recent product reviews
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
With a retro-futuristic feel, it’s got a Watchmen kind of vibe to it. A lot of characters and places to keep straight, though. Lots of little laughs. Pratt’s got a nice presence as the lead. As a space-faring swindler and sweet-talker, he’s the new Han Solo. His personality and sense…
Full Review
Nixon By Nixon: In His Own Words (2014)
With raw footage and no narrator to guide things and shape the story, it’s a stream-of-consciousness collection of clips. While a bit disorganized, they provide an interesting insight into the man, media, and global issues of the 60’s and 70’s. After hearing some of Nixon’s meetings and calls, no one…
Full Review
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
The story feels long and thorough, but it’s mostly a deep exploration of human-human politics, ape-ape politics, and human-ape politics. Not a whole lot really happens, and that’s what makes things feel a bit slow. Clarke was good as Malcolm despite not being a familiar face. Oldman played a nice…
Full Review
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
Cute and fun, but not enough conflict, not very meaningful, kind of boring. Nothing important is at stake. In homage the the first, they should have waited for a dramatic scene to hear the apes first speak. Would have given a thrill to viewers seeing an Apes movie for the…
Full Review
Jaws 2 (1978)
Not a bad sequel, with much of the same cast and same feel as the classic. Of course, it’s not quite as original and polished as the first one. Wonderfully gruesome shark death.
Full Review
Chef (2014)
There’s a very smooth flow to the story. Acting and dialogue are all very natural, and the characters are appealing and friendly. The problem is that everyone is too nice, everything is too perfect. In a single movie, we have the best ex-wife, the best ex-wife’s ex-husband, the best friend,…
Full Review
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
I’m starting to get tired of the Wes Anderson formula. Quirky, quick-talking characters struggle with a regimented, constricting establishment (school in Rushmore, family tradition in The Royal Tenenbaums, Boy Scouts in Moonrise Kingdom, a historic hotel in this one) that is just as quirky as the characters. Extra comedy comes…
Full Review
The Lego Movie (2014)
This is fantastic marketing for Lego. We’re shown how cool the toys can be with a little bit of creativity. The end, in particular, is as heavy a sales pitch as there has ever been in a movie. I would like to see where Lego’s revenues go after this. Effects…
Full Review
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Pretty good, but these X-Men movies are starting to get a bit old. In much the same way that the Matrix sequels sucked, all of this franchise’s characters have already been established, all the effects have been done. It feels like there’s nothing new to contribute to the series, making…
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 2,374 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