ACT OF VALOR

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylKOWUHtL6LnBACo1MrzmaYNHracBTNyI9n7MQ4FqBG4D15TWjMb3Tt4z1jWt-gKOlkZdhm2T3e7A5hjOKR9bdebekCXj5_xFu9WEo0pppP5z8C0NCFmzcOKQjBr68bzgogw9eV2CfrZX/s1600/act-of-valor-the-real-seals_600x309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylKOWUHtL6LnBACo1MrzmaYNHracBTNyI9n7MQ4FqBG4D15TWjMb3Tt4z1jWt-gKOlkZdhm2T3e7A5hjOKR9bdebekCXj5_xFu9WEo0pppP5z8C0NCFmzcOKQjBr68bzgogw9eV2CfrZX/s400/act-of-valor-the-real-seals_600x309.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gun Blasting Screen Capture</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>title: </b>ACT OF VALOR<br /> <b>year: </b>2012<br /> <b>cast:</b> Navy Seals<br /> <b>rating:</b> *** <br /> <br /> Since the cast consists of real life Navy Seals, it’s difficult to follow each character and their part within this fictionalized account of what heroes do while we’re safe at home. There’s one guy with a low voice who narrates. He’s all man – a man’s man yet a tad philosophical. There's a nice guy with a pregnant wife. And the tough leader who, during an interrogation of a seedy millionaire aboard a yacht, provides the best acting overall. But there really doesn’t need much dialog when it’s mostly action (and not too much shaky cam) – although what would have fared better as a climax is put up front: The Navy Seals rescuing an imprisoned woman in the Philippines. This stealthy mission, beginning with a parachuting sequence and winding up a riveting truck chase along a narrow road, puts you on the edge of your seat. After which, while learning about the bad guys – one dimensional goons seeming fresh from a cable TV action flick – the stakes are raised… There’s a group of suicide bombers about to enter through the Mexican border strapped with explosives ala BLACK SUNDAY: once they blow up, a thousand deathly shards fly in all directions. It’s too bad this finale, revved-up as we learn a drug cartel could be involved, results in a rushed and – as far as one tragic casualty goes – predictable conclusion. And yet, since the real men are involved, the calculating missions never seem corny, clichéd, or melodramatic. But for fans of old school war flicks, this might also be a hindrance. After all, who doesn't need a cocky cigar-chomping womanizer or a boisterous comic relief? So next time, spice up that Apple Pie just a bit. Because while it's great to root for America, the individual characters are who we invest in.

2012, war

ACT OF VALOR

Gun Blasting Screen Capture title: ACT OF VALOR year: 2012 cast: Navy Seals rating: *** Since the cast consists of real life Navy...

WANDERLUST

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKr5NToNWsQzRlyum6bFsC7iVsrL-zrHB9UXATOdTGg8mm3HPPLNDD3DUthaGv0AN32GjJBQHcnEvdIPXO57y2hXATO8WpL8FAUjWWej_wU0jih2_Y2he7RoinkUB5tAq7EslWnBcBAsb/s1600/wanderlust-movie-image-paul-rudd-jennifer-aniston-02-600x525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKr5NToNWsQzRlyum6bFsC7iVsrL-zrHB9UXATOdTGg8mm3HPPLNDD3DUthaGv0AN32GjJBQHcnEvdIPXO57y2hXATO8WpL8FAUjWWej_wU0jih2_Y2he7RoinkUB5tAq7EslWnBcBAsb/s320/wanderlust-movie-image-paul-rudd-jennifer-aniston-02-600x525.jpg" width="294" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great Anti Chemistry</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>title: </b>WANDERLUST<br /> <b>year:</b> 2012<br /> <b>cast:</b> Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston<br /> <b>rating:</b> ***1/2<br /> <br /> How many things can weird, overly-openly-honest hippies do to make an average city-bred couple feel uncomfortable? About as many things as make the audience uncomfortable – and that’s not such a terrible thing if Judd Apatow’s producing. This has his signature over-the-top bodily function humor written, drawn and painted all over it. Story centers on Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston who, after both losing their jobs and driving to Rudd’s obnoxious money-loving brother's house, happen upon a bed and breakfast harboring the oddest lot of hippies you’ll ever experience. Going far beyond the clichés of pot smoking and naval-gazing, these freaks watch you go to the bathroom, exchange partners, and give birth right on the porch. The residents are too silly to be real, especially Justin Theroux as the picture-perfect bearded leader: a cross between Charles Manson and a game show host. But this is really about Rudd’s shocked reactions to the craziness around him. With an old-school vulnerable nice guy humor the likes of Richard Benjamin, Albert Brooks, and Alan Alda (who plays the commune’s dazed owner), Rudd has enough charm to rise above a somewhat (if not deliberately) banal script. And while Aniston is, once again, playing herself, she and Rudd make a good couple who happen into this gratuitous Twilight Zone episode that, while not being very funny, sure ain't boring.

