Review: Midnight in Paris

Of all the Oscar nominees for Best Picture, Midnight in Paris may be my favorite.  I should preface this by saying I am something of a Woody Allen fan, having really enjoyed a number of his directorial efforts including Whatever Works, Match Point, Hollywood Ending, Everyone Says I Love You, and of course Annie Hall.  So I do have a predisposition towards his brand of filmmaking.   In regards to his most profitable...

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Review: Apollo 18

Apollo 18 is yet another entry into the “found-footage” genre that started with The Blair Witch Project, but really took off with Paranormal Activity.  This film – like some of its recent predecessors (The Devil Inside, Paranormal Activity 3) – does a decent job of using the mechanisms of the genre to create the veneer of authenticity and a sense of tension, but ultimately fails to deliver a worthwhile payoff. It’s hard to really put...

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Review: The Grey

If you haven’t noticed, Liam Neeson has carved himself a nice niche as an action star.  In a genre where chiseled jaws and artificially augmented biceps inflict most of the damage, Neeson (Taken, A-Team, and Unknown) is showing that grey beards can still kick butt on screen and at the box office.   His latest flick - The Grey - is two hours of mental and physical warfare expertly captured on screen by Joe Carnahan. The plot...

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Review: Footloose (2011)

There are some movies that should never be re-made; Godfather, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark – movies that through a confluence of great casting, directing, and cinematography have produced truly iconic cinematic experiences.  Then there are those that should never be given a second look for an entirely different set of reasons – Date Movie, Hudson Hawk, and anything by Adam Sandler post Spanglish. Then there’s Footloose, a movie...

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Review: Real Steel

While watching Real Steel, I couldn’t help but feel like director Shawn Levy, and writers John Gatins, Dan Gilroy, and Jeremy Leven were pick pocketing Sylvester Stallone.  Seriously, Real Steel is a complete amalgamation of Rocky and Over the Top with a little bit of Iron Man thrown into the mix.  In fact, I bet that’s how the project was pitched to the higher-ups at DreamWorks.   If Sly isn’t getting a cut of this...

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Review: Drive

Imagine your reaction to watching a movie called “Attack of the Killer Bats” only to find that there’s no attacking, no killing, and hardly a bat to be found throughout the film’s proceedings.  That’s precisely what I experienced while watching director Nicolas Winding Ref’s Drive.  The title in itself is basic if not direct and yet the film is not quite what it is billed as.  Other than two major sequences, there is remarkably...

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Review: Contagion

I usually don’t like those films that feature a huge ensemble cast – a la Valentine’s Day and New Years Eve (the latter of which seemingly features half of Hollywood).  In Contagion, we have a film driven by a large ensemble cast, but is entirely different from the two aforementioned movies.  I need to start by saying I am fairly neutral in the world of Man vs. Germ.  I take one shower a day and wash my hands...

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2011 Movie Rankings

I watched 51 new release films during 2011.  There were some hits and a bunch of misses.  From this list of 51, I ranked the movies based on their entertainment value.  On paper, 2012 is shaping up to be a great year at the cinema, so here's hoping at the end of next year I am ranking a better crop of films. The List of 51: 51. Johnny English Reborn (Universal)                  ...

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