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Once upon a time it was possible to at least excuse the cinematic overkill of the Wachowski siblings as a willingness to take chances in pursuit of high-concept storytelling and the desire to push the special effects envelope. There technique was groundbreaking when it worked, and pretentious but still engaging when it didn’t. However, with the risible Jupiter Ascending they seem … Continue reading
When you think about it, the ocean depths are an even more terrifying environment than the void of space. In the far reaches of the cosmos one can at least see the stars; underwater, there’s only pitch-black darkness waiting to crush you to pulp. It’s a great setting for putting a group of people under intense mental … Continue reading
Let’s face it: Hollywood has yet to make an effective cyber-thriller. The black art of hacking works great on the page, but actually getting it onto the screen in a compelling way has so far proven to be elusive. There are only so many ways to film someone typing away on a computer and close-ups … Continue reading
It’s difficult to determine who is likely (if at all) to enjoy Predestination: the fans of the classic Robert A Heinlein short story “All You Zombies” that it is based on, or uninitiated genre fans free of preconceived notions about the Spierig Brothers’ time travel flick. The movie is hampered by slavish devotion to the … Continue reading
It’s been a while since Tim Burton has offered up a movie that wasn’t A.) drenched in weirdness-as-affectation, B.) smothered in heavy-handed effects, C.) beaten into delirium with gratuitous Johnny Depp, or D.) all of the above. With Big Eyes, however, he seems ready to throw aside his stylistic crutches and tell a simple story. However, even with much of … Continue reading
The good news is that Peter Jackson’s final installment of his unnecessarily long adaptation of The Hobbit shows improvement over its predecessors. The downside is that it’s an a degree of improvement akin to the Star Wars prequels: better, but still a slog to get through with only a few rewarding moments. At best, it makes one appreciate … Continue reading
Inherent Vice is the first movie based on a novel by Thomas Pynchon. Whether or not there will be another any time soon is anyone’s guess. Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation (approved by Pynchon himself) is a rambling and largely incoherent tale. It’s supposed to be; its source was a rambling, convoluted soft-boiled detective tale, and Anderson’s … Continue reading
Visually sumptuous but otherwise hollow, Ridley Scott’s take on the Biblical tale of Moses could use a little more wrath of God to perk it up a bit. It’s not a bad movie per se, it’s just that it fails to pull us in the way it should. You don’t watch Exodus: Gods and Kings, … Continue reading
Splitting the final installment of a book-to-film franchise into two parts has always been a controversial move, and it’s probably never been more questionable than with the Mockingjay — Part 1. By offering the first act of the concluding tale as a stand-alone film, Lionsgate and company have made us wait a year for a plodding, … Continue reading
A strong debut film by The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart, there’s still some room for improvement in the earnest and entirely nonthreatening Rosewater. Some first-time filmmakers opt for going full-bore with their freshman work, laying on the style and emotion in sloppy layers as if the project were the only movie they were ever going to … Continue reading
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