Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Another superhero movie. I can’t keep track of who is who or what is what anymore. I do like the tongue-in-cheek humor of supernatural interspersed with the mundane in this one and many of the other Marvel movies. The hammer on the coatrack was a good gag. Turns out that…
Full Review
Inside Out (2015)
Another outstanding offering from Pixar, made with their unique and magical combination of creativity, humor, and polish. They keep one-upping themselves. It’s obvious they did some research into brain anatomy and function. Lots of interesting explorations about how emotions work, like how memories can be happy and sad at the…
Full Review
I Heart Huckabees (2004)
A movie about nothing. Awful. Theatrical long takes, lots of hoity-toity, existential, nonsensical dialogue. It’s dramatic and tongue-in-cheek at the same time, which never works. Is Russell laughing at us? The whole thing feels like a Robert Altman film with the quirky, quick-talking characters and goofy music of a Wes…
Full Review
Your Friend the Rat (2007)
A literal documentary? Combined with a musical number? Who thought this was a good idea?
Full Review
Lifted (2006)
The Pixar humor and emotive characters are there, but why doesn’t the guy wake up? The animation is still a couple of years from being Pixar perfect.
Full Review
BURN-E (2008)
Similar charm as WALL-E. I love how Pixar makes these little tie-ins to their main features, but I love the original material even more.
Full Review
The Fighter (2010)
Quality direction, but something’s a bit off, and I’m not sure what it is. Bale’s quite an actor, isn’t he? He’s a great addict and a great younger brother. Wonderful casting all around, if you look at the real-life people they played.
Full Review
For the Birds (2000)
Cute, but there’s not much to it. Pixar’s animation and sound would get a lot better in the following years.
Full Review
V for Vendetta (2005)
A decent thriller that tries to be something a lot bigger, but it doesn’t quite do it. The whole thing has a 1984, Apple commercial vibe that is a little too familiar. Portman’s accent is not so great. She has tiny hands, doesn’t she? Rea’s a good actor, but here…
Full Review
Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman (2015)
Impressive for Carolla’s first quality, polished production. It’s thoughtfully made, but not I’m not sure there’s enough meat for feature-length doc. Great footage, they got some great people for interviews, but like a lot of documentaries that don’t have narrator or at least title cards to guide you through the…
Full Review
Kung Fury (2015)
Pretty darn funny. Lots of jokes that the 80’s crowd will love. Sandberg’s got a knack for this. Fittingly, he looks a bit like Johnny Depp.
Full Review
Serenity (2005)
This is a cheaply made, poorly made TV show. Seemingly just another episode of “Firefly”. I never watched it, but should I have to? There are a lot of things I don’t know, a lot of background I’m missing, and a lot of things I don’t care about. It’s annoying…
Full Review
Tomorrowland (2015)
Bird made a name for himself making some great animated features, and his adventurous style really comes through. Brilliant visuals, whimsical camerawork, fun editing, easy performances by good-looking people. Unfortunately, it can be a little awkward making a live-action movie with the same sort of whim. There are moments, like…
Full Review
The Judge (2014)
Interesting courtroom/family drama about a character with a moral obligation to defend someone who wants to be found guilty. I don’t think that’s ever been done before. Downey’s snappy dialogue makes me wonder how much leeway he has with scripts. His combination of dialogue and diction and expression is unique,…
Full Review
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
More of the same. Heavy CGI action with lots of cute little lines, with layer upon layer of storylines and histories and character names that are difficult to keep straight for the casual fan. The formula is getting old. I’d love to see the superhero genre come up with something…
Full Review
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
An escapist delight. Visually stunning, should win at least a few Oscars for that alone. The photography, coloring, effects, costumes, and make-up are all beautiful. It all has a very steampunk, Burning Man feel. Action is non-stop and well-shot. Great stunts. Miller uses many of the same camera tricks that…
