recent product reviews
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Inspired by Abrams, but this one’s not as good and not as smart. Spock’s dialogue is basic, McCoy’s quips are forced. Pegg’s Scotty doesn’t have a single good line, even more surprising when you consider that he wrote the screenplay. Effects are dizzyingly good, with silly smooth camera movements through…
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Life Itself (2014)
A candid and depressing look at one of the most beloved figures in film history, and such a personal, heartfelt project from Roger, Chaz, and James. That Roger was self-aware of the film’s production makes it that much more meaningful. I know he valued this. Cleanly crafted and well-organized. How…
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Song of the Sea (2014)
Creatively and beautifully animated. Almost too mystical and wishy washy for me, but I was surprised at how touched I was at the end.
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The Jungle Book (2016)
Not sure which, but either the original Rudyard Kipling novel or this movie is a crap story. Why are we supposed to care about any of these characters? What makes Mowgli good? His youthful innocence? What makes the tiger bad? The scar? There’s no character development, and consequently, I don’t…
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Jason Bourne (2016)
Getting a bit tired of the formula. Bourne looking around, in super-close-up, with a furrowed brow, trying to remember who he is. Music builds when he’s about to be apprehended. Handheld and shaky camera throughout. The dizzying car chase at end was good, just wish it had more drama behind…
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Sing Street (2016)
Cute and charming, pulling some of the same strings as Almost Famous. Carney did a great job capturing the 80’s authentically and making fun of it at the same time. Actors are all great. Walsh-Peelo pulls off a great first performance as the lead, and there’s something really appealing about…
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Overall, better than I thought it would be. It’s Zach Snyder, so it’s beautiful and polished and graphic, but the story is a bit jumbled and the acting is pretty blah. There were a few moments when I didn’t really know what was going on, including a ghost sequence and…
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Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
Silly and odd. Neill is good at playing crotchety. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play anything else. But does he really think he did a good thing here?
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O.J.: Made in America (2016)
Epic and powerful and masterfully crafted. A complete story is told with no narration and almost no titles. An amazing assemblage of footage. Even the drone B-roll footage is beautiful and effective. And the way it’s arranged is an unbelievable editing accomplishment. A dramatic and beautiful score pulls it all…
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Blue Thunder (1983)
Like WarGames (another Badham movie) and Red Dawn and Spies Like Us and many other movies of the early 80’s that take a distrustful look at military technology and the people who use it. This was at the forefront of people’s minds at the time. Helicopters were in vogue around…
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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 2,388 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!
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