Where to begin with BLOODSHOT, a derivative lump of lethargy that taints the thrill of the plot twist, and renders an action sequence in plummeting elevators dully predictable? Right down to the quips. Powered solely by Vin Diesel’s star power, it is overwritten and under cogitated, with special effects that aren’t. Diesel is still a… Read More »
BEDTIME STORIES
There may once have been a charming idea at the heart of BEDTIME STORIES, but alas, whatever it might have been has been Sandler-ized. And not for your protection. The tale of Skeeter (Adam Sandler), an underappreciated hotel maintenance man given a chance to succeed where his father failed in the hospitality industry is singularly… Read More »
THE HURT LOCKER
Among the many arresting images in THE HURT LOCKER, the one that may be the best at putting the audience in the position of the American army bomb squad fighting a futile war in Iraq, is also one of the most quiet. Its during what started out as a routine mission to gather up bomb-making… Read More »
DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK
There are many deeply creepy moments in DONT BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, a re-imaging of a 1973 television movie of the same name. There are also many terrifying interludes, but the image that may be the most unsettling is that of a doll that has had its teeth gnawed away. Innocence and violence in… Read More »
LOCKOUT
If there were a reason to see LOCKOUT, and there really isnt, it would be to savor the way Guy Pearce gleefully surrenders the last iota of credibility in exchange for whooping it up with good-natured abandon as a near-futuristic action hero. The rest of this Luc Besson-enabled collection of clichés barely registers in comparison.… Read More »
IRON MAN 3
The important thing to know about IRON MAN 3 is that after an iffy start, it zooms into the stratosphere as easily and as dynamically as Tony Stark himself does in the latest incarnations of his Iron Man suit. The past, however, haunts the present, with the trauma of wormholes and aliens vying with demons… Read More »
THE HARD WORD
I no longer fear death for I have seen THE HARD WORD and no pain of giving up the ghost, no torment in damnation can compare to this excruciating mess that hits the silver screen with the sickening thud of ineptitude. Writer/ director Scott Roberts seems to have wanted to make a taut thriller that is also… Read More »
ANATOMY OF A SCENE – MEMENTO
The Sundance Channels series, ANATOMY OF A SCENE, usually examines a film in current release, gathering together the team from both sides of the camera to discuss several aspects of one particular scene. The results, presented with a refreshing lack of technical jargon or stultifyingly obtuse film theory, shed a light on the creative process… Read More »
FIRST SNOW
The theme of a man trying to outrun his fate is an old one. Laius tried getting around the prediction about being done in by his son, Oedipus, with less than stellar results. More recently, Puritans in colonial America worried themselves silly over predestination at the hands of an angry deity, while hedging their bets… Read More »
ANIMAL KINGDOM
ANIMAL KINGDOM is a devastatingly powerful film with a brilliant performance from newcomer James Frecheville as J, a 17-year-old set adrift between a criminal family that he barely knows, and a legal system that until then has done a spectacular job of failing him. It begins with the camera drifting across two dead souls, the… Read More »