2012, alan alda, comedy, jennifer aniston, paul rudd

WANDERLUST

Great Anti Chemistry title: WANDERLUST year: 2012 cast: Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston rating: ***1/2 How many things can weird, ov...

PETER RIEGERT & DENIS LAWSON SEE STARS IN 'LOCAL HERO'

<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzIz1FLObb-mogY9UeqSmEcrwXYvMJq5pg01p-WHvuvkEDQ022kg5wC6NzueD0N513xVKIzxMhBVWqglNq_C6lyBAuMRdj2Xf3BmFjAQzihmH-V9JM03P7hmepgWXdllc54u8qbx3aMKzpQHkHjMf1ZylsQNhmVziRkYcLSaxCIjqhzsVOqz5Gw2rwA/s2331/Screen%20Shot%202019-12-27%20at%207.04.22%20PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzIz1FLObb-mogY9UeqSmEcrwXYvMJq5pg01p-WHvuvkEDQ022kg5wC6NzueD0N513xVKIzxMhBVWqglNq_C6lyBAuMRdj2Xf3BmFjAQzihmH-V9JM03P7hmepgWXdllc54u8qbx3aMKzpQHkHjMf1ZylsQNhmVziRkYcLSaxCIjqhzsVOqz5Gw2rwA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202019-12-27%20at%207.04.22%20PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Criterion Collection cover for LOCAL HERO starring Peter Riegert and Dennis Lawson Year: 1983</u></td></tr></tbody></table>A Porsche driving Texas oil company negotiator is sent to a small town in Ireland to strike a deal that will make all the locals rich. Their land and beach is the perfect location for a refinery, and Peter Riegert as Mac – chosen for the assignment because of his supposed "Irish lineage" – enters the town whose inhabitants already know of their impending fortune.</span><br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Peter's subtle performance is nearly matched by the resident accountant Denis Lawson (Wedge from the original STARS WARS trilogy) as they wander around the gorgeous exterior discussing what prices go where...</span><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk3l2mBvxLljA09QbDSeUl1q1RGY7I5fyfrYqAFvr8UsMY8uP1hqOs2nO2pLHd8PZiFzBLf0FyHzmU3ofqCAqqjxKhFWcKq-OmTmDjSVxvg_RxsaP0uRfmVb6kSVRAOAsZyM_vCpKCcBYb/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-12-25+at+3.33.29+PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk3l2mBvxLljA09QbDSeUl1q1RGY7I5fyfrYqAFvr8UsMY8uP1hqOs2nO2pLHd8PZiFzBLf0FyHzmU3ofqCAqqjxKhFWcKq-OmTmDjSVxvg_RxsaP0uRfmVb6kSVRAOAsZyM_vCpKCcBYb/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-12-25+at+3.33.29+PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dennis Lawson and Peter Riegert in the gorgeous Scottish beachfront in LOCAL HERO Rates: *****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And always surrounded by an array of hopeful to strike it rich townsfolk including Mac's quirky British sidekick; a beautiful marine biologist; a drunken Russian; a seemingly unimportant beach bum; and an injured rabbit, Trudy... </span><br /> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">All leading to the final act when Burt Lancaster, as the eccentric Houston-based oil tycoon behind the deal, realizes the constellations mean everything in this modern fable written and directed by Bill Forsyth and backed by Mark Knofler’s earthy score, where everything remains genuine and grounded, even when those heavenly lights shine above. And after experiencing this movie you’ll never see a phone booth the same way again.</span>

burt lancaster, denis lawson, eighties, independent, peter riegert

PETER RIEGERT & DENIS LAWSON SEE STARS IN 'LOCAL HERO'

Criterion Collection cover for LOCAL HERO starring Peter Riegert and Dennis Lawson Year: 1983 A Porsche driving Texas oil company negotiato...

KATY KURTZMAN IN THE NEW ADVENTURES OF HEIDI

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Zf7Bj_t-eSRhdTDjoXO_nwY5aDt-3oFk8uFP6Gxh0tfs4LsENjIXHtS5-EXc6GwFjP6VHlpIRIUaMoh4rYhV3lCnCEGDqiqZrlUbGd67SgXWvw73VsiXBVLb9yQy-hteRUPJS8WBDewG/s1600/title04_023210385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Zf7Bj_t-eSRhdTDjoXO_nwY5aDt-3oFk8uFP6Gxh0tfs4LsENjIXHtS5-EXc6GwFjP6VHlpIRIUaMoh4rYhV3lCnCEGDqiqZrlUbGd67SgXWvw73VsiXBVLb9yQy-hteRUPJS8WBDewG/s320/title04_023210385.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1978 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> In one of <i>the</i>  most wonderfully bizarre made for television musicals ever filmed, Katy Kurtzman, an underrated and incredibly talented child actress from the 1970's, plays a modern day Heidi. With the signature blond pigtails, she frolics throughout the mountainside with her grandfather, played by Burl Ives, who is slowly losing his sight.<br /> <br /> What they really want is to live together without a care in the world... Other than a bearded psychopath lurking in the shadows, hilltop life is downright peachy.<br /> <br /> But when Grandpa gets lost in a thunderstorm, Heidi travels with a poor little rich girl to a mansion in the big city – and here’s where the movie takes a pretty bad turn: Don’t blame our lovely blue-eyed heroine for the snag in the breezy storyline. PYSCHO actor John Gavin’s role as the rich girl’s neglectful father ruins not only the whimsical pace, but takes Heidi out of the story for tedious pockets of downtime. This movie is about HEIDI... who cares about a stuffy businessman?!?<br /> <br /> Overall, despite the camp value which has value nonetheless, young Katy Kurtzman turns in an amazing performance, especially when she's crying or wishing for the life she may never regain. Her eclectic bouquet of expressions, ranging from contented to ecstatic to woebegone to hysterical, makes some of the other stuff – reminiscent of an eerie dream – not matter. It’s the title character that counts... It's <i>her  </i>adventure!<br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oM7tQXaXvAQ" width="480"></iframe>

children, katy kurtzman, made-for-TV, musical, seventies

KATY KURTZMAN IN THE NEW ADVENTURES OF HEIDI

year: 1978 rating: *** In one of the   most wonderfully bizarre made for television musicals ever filmed, Katy Kurtzman, an underrated a...

THE SECRETS OF ISIS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5UNYNOz2YrIJcpeCwsvPDFWfsKpjzb-GrFKdMUviLL9XxxcvxOo46sl97nsVVrQCFuCx5H2MT-hLdl2Ke5az9lzUeV4ins8byVkAvTwva_Ks2Z-EHmWNm4BlLHR_n7Io033KAQsju21m/s1600/isis1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5UNYNOz2YrIJcpeCwsvPDFWfsKpjzb-GrFKdMUviLL9XxxcvxOo46sl97nsVVrQCFuCx5H2MT-hLdl2Ke5az9lzUeV4ins8byVkAvTwva_Ks2Z-EHmWNm4BlLHR_n7Io033KAQsju21m/s320/isis1.jpg" width="184" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>1975 genre: TV rating: ***</b></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> "Oh Zephyr Winds which blow on high, lift me now so I can fly!" chants high school science teacher Andrea Thomas, played by the gorgeous Joanna Cameron, before turning into sexy <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Egyptian</span> goddess Isis: fighting criminals, bullies, and anyone doing bad things.<br /> <br /> Though it was a stretch no one figured Clark Kent was Superman, this brings the suspending-disbelief to a hilarious level: whether donning specs or wearing her sexy suit, Andrea and Isis look exactly the same, showing up seconds after our heroine, with a pet raven, saves the day.<br /> <br /> Her pseudo boyfriend/fellow teacher, with a porn star level of acting, brings this Saturday Morning TV series to another level. And although it's a very expensive DVD set, the complete series is available on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Netflix</span>: fans of vintage camp won't be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">disappointed... </span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">I</span>n fact you'll savor every horrible moment with complete awe, and at the same time, the stories are simple and actually entertaining, with recognizable character-actors filling guest roles. 

action, charles cyphers, joanna cameron, mitch vogel, seventies, superhero, TV

THE SECRETS OF ISIS

1975 genre: TV rating: *** "Oh Zephyr Winds which blow on high, lift me now so I can fly!" chants high school science teache...

SPACEHUNTER: ADVENTURES IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8bWz8eHD_8PSmUNyqZ0G8X647KoQpDNqdrrnY_0emKUt3zTYURyd7Evw7QR_r_G4Iwl_uarRzOI6pUEcYshRsx4g5Ha9fRuLSyEBNcZHQVhNPjOwrv5zWZYhONxayZ-Tbl1vMuHSoNXV/s1600/ringwald.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8bWz8eHD_8PSmUNyqZ0G8X647KoQpDNqdrrnY_0emKUt3zTYURyd7Evw7QR_r_G4Iwl_uarRzOI6pUEcYshRsx4g5Ha9fRuLSyEBNcZHQVhNPjOwrv5zWZYhONxayZ-Tbl1vMuHSoNXV/s320/ringwald.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1983 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> One of those cheap science fiction cult films without much of a following. Shot in 3D in the early 1980's and then, after formatting to 2D, things zoom at the screen for no reason. The sets resemble a MAD MAX future if it were created by Sid and Marty Krofft. Actually, it's not that bad. In fact, bigwig Ivan Reitman produced this science-fiction yarn about a rogue bounty hunter, Peter Strauss, sent to a planet where three vixens are kidnapped. He's reluctantly aided by local <span style="font-style: italic;">brat </span>Molly Ringwald (a year before joining the <i>brat pack</i>) and Ernie Hudson: Lando to Strauss's Han Solo. A few mindless adventures lead to an underground cavern where Michael Ironside, as a gigantic robot-altered mutant, hosts a do-or-die match where Strauss must save Molly: who's become like a daughter and, well, although it's not that great, you'll be drawn in somehow.

3D, ernie hudson, ivan reitman, michael ironside, molly ringwald, peter strauss, science-fiction

SPACEHUNTER: ADVENTURES IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE

year: 1983 rating: *** One of those cheap science fiction cult films without much of a following. Shot in 3D in the early 1980's a...

JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vewbrfVwTEFw7V5J_5GZs-K7i54RClXW74Y7zFgyoPCdQA-NhVSwtwAqVfu3LdbP0Jm8DW8NeNeO7feFkjors9OT7oJUP2meoPahXXnMbcl4Et8q19kBCWNu7TA9ZQAuoSZDVk80ktEw/s1600/rock1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vewbrfVwTEFw7V5J_5GZs-K7i54RClXW74Y7zFgyoPCdQA-NhVSwtwAqVfu3LdbP0Jm8DW8NeNeO7feFkjors9OT7oJUP2meoPahXXnMbcl4Et8q19kBCWNu7TA9ZQAuoSZDVk80ktEw/s320/rock1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking cartoony but not all that bad</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">L</span><b>title: </b>JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND<br /> <b>year:</b> 2012<br /> <b>cast: </b>Dwayne Johnson<br /> <b>rating:</b> *** <br /> <br /> Let’s get the negatives out of the way: the multicolored computer-animated MYSTERIOUS ISLAND resembles a seventies Hanna Barbara cartoon. And the reason for two suburbanites venturing into a distant island has practically no set up or logic. But it doesn't matter since the adventure itself is fun and involving, and yes, completely banal – but that’s not a bad thing. Teenage Sean, from JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, has a new stepfather, Hank, played by The Rock, that he can’t stand. Until the muscular, surprisingly resilient ex Navy man breaks a code sent from Sean's “Vernian” (Jules Verne fanatic) grandfather, who’s found the Mysterious Island the iconic author wrote about. Along the way the duo meet two essential yet, in this case, completely contrived device characters – Luis Guzman as the helicopter pilot comic relief trying way too hard for laughs, and his gorgeous daughter as Sean’s romantic interest. Cut to the chase: once they arrive on the island and meet up with grandfather Michael Caine, it’s all about escaping from a giant lizard, giant birds (while riding bees), and once underwater, where Nemo’s submarine awaits, dodging electric eels. The suspense builds decently enough on land – if they don’t get off the island in time, everything will be covered by the ocean. And it’s as simple as that – so what else do you need in a live-action cartoon?

2012, adventure, dwayne johnson, michael caine, science-fiction

JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

Looking cartoony but not all that bad L title: JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND year: 2012 cast: Dwayne Johnson rating: *** Let’s...

THIS MEANS WAR

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltOtFV6yqGGli7T8sQ_z-KmRZpiBjN5mekxif0rJybtuuTtUG5zQ8AYxHh8KPQZbhxSlg1Vpx8Bu1lJ6_YuzBAnre8d77tSCHcST4zJXITKJm0PyNWSyLtvILYJJS1jItcGD4mkxRNCGZ/s1600/this-mean-war-movie-review.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltOtFV6yqGGli7T8sQ_z-KmRZpiBjN5mekxif0rJybtuuTtUG5zQ8AYxHh8KPQZbhxSlg1Vpx8Bu1lJ6_YuzBAnre8d77tSCHcST4zJXITKJm0PyNWSyLtvILYJJS1jItcGD4mkxRNCGZ/s320/this-mean-war-movie-review.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>title:</b> THIS MEANS WAR<br /> <b>year: </b>2012<br /> <b>cast:</b> Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, Chris Pine<br /> <b>rating:</b> *** <br /> <br /> This movie might have the best, or perhaps worst, trailer ever made. Because in three minutes time you get the most important (and worthwhile) scenes involving two covert C.I.A. agents, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, outwitting each other to win over the same girl, Reese Witherspoon. Well there’s not much more than that – although some scenes are funnier than others. Like whenever either spy sabotages one another, both sharing the same character traits as Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristopherson in the 1977 comedy SEMI TOUGH, which borrows the same triangular premise. Here the spontaneous womanizer (Pine) acts sensitive while the nice guy (Hardy) proves he's gutsy, and it’s up to Witherspoon, with a consistently fervent expression, to decide. While expecting the viewer to embrace the characters before they’ve earned it, perhaps we've lived it all before – this being a very clichéd rom-com, including Witherspoon’s snarky best friend dishing bad advice that eventually makes sense. The action scenes are decent and, although shot in a glossy fashion (mirroring the director’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS), all the running around make the two male leads seem legitimate in their trade – underlined by a somewhat contrived subplot involving a maverick assassin. But the dynamic duo, partners who risk their lives together, have more camaraderie with the girl than they do each other. Which isn't so bad – since it’s her they’re after.

2012, chris pine, comedy, reese witherspoon, romantic comedy, tom hardy

THIS MEANS WAR

title: THIS MEANS WAR year: 2012 cast: Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, Chris Pine rating: *** This movie might have the best, or perha...

SAFE HOUSE

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaiRijm7qnYmvQRiwVPt9OAi8SeW1TdNJTgHW160mQbz24QwQMGiLPLB1sVqiDLbTm3nGQxJVFI3qKuoz4kdbBSkyZBrLE2SxmiNiDFV93GESA_3APY5P6NfBT1Jp19Ko7W8_1aalSedNC/s1600/safe-house-banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaiRijm7qnYmvQRiwVPt9OAi8SeW1TdNJTgHW160mQbz24QwQMGiLPLB1sVqiDLbTm3nGQxJVFI3qKuoz4kdbBSkyZBrLE2SxmiNiDFV93GESA_3APY5P6NfBT1Jp19Ko7W8_1aalSedNC/s320/safe-house-banner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <b>title: </b>SAFE HOUSE<br /> <b>year:</b> 2012<br /> <b>cast: </b>Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds<br /> <b>rating:</b> *1/2<br /> <br /> If there wasn’t so much expository about how formidable Denzel Washington’s rogue agent Tobin Frost is, maybe he wouldn’t have to live up to all that infamy once the story's underway: beginning with a botched heist in South Africa where Frost turns himself in to the C.I.A. and is taken to the first of three Safe Houses, where he’s watched by young agent Weston played by an extremely serious Ryan Reynolds... But there are a lot of really nasty people who want him dead, and the first of several bombastic action scenes, practically impossible to view as the camera rocks back and forth without ceasing, leads to Weston, with Frost as his prisoner, taking to the streets – till Frost shakes his tail and… <br /> <br /> When the duo meet again, and we realize the bad guys are supposed to be the good guys (like in every Hollywood film involving the C.I.A.), it’s a desperate fight for both agents: now teamed up to stay alive. Washington turns in a surprisingly bland performance as a character who, like a Hannibal Lector, is supposed to get into people's minds; and for an agent of his legendary caliber, he seems more confused than cunning. Reynolds holds onto a one-note scowl, and a side story with his put-upon girlfriend means absolutely nothing. But it’s that ever-shaky camera that really sinks this  clichéd thriller.<br /> <br /> So take plenty of sea sick pills before getting on this ride, and prepare to blame America all over again. It's getting awfully tiresome, and worst yet, downright predictable.

action, denzel washington, ryan reynolds, suspense, thriller

SAFE HOUSE

title: SAFE HOUSE year: 2012 cast: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds rating: *1/2 If there wasn’t so much expository about how formi...

THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0q9pp2Bv7-FrOJ0I93hvbs82WrU8snvR6QNFAZ8iVTTF3sPZYB8zGg9z6givt38X1zsVOnEX4YaZjy530REv9aH-j7ky0fRiHpx_VmFVWCLyw3rsEKFVXffdkHmkfCoCNRLIXpn9Lyo/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-13+at+1.28.22+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0q9pp2Bv7-FrOJ0I93hvbs82WrU8snvR6QNFAZ8iVTTF3sPZYB8zGg9z6givt38X1zsVOnEX4YaZjy530REv9aH-j7ky0fRiHpx_VmFVWCLyw3rsEKFVXffdkHmkfCoCNRLIXpn9Lyo/s320/Screen+shot+2015-10-13+at+1.28.22+AM.png" width="162" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1984 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> When two naval officers are thrust from the 1940's into the 1980's, they must literally get past the very dated special effects: after which, THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT becomes an involving road film as Michael Paré, as a stranger in a strange land along with fellow shipmate Bobby Di Cicco, aren’t sure what sent them through that lightning-driven portal into this very different era: jet fighter planes roar across the sky, people have multicolored Mohawks, men dress like women, and a former actor has become president.<br /> <br /> Nancy Allen serves a double-shift as the potential love interest and the only person willing to partially trust Paré in this unbelievable predicament, driving him from point A to B with the military on their trail.<br /> <br /> The desert highway chases, as the protagonists begin figuring out what caused the time shift – having to do with a top secret Naval experiment to deflect vessels from radar – are filmed well, and Paré and Allen have that essential chemistry reminiscent of golden age melodramas. But there should have been more of the fast-paced adventure by the pawns and less exposition by the players: trying to move the pieces around a maze that, even after the resolution, still doesn't quite make sense.

action, espionage, john carpenter, michael paré, nancy allen, science-fiction

THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT

1984 rating: **1/2 When two naval officers are thrust from the 1940's into the 1980's, they must literally get past the very dat...

IT'S COMPLICATED

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSgXTn8J_dz3A43nKdftgqKgvAMZz0t31Odxe1fc8X4DMNN3GW0gTm43TkWEhGb6okOEcrzSPFbVwFaiKWBoIrm3mKxBF1VaavzRNRJYXEg2bUjOeIN3j8XSMuH0WUasZ1Ovs_Fv61Gsx/s1600/Its-Complicated-Meryl-Streep-Alec-Baldwin-Steve-Martin-51_mid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSgXTn8J_dz3A43nKdftgqKgvAMZz0t31Odxe1fc8X4DMNN3GW0gTm43TkWEhGb6okOEcrzSPFbVwFaiKWBoIrm3mKxBF1VaavzRNRJYXEg2bUjOeIN3j8XSMuH0WUasZ1Ovs_Fv61Gsx/s320/Its-Complicated-Meryl-Streep-Alec-Baldwin-Steve-Martin-51_mid.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>title: </b>IT'S COMPLICATED<br /> <b>year: </b>2009<br /> <b>cast: </b>Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin<br /> <b>rating: </b>**1/2 <br /> <br /> There's something very comfortable about IT'S COMPLICATED. The usually serious, multi-Oscar nominated Meryl Streep doesn't dumb-down for comedy. Playing a divorced woman whose spark rekindles for her former husband (married to a beautiful young woman), she plays the role with natural ease. But Alec Baldwin, as the cheating ex who gets more and more invigorated by his former wife through random sleepovers, turns in a somewhat phoned-in performance, sounding like a smooth-talking disc jockey on a late night jazz station. On the peripheral, Steve Martin's nice guy architect character, designing an add-on to Streep's plush home and becoming a potential significant other, doesn't have enough screen time, or motivation therein, to add a needed baseline to the not-so-complicated proceedings: making Streep and Baldwin's sneaky trysts seem like excuses for the duo to keep repeating the same lines: "I can't believe we're doing this" or "Why is this happening?" And during the third act, when Baldwin gets a little too unbelievably clingy... And Streep and Martin spoke marijuana (the always dependable icebreaker device from the 1980s)... the plot derails. But it's Streep alone, holding all the cards throughout, that makes this romantic comedy worthwhile.

alec baldwin, comedy, meryl streep, steve martin, zeroes

IT'S COMPLICATED

title: IT'S COMPLICATED year: 2009 cast: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin rating: **1/2 There's something very comforta...

THE BODYGUARD

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvwW1KLr7O79pcEmSnWtDUl6p2nT2lQj6le2XOPjQQOqftXiAtadaHLfV37un1Mpj-B7Sc88oTPwysSdHRXhpMUdMTv9-rtkD2mcHfrgJpbmYHnrH8HmgPJuKRaOYfRCTYnI2IlCtjHNH/s1600/houston1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvwW1KLr7O79pcEmSnWtDUl6p2nT2lQj6le2XOPjQQOqftXiAtadaHLfV37un1Mpj-B7Sc88oTPwysSdHRXhpMUdMTv9-rtkD2mcHfrgJpbmYHnrH8HmgPJuKRaOYfRCTYnI2IlCtjHNH/s400/houston1.jpg" width="385" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1992</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>title:</b> THE BODYGUARD<br /> <b>cast: </b>Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston<br /> <b>rating:</b> **1/2<br /> <br /> In a role that Steve McQueen (with then wife Ali McGraw) was planning to star, Kevin Costner, down to the skin-diver haircut and brooding scowl, channels the icon to the best of his abilities, playing the best bodyguard the world has to offer: hired to protect a primadonna pop diva played by Whitney Houston. The real life singer does a good job acting, though it’s mostly reactions to Costner’s cold indifference, which he pulls of nicely through the first half as their personalities clash: she’s unaware of the danger lurking while he constantly leaps at shadows. But during a pivotal scene at one of her appearances, his paranoia is substantiated and, realizes his job is essential, and her life’s in jeopardy, she melts – a bit too quickly – to his frosty anticharm. The suspense takes hiatus after the leads have a successful first date, resulting in a moonlight sexcapade that puts his job (and the character's maverick persona) at risk. Here’s where the film too hits a wall, sustaining through an overlong segment in a snowy hideaway, an attempt to escape from the killer – who’s close enough to keep a residual of suspenseful mystery building throughout. All leading to an Oscar ceremony where one must sustain disbelief – especially with Robert Wuhl being the host – as the identity of the real killer winds up more predictable than the person who hired him. But for the late Whitney Houston (who died last week), this is a steamy thriller worth watching: she looks beautiful, she sings beautifully, and has good chemistry with her leading man, but mostly when they don’t get along. [And see tons of <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whitney-Houston-The-Bodyguard/187203224719060?sk=wall">Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard photos here.</a>]

kevin costner, nineties, suspense, thriller, whitney houston

THE BODYGUARD

year: 1992 title: THE BODYGUARD cast: Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston rating: **1/2 In a role that Steve McQueen (with then wife Al...

THE VOW

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0AfUQ07QHJD1KZ8Ks4fUJaKmidIBD48Yh5rhXE8ekqPl9DYf3DkN0RmL_prZOBZCM27pFcuDHLhqm_LmoNTakzj_LBtPq_hcdUeql-jEddZTxZdPbtUgDTWnxOTaeqYd9KZ6D2H2B9Fr/s1600/channing-tatum-and-rachel-mcadams-the-vow-638e8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0AfUQ07QHJD1KZ8Ks4fUJaKmidIBD48Yh5rhXE8ekqPl9DYf3DkN0RmL_prZOBZCM27pFcuDHLhqm_LmoNTakzj_LBtPq_hcdUeql-jEddZTxZdPbtUgDTWnxOTaeqYd9KZ6D2H2B9Fr/s1600/channing-tatum-and-rachel-mcadams-the-vow-638e8.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soap Opera on the Big Screen</td></tr> </tbody></table> title: THE VOW<br /> year: 2012<br /> cast: Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum<br /> rating: **<br /> <br /> The worst thing is having to sit through the actual vow, a sappy diatribe of overwhelming Hallmark drivel during a quickie wedding ceremony, three entire times: once before Rachel McAdams, playing the perfect girl, loses her memory from a car accident; once after; and the last time right as she’s discovering that perhaps… well that’s cutting to the chase in a story that doesn’t have much of a chase at all – even though the perfect guy, Channing Tatum, having lost his wife to amnesia – the hackneyed device used in every soap opera invented – has to woe her back into his current, and her former, life. McAdams only remembers the stuff before the relationship, shown during a ten minute “flashback” of boy meeting girl and never lacking a single moment of perpetual bliss i.e. the Greatest Hits of unrealistic romance. Jessica Lange and Sam Neill, as the rich parents who don’t understand Tatum’s “lowly” lifestyle as a dreaming recording studio owner... or their daughter's choice to sculpt over law school... add as little to the storyline – which nearly tenses up once she rekindles the spark with a snarky ex fiancé. But this, like everything else, thanks to a dull script and wooden performances (especially Tatum, whose expression never changes), amounts to very little in a flick that even chicks might forget once the end credits roll.

2012, channing tatum, chick flick, rachel mcadams, romance

THE VOW

Soap Opera on the Big Screen title: THE VOW year: 2012 cast: Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum rating: ** The worst thing is having to...

DAVID CRONENBERG'S A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhai-cA7a0awHq3Vz8eReFzHkkchct2xIAwS418sldYVZ6cA6zHe2jumUyjz82INwJmKcOR0tPTMBMcKPmtVfd1RUFB2YEgLnSOYLuyMH0EVascXLkaqOfKLFWG8tK5wJ_RVw7MP65mlFyS/s1600/HISTORY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhai-cA7a0awHq3Vz8eReFzHkkchct2xIAwS418sldYVZ6cA6zHe2jumUyjz82INwJmKcOR0tPTMBMcKPmtVfd1RUFB2YEgLnSOYLuyMH0EVascXLkaqOfKLFWG8tK5wJ_RVw7MP65mlFyS/s320/HISTORY.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2005 Score: *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Prepare to get serious, very, very serious. Viggo Mortensen plays an average guy with an average family... Well they’re fantastic looking but nothing's extraordinary about their personal lives: residing in a small town dream house and running a local cafe, life’s as easy as it’s simple. Until two vicious thugs rob the place and Viggo displays too much tactical know-how in taking them out single handed, becoming a media hero and bringing attention to… well there’s the plot of this searing, melodramatic tale of a man who might not be what he appears.<br /> <br /> Maria Bello, as his beautiful wife, remains in a blissful, dazed denial about her husband’s true identity, until bigger fish Ed Harris and his formidable goons move in to take Viggo out since he was once, in their opinion, a successful hit man. After all, how could an average Joe be that good with a gun? While EASTERN PROMISES director David Cronenberg sets a nice platform of slowburn suspense, reminiscent of exterior, woodsy Film Noirs like HIGH SIERRA, the good stuff i.e. our hero becoming an antihero takes too long to get happen and once it does… with the 11th hour introduction of a mob boss played by a completely miscast William Hurt… it’s too little, too late. <br /> <br /> Although Viggo Mortensen, displaying an old school tough guy countenance (think early 70's Charles Bronson) does play the part well – there’s simply not enough for his true self to fight for, or against. Based on a graphic novel, this needed to be more... enjoyably violent. But the main problem is the script, so full of ponderous cliches and drawn-out, uninteresting bouts of dialog with brooding characters talking and talking about things almost happening, or just about to happen, yet nothing really ever does.

david cronenberg, ed harris, maria bello, neo noir, suspense, viggo mortensen, zeroes

DAVID CRONENBERG'S A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

year: 2005 Score: *1/2 Prepare to get serious, very, very serious. Viggo Mortensen plays an average guy with an average family... Well t...

RICH MAN, POOR MAN: THE COMPLETE MINISERIES

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKzK4GX0kS8eHYlLBo-ZwOePESB-SVsq7awZqyoOeVRg1yUanjfjfL0G70VmBt6gEewIsljppFf8bCdXyxYBy8t79KTbZVcG1cW8kyGlmFFXTDOvtZG4IfrPDbPnf3AELckvFCH7esJux/s1600/rmpm.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKzK4GX0kS8eHYlLBo-ZwOePESB-SVsq7awZqyoOeVRg1yUanjfjfL0G70VmBt6gEewIsljppFf8bCdXyxYBy8t79KTbZVcG1cW8kyGlmFFXTDOvtZG4IfrPDbPnf3AELckvFCH7esJux/s1600/rmpm.JPG" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>William Smith is the ultimate heavy</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>Rich Man, Poor Man<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">years:</span> 1976/1978<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Peter Strauss, Nick Nolte, William Smith <br /> <b>book I:<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></b>**** <b>book II:</b> ***1/2<br /> <br /> The first couple hours are somewhat corny. Peter Strauss and Nick Nolte, both in their thirties, portraying teenagers... just doesn't work. Either does a hammy Ed Asner as their tough German father, a poor baker that only likes capable Strauss, a climber who eventually makes it big while Nolte, burning bridges at every turn, is a low-rent boxer and eventually captains a small yacht in France: this playing out while the brothers, older and terrifically acting their age, live separate lives that eventually connect. In-between, ingenue Susan Blakely, as Strauss's girl, puts in the most genuine performance, seeming just a real at a young or her real age and playing a progressive woman without it seeming forced, contrived. And after a tragedy ends BOOK I, the tale continues as Nolte's troubled but kind-hearted son, Gregg Henry, and Strauss's stepson, a conniving con-man played by James Carol Jordan, become co-leads under Peter Strauss. Other new characters come and go, adding to the gloriously addictive nighttime soap proceedings; not as much a prolonged movie like the original, but somehow, it's just as intriguing. And William Smith as the vile thug "Falconetti," makes (in both parts) for an intoxicating heavy, outshining Peter Haskell as the political-manipulating billionaire that Strauss, while seeking true love and keeping his family in line, must eventually destroy.

adaptation, drama, gregg henry, kay lenz, melodrama, miniseries, nick nolte, penny peyser, peter strauss, robert reed, romance, tv movie, william smith

RICH MAN, POOR MAN: THE COMPLETE MINISERIES

William Smith is the ultimate heavy title: Rich Man, Poor Man years: 1976/1978 cast: Peter Strauss, Nick Nolte, William Smith book I...

A DANGEROUS METHOD

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClvDPcIHJnwF4M4XHS3QzQH00xkCb8I5Cvw5POQcWvm56-POUphZu_vJEiP_KPfe6RSvekyiErm47GBJqVHn63N_PzJe6Ahc37Pp3RGbyR5z8oNMNW0L6P2Jt5A2bV_YIHrUyQL_YdXrT/s1600/method.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClvDPcIHJnwF4M4XHS3QzQH00xkCