HOSTILES is a film that takes itself very seriously. It should. Taking as its themes both human nature’s capacity for violence and its overweening need for mercy, it is not something to be approached lightly, something that director Scott Cooper took to heart in his adaptation of the late Donald E. Stewart’s manuscript. Set in… Read More »
MECHANIC, THE
THE MECHANIC is slick, stylish, and fun. In short, everything for which an audience turns to an action flick for a few hours of escapist entertainment. Jason Statham again proves that he is the quintessential genre protagonist: cool, efficient, with an ironic edge and credibly cerebral. This last is critical, inasmuch as he is a… Read More »
CONTRABAND
CONTRABAND is based on the award-winning Icelandic flick REYKJAVIC-ROTTERDAM, and it is directed by the star of that film, Baltasar Kormakur. The setting has been changed from the cold North Atlantic to the sultry climes of New Orleans and Panama. The lead is now played by Mark Wahlberg. Yet the reason for the remake is… Read More »
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
Oh how the mighty have fallen. X-MEN: THE LAST STAND is the third installment in what until now has been a sterling franchise and its failings are an affront to what has come before. To be sure, the fine philosophical underpinnings, one of the series’ hallmarks, are still there, but with a new director, Brett… Read More »
30 DAYS OF NIGHT
30 DAYS OF NIGHT, based on the graphic novel of the same name, promises a new vision of the vampire and it delivers. Unfortunately, that new vision is dull, derivative, and more likely to induce a coma than a nightmare. Tired stop-action strobe effects, townsfolk dumber than an ice floe, and vampires more notable for… Read More »
3:10 TO YUMA
Stark, intelligent, and supremely suspenseful, 3:10 TO YUMA is a masterpiece of psychological drama coupled with a darn fine action flick that uses the classic western as its idiom. And then turns it on its head. Though a remake of the film of the same name from 1957, there is a freshness and an edginess… Read More »