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Johnny Depp starring in a Tim Burton remake of the cult-favorite ’60s-’70s gothic soap opera may seem like a no-brainer, but fans of any or all of the above will be hard-pressed to find much satisfaction in Dark Shadows. It’s a vampire comedy without much bite, and its quirkiness wears thin quickly. Bearing only a passing resemblance … Continue reading
The latest entry in the wave of Nordic noir that has renewed American interest in crime fiction, Morten Tyldum’s Headhunters is a slick, twisty, and sometimes gruesome little thriller that invokes the best of Hitchcock and the Coen’s Blood Simple, though it doesn’t always run as smoothly. Aksel Hennie stars as Roger Brown, a man of bland name and … Continue reading
Drive Angry 3D is one of those giddily trashy, gleefully self-obsessed movies that defies critique — in the conventional sense, at least. Not that that’s a bad thing; in fact, it’s so absurdly trashy and ridiculously over-the-top (on purpose, mind you) that if you don’t outright hate it, you’ll flat-out love it. Nicolas Cage, whose … Continue reading
Highly anticipated by fanboys and casual moviegoers alike ever since it was alluded to in a post-credits tag in Iron Man four years ago, The Avengers is a glorious combination of action, comic book adventure, and four-color character drama that not only lives up to the loftiest of expectations, it stomps them flat and raises the bar … Continue reading
Standard spy-fi fare presented in a very atypical style, Haywire arrives in time to perk up a dull movie month. Written by Lem Dobbs (Kafka, The Limey) and directed with a boldly minimalist approach by Steven Soderbergh (still keen to play with every known movie genre and thankfully not yet making good on his threat … Continue reading
A tepid high-concept thriller, The Raven is nice to look at but it only timidly delivers the macabre thrills, tragic romanticism, and oppressive fatalism necessary for a movie that draws heavily from the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. Set during the final days of the author’s life, quickly introducing us to a Poe … Continue reading
One of the most enjoyable (albeit more light-hearted) WWII action movies this side of Where Eagles Dare, Captain America: The First Avenger is superhero spectacle by way of Band of Brothers with a dash of The Raiders of the Lost Ark. Clever, brisk, and patriotic (but not jingoistic), it’s one of the better comic book movies … Continue reading
January is typically the lean season when it comes to movie releases. The studios have fired off their Oscar bait over the holidays and are saving their next round of high-profile tent pole releases for the lucrative spring and summer seasons. That said, Contraband is better than one would expect around that time of the … Continue reading
Both mirthful and melancholic, filmmaker Gianni Di Gregorio’s The Salt of Life takes a smart, moving look at that moment in a person’s life when they realize they’ve passed their expiration date. Di Gregorio maintains the low-key, slice-of-life style that characterized this movie’s predecessor, Mid-August Lunch (2008), and delivers a worthy follow-up. The actor director reprises his … Continue reading
Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol is a surprisingly effective chapter from a notoriously underachieving franchise. The first three films in the series all felt like the noodlings of talented but seemingly bored directors: Brian De Palma’s rambling, impenetrable narrative, John Woo’s operatic action punctuated by more doves and religious iconography than an ’80s-era Madonna video, … Continue reading
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