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(02/23/12 4:39am)
Contrary to popular belief, “good” trash can exist in the movie world, but it requires clever writing, a sense of self-awareness and near-flawless execution. “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” has none of those things. The result is a film that’s so boring and bland that the only difference between it and a SyFy original movie is its $75 million budget.
(02/16/12 4:38am)
Thanks to several recent high-profile leaks of confidential documents from sites like WikiLeaks, the time is right for an insightful film that raises questions of accountability in the operations of the international intelligence community. “Safe House” is not that film, choosing to bury any chance of an intelligent plot with rote spy action.
(02/02/12 5:11am)
Packaged as an action film, the grossly inaccurate marketing campaign of “The Grey” actually works in its favor, masking its thematically deep content and more crafted thrills. The result is a film that doesn’t simply go for the jugular, but sneaks up behind you and tears you to pieces instead.
(01/26/12 4:48am)
Any spy film that shies away from Bond and Bourne and takes a more realistic approach to espionage always faces the problem of building excitement. How does a director make secret meetings and sifting through documents as exciting as gun battles and one-liners? “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” does just that, and makes the world of intelligence work during the height of the Cold War come to life.
(01/19/12 4:58am)
Mark Wahlberg has always been something of a conflicted actor, alternating between being a tough guy action hero and a more restrained, dramatic actor. His latest vehicle, “Contraband” seems to reflect that crisis of identity.
(11/17/11 5:11am)
“Immortals” is a shameless attempt to emulate “300,” right down the jacked, shirtless hero and gory, slow-motion visuals. While the latter movie compensated for its silliness thanks to non-stop action and a ridiculously manly premise, “Immortals” is an excruciatingly unfortunate lesson in how hard it can be to make a good stupid film.
(11/10/11 4:50am)
Much of the continued success of the “Harold & Kumar” series stems from the fact that you don’t have to be a stoner to enjoy the movies. But in “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas,” the irreverent humor of the first two films often takes a back seat to 3D smoke rings and bong rips.
(11/03/11 4:09am)
In the world of “In Time,” the years of your life are a global currency and people are in desperate pursuit of it. For a movie that’s about how quickly time runs out, it’s a bad sign when it seems to pass so slowly in the theater.
(10/13/11 4:25am)
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the show “BattleBots,” where small home- made robots equipped with lawnmower blades and table saws fought to the death. Although “BattleBots” was canceled in 2002, the concept has been revived … kind of.
(09/20/11 9:54pm)
Movies like the “Transporter” series have elevated the getaway driver to the level of a superhuman action hero, a suave character capable of dodging hails of gunfire and eluding anyone.
(09/15/11 9:09pm)
Original ideas are hard to come by in cinema, and often a good film must find a way to make well-used plots seem new again. In “The Guard,” director John Michael McDonagh and veteran actor Brendan Gleeson have done just that, making a genre as tired and stale as the buddy-cop movie seem inventive and fresh.
(09/06/11 8:45pm)
It’s easy to see an espionage thriller as a simple exercise in “good vs. bad.” These sorts of films often feature highly-skilled patriots on dangerous missions for their country.
(09/01/11 4:36am)
“Colombiana” opens to the strains of “Ave Maria,” a surprisingly serious tone for a movie written by Luc Besson (“The Fifth Element,” “The Professional”). Then someone racks a shotgun and the rooftop parkour chase sequence begins and we’re back to the basics.
(08/30/11 9:24pm)
1973 brought the Pontiac Grand Am, a classic. Prestige aside, if one were made to run today as it did years ago, it would still have a stick shift and no A/C.
(08/25/11 7:51pm)
The original “Conan the Barbarian” was never meant to be a complex film, and its titular main character was little more than a brute spewing one-liners. For whatever reason, director Marcus Nispel decided the best way to improve an already bare-bones movie was to make it somehow dumber and more basic.
(04/14/11 2:34am)
The espionage thriller is a tired genre, and such films often suffer from clichés and a dearth of fresh ideas. With the successful execution of “Hanna,” who would have guessed the recipe for success called for a brutal 16-year-old protagonist and elements of a bildungsroman?
(04/07/11 2:36am)
The best gifts you receive are often the ones you don’t expect, and that’s the perfect metaphor for “Source Code.”
(03/31/11 2:30am)
After “Inception,” audiences have become accustomed to the concept of dreams within dreams. However, in its attempt to ape that underlying theme, “Sucker Punch” comes off more as a dream within a cliché wrapped in nonsense.
(03/03/11 4:26am)
There’s a scene in “Drive Angry 3D” where a character nonchalantly pours a beer into shattered skull of a fallen foe and proceeds to have a drink, surrounded by dozens of still-smoldering corpses.
(02/10/11 4:21am)
Beginning college is a difficult period, with factors like leaving home, choosing classes and meeting new people causing an immense amount of stress.