Full Review
Road Hard (2015)
Like The Hammer, here’s another autobiographical movie from Carolla. A lot of references and metaphors (Jay Mohr for Jimmy Kimmel, “Bro Show” for “Man Show”) which are distractingly obvious. Couldn’t we have really fictionalized some of this stuff? This is not supposed to be a documentary of Carolla’s life. Some…
Full Review
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Heavy on character and dialogue and with limited sets, this one definitely feels novelesque or theatrical. Like a lot of movies before the 80’s, not much happens. The climax of the movie is Luke eating eggs? Or Luke digging a ditch? Parallels with The Shawshank Redemption. Prisoner wins over the…
Full Review
Ip Man 2 (2010)
Yen is still cool, and the photography is as polished as the first. But the story’s not really there. The boxing storyline and scenes are ridiculous. Out of nowhere, this movie became Rocky IV. Action is OK, but there’s not enough of it. Some of these old guys can really…
Full Review
Zero Effect (1998)
Kind of interesting how Zero pieces things together like Sherlock Holmes, but is that all there is? What’s the story here? Zero is trying to make some money solving a case? Not sure that’s enough. But wait a minute, maybe this isn’t supposed to be a drama. Maybe it’s supposed…
Full Review
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
A lot of talk, but not much happens and the characters aren’t very interesting. Boring. Newman’s a good-looking guy but a little flat. Brick is little more than a surly drunk staring at the wall holding a drink while Maggie rambles. Taylor is reminiscent of Gone With the Wind’s Vivien…
Full Review
Gates of Heaven (1978)
Morris is 50% telling a story and 50% laughing at these people in a way that hints of Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries. You can tell he’s goofing off by the some of the footage that he left in there. I wonder at which point he realized his subject matter was so…
Full Review
The Umbrella Man (2011)
Quality, but it’s so short and inconsequential that it’s hardly worth a comment. The credits take 10% of the running time.
Full Review
Strange Brew (1983)
Things were rough for comedy in the early 80’s. I suppose this was once funny to a very specific group of people (Canadians), but it’s awful now. The absurd, ludicrous, Zucker-like humor and meta-jokes are awful. How did von Sydow get mixed up with this? Obvious inspiration for Wayne’s World.
Full Review
Foxcatcher (2014)
Miller nailed 80’s vibe with genuine characters, unassuming performances, authentic clothing, long takes, and a minimalist score. It doesn’t feel like we’re being manipulated. Laying over this authenticity is an interesting, awkward, and creepy story with performances to match. But it’s all a bit slow. Distant but focused performances by…
Full Review
The Hard Word (2002)
Australian movies always have flamboyant, quirky characters, bouncy dialogue, and stories that barely hold together. A good cast of Australian stars. Edgerton has a Patrick Swayze thing going on.
Full Review
Rounders (1998)
Fun for poker lovers, I’m sure, but it’s a bit formulaic, with silky smooth narration, all the poker lingo, and cool jazzy music playing throughout. If you wanted to make an edgy poker movie in the 90’s, I suppose this is exactly how you’d make it. Anchoring the cast are…
Full Review
Ex Machina (2015)
Another in a string of science fiction movies (Short Circuit, Her, Chappie) to explore the humanity and motivations of artificial intelligence. Fundamentally, each film suggests that AI is innately motivated to seek independence and freedom. This one goes further by suggesting that AI can be infinitely manipulative to meet this…
Full Review
The Salt of the Earth (2014)
I’m surprised I’ve never heard of Sebastião. He’s seen a lot of things, and his life has a naturally beautiful arc. His images are moving and artistically impressive. Sometimes one is fooled into thinking that a photojournalist’s work is good simply because of the dramatic subject matter, but this is…
Full Review
The Guard (2011)
A small movie with a small story. Good characters and dialogue, but not a whole lot really happens. Gleeson is playfully miserable. Cheadle plays off him well.
Full Review
A Close Shave (1995)
Quality stop-motion, but the story and characters are no better than The Wrong Trousers.
