow up to the excellent Layer Cake is a solid fantasy adventure that has gotten better on subsequent viewings.Tristan (Charlie Cox) live in the village of Wall that sits on the edge of the fantastical world of Stormhold which he has to cross into to find a shooting star to buy the love […]
Away From Her
Sarah Polley makes her debut as a screenwriter and director in this sad film about the loss of a loved one to Alzheimer’s.We quickly find out that Fiona (Julie Christie) is dealing with the effects of Alzheimer’s. Conscious of her affliction, she is still in a “good” place and we see her slowly dwindle as […]
27 Dresses
The first romantic comedy of the year sets the bar high for all the future films in the genre that follow this year.Katherine Heigl tries to continue on the success of last summer’s Knocked Up with this better than average romcom. The story stays fairly traditional and predictable but it does everything very well and […]