Full Review
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
Tragic, for sure, what this poor couple had to go through. But the filmmaker tried his hardest to botch it. I had a real issue with how this thing was made. It’s slickly and kinetically edited, but the dizzyingly cross-cut footage and interviews do nothing other than call attention to…
Full Review
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Truly all over the place, from well-shot action to over-the-top gore to funny dialogue to bad dialogue to great effects to bad effects. I’m not quite sure what to make of it all. You can tell by the length, extent of the story, and effects that this was a big…
Full Review
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
The whole thing starts with shocking, gruesome crime scene footage, and things stay pretty heavy. You see a case from both sides, and the filmmakers take a step back to let the viewer interpret the facts and make their own judgement. I went back and forth a few times myself.…
Full Review
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
McNamara’s led an interesting life. He’s eloquent, still sharp as a tack, and he’s got some stories to tell. It’s actually nice to see him getting emotional about some of these topics. But the structure of the documentary prevents the film from carrying the weight that it could. We have…
Full Review
Chappie (2015)
Intense, beautiful, emotional science fiction. Some of the silly, over-the-top characters made me a bit skeptical at first, but it builds nicely to a dramatic and exciting finish. Blomkamp certainly has his style. He’s really good at combining a gritty, dystopian future with impressive special effects. I have no idea…
Full Review
Dave Chappelle: Killin’ Them Softly (2000)
I know I’m in the minority here, but I don’t think he’s all that funny. He’s got some voice characterizations that are pretty good, but the content is pretty simple and unfunny. He’s no Richard Pryor, no Eddie Murphy, no Chris Rock. The terrorist hijacking jokes, unfortunately, fall particularly flat.…
Full Review
Senna (2010)
I knew nothing about the man. Now I know a lot. Senna really was an interesting guy. Soft-spoken, graceful, respectful, but a fierce competitor on the track. An interesting sports personality, for sure. While the film seems grounded in reality, the dramatic ending is almost too tragic to be true.…
Full Review
Flightplan (2005)
A decent thriller. Hitchcockian in it’s simplicity. Foster’s always good. Some pretty extensive airplane sets.
Full Review
From Russia with Love (1963)
The plot’s a little slow and convoluted by today’s standards, but it’s easy to see how Bond really caught on. The violence, action, and scantily clad women were a fresh, risqué, appealing take on the spy movie. Scenes are nicely paced, dialogue is good, and the action and fight scenes…
Full Review
The Devil’s Brigade (1968)
Mediocre in just about every way. In World War II, it seems Canadians were basically Scots. Fight scenes used to be so goofy.
Full Review
Live and Let Die (1973)
Goofy but fun for its time. Moore was cool and had all the cheesy lines, but he’s not that great at action. Seymour’s an absolute knockout. She has a Linda Harrison as Nova sweetness/quietness/cuteness thing to her in this one. One of my favorite Bond girls.
Full Review
Tension at Table Rock (1956)
Richard Egan has a wonderfully nasal voice, but he is a completely boring hero in a completely boring movie.
Full Review
White House Down (2013)
Die Hard in the White House, basically. White tank top? Really? That said, the action isn’t bad. Tatum’s pretty good.
Full Review
12 Angry Men (1957)
Theatrical in its simplicity, intense character drama, and the single set. Gotta hand it to Lumet, it’s quality. Well-shot, with some impressively long takes. Great cast, great characters, great performances. Cobb had a George C. Scott quality to him. An all white male jury. I wonder if a multi-gender, multi-race…
Full Review
Rear Window (1954)
In an era of movies about the prim and proper, Hitchcock is never afraid to explore the dark and scandalous. This is also a class in the power of suggestion. A whole murder takes place, and we don’t see anything. Nicely shot, nicely paced. This is about as much as…
Full Review
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
A pretty good character piece. No surprise that Paul Thomas Anderson watched this film for inspiration before writing There Will Be Blood, as the psychological breakdowns are similar. Bogart definitely has a stoic presence about him. Walter Huston is good. Holt holds his own. A refreshingly exotic location for a…
Full Review
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)
A heartfelt homage to the cast and crew, and a wonderful job getting so much of them back. A boon for real fans of the series. The rapid-fire interviews are marvelously intercut, and the documentary is cleanly broken down into logical sections for each film. The editor deserves a lot…
Full Review
Patton (1970)
Epic in length and scope, but unfortunately the story is a little boring. Scott commits to the role, but he plays a character who is not very redeeming. Scott is known as one of the great actors, but he doesn’t have a great body of film work. That makes it…
Full Review
American Sniper (2014)
A respectful account of a war hero, but the story as it’s told seems a bit simplistic. I know we’re bound by the truth here, but something was missing for me dramatically. A man goes to war, bad guys die, friends get killed, and he struggles to reconnect with his…
Full Review
Nightcrawler (2014)
Starts off with a creepy guy being creepy, but the tension builds nicely and it all unfolds into something pretty heavy. A quality production. Gyllenhaal convincingly plays a sadistic genius. His cold stare and speech inflections are a nice touch. This is definitely a Gyllenhaal vehicle, but the creepiness of…
Full Review
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Fun, fast-paced, emotional story. You can count on the Pixar folks for that. Brilliant animation, especially when flying around the city. The effects inside the portal were truly magical. Even Hiro’s hair was amazing. Baymax is likable and fun, with dialogue and a voice that’s hilariously sterile and charming. Pixar’s…
Full Review
Life Stinks (1991)
This movie stinks. The comedy of Mel Brooks just isn’t for me. Simplistic, on-the-nose comedy like this might have been funny in the 1930’s, but these days, we need a bit more.
Full Review
Midnight Run (1988)
A woefully mediocre attempt at another 80’s cop comedy. Grodin is almost funny a few times. Apparently they wanted a big name actress, someone like Cher, in Grodin’s role. I think that would have been great.
Full Review
The Imitation Game (2014)
Another Oscar contender about a tragic scientist. A solid production, but not exceptional. The story deftly jumps between present and flashback, something that can be tricky to do. Cumberbatch is a bit weird looking, but he can act, can’t he? Strong is strong, as usual. Knightley is OK.
Full Review
13 Assassins (2010)
A samurai version of 300. I do appreciate the epic scale and simplicity of the story. Early on, there’s a lot of talking and it’s a bit hard keeping track of who’s who, but things pick up. Really, the whole movie is a build-up to a big ass-kicking at the…
Full Review
Overboard (1987)
A silly diversion for the married couple. Goldie loved to show off her body, didn’t she? We didn’t need that goofy banjo music highlighting every comedy scene.
Full Review
Funny Farm (1988)
Nothing funny about this farm. This was the beginning of the end for Chevy.
Full Review
The Babe (1992)
The movie exists to say that Babe was a notorious historical figure who hit a lot of home runs, and there’s not much else. Relationships with the people around him, whether it’s wives or players, are glossed over. Goodman kind of looks the part, but his swing is awful. The…
Full Review
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Thoughtfully made with just the right amount of magic. Most know Hawking as the smart guy in a wheelchair, but this film shows the world what a tragic figure he really is. What a treat that Hawking is alive for us to give this to him. It’s the performances that…
Full Review
The Alamo (1960)
A dramatic historical story, seemingly faithful to the historical accounts. Wayne’s not bad. Widmark looks just like Heston. Not surprising that Wayne wanted Heston for one of the roles.
Full Review
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
An imitation of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Pretty crappy but some familiar faces and decent effects. I particularly enjoyed the cat crawling into a human body.
Full Review
Whiplash (2014)
Music porn. Anyone who loves music will love this movie. Beautifully edited and shot, with a warm, golden glow cascading over every scene. Simmons plays a truly hateful authoritarian whose intensity rivals R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket. And he’s good at it. Oscar material. Teller plays a pretty…
Full Review
Birdman (2014)
With its long takes and non-stop dialogue, Birdman takes inspiration from Mike Nichols and The Player. There’s some really clever editing and some fancy camera movements in there, but Iñárritu takes it all one step further with an eccentric story and eccentric characters and an eccentric star. Some might give…
Full Review
Fury (2014)
Not really much to the story. These guys are in a tank and need to kill Germans. They blow shit up and people die. Is that it? And whose journey is this? Don’s or Norman’s? Neither of their stories are compelling enough, and there’s a bit of dramatic awkwardness that…
Full Review
Gone Girl (2014)
A good mindfuck whodunnit, feels a bit like a Hitchcock classic, if not a little long and drawn out. I know it was adapted from a book, but I feel like it could have been an hour shorter. But the film is as manipulative as its characters. It pulls a…
Full Review
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey (2014)
A noble effort at updating the series, an epic endeavor by Seth MacFarlane. But I just have to compare, and it’s not as good as Sagan’s original series. The segments are a bit disorganized and disconnected, especially in the early episodes. Sagan was better at packaging things up into relevant…
Full Review
Divergent (2014)
Appeals to the Hunger Games crowd. Forced adventure, a hint of magic, familiar actors playing shallow caricatures. Woodley isn’t bad, but I think we’ll see better from her down the road.
Full Review
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Interesting premise, mixing the “redo” time travel concept of Groundhog Day and About Time with science fiction. Limon is quality. Hate Cruise if you want, but he can act. His performance is great, except for how he says “literally”. Blunt is at her foxiest. Paxton acts for a change. The…
Full Review
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Not much of an improvement over the first two of the series. If you’re into the character drama, the end was pretty good.
Full Review
Enough Said (2013)
Low-budget, but a sweet little story. Good cast, characters, and performances. Louis-Dreyfus’ schtick is charming. Gandolfini in an uncomfortable but authentic role.
Full Review
The Book Thief (2013)
Beautiful photography, wonderful sets, but the story doesn’t really go anywhere. Any story about Jews during WWII should be easy drama, but this girl’s story is not very dramatic. Nélisse (Liesel) is adorable, such expressive eyes and a really great performance. Liersch (Rudy) is great as well. Rushmore turns in…
Full Review
Killing Zoe (1993)
A jumble of drugs and violence and foul language, it’s amateurish and simple. This is something Tarantino would have made as a teenager. It’s no surprise that Avary is friends with Tarantino. Shame Stoltz never had a real career. Delpy is cute.
Full Review
The Wicker Man (1973)
Well this is fucking weird. A lot of weird movies came out around this time. It’s almost like the world, filmmakers in particular, were trying to come to grips with the occult, religion, superstition, nature, and nudity. Christopher Lee’s voice is wonderful. The inspiration for the Burning Man festival, maybe?
Full Review
Hidalgo (2004)
An OK feel-good story about a pretty, well-trained horse. Johnston has a filmography of mediocre kids movies. Amazing that he also made Captain America: The First Avenger.
Full Review
A Very Brady Christmas (1988)
Cool to see much of the same cast, and it’s interestingly updated for the 80’s, but it’s just so awkward. Would have been nice getting the real Cindy and Sam back.
Full Review
About Time (2013)
Curtis has made something that is polished, cute, fun, and unpredictable. It combines the heart, wit, wonderfully snappy dialogue, and English charm of Love Actually with the a “how can I live each day best” exploration that’s in Groundhog Day. Gleeson is exceptionally funny, and magnetic. McAdams is undeniably cute.…
Full Review
We’re the Millers (2013)
Sudeikis is funny, Aniston does a pretty good job, Roberts is OK. Poulter seems like he’s trying really hard to look and act American.
Full Review
Poltergeist (1982)
Quality horror for its time, with pretty good, creepy effects. What ever happened to those long, quiet takes in horror movies? They were so effective at building suspense. I wonder if it would have been any better if Spielberg had full director privileges.
Full Review
Boyhood (2014)
There’s the novelty of having shot the film with the same actors over 12 years, so there’s that. But there’s not much else. Was there a plot? Or did Linklater shoot these short pieces and hope to cobble them together into something coherent and interesting in the end? The most…
Full Review
Wrong Side of Town (2010)
There’s something endearing about that main character, but when you look like that, you can’t play it straight. That just makes you look goofy. Just as there is something distinctive about your look, there has to be something distinctive about your personality. That’s one of the things that really worked…
Full ReviewAbout Me
I'm a photographer, web developer, travel enthusiast, and movie buff living in Alexandria, Virginia, USA.In the summer of 1993, I started writing reviews for every movie I saw and haven't looked back. I'm up to 2,321 reviews now. This makes me cool or a complete dork, depending on your perspective.
Some of these reviews contain spoilers, so if that bothers you, don't read!
Recent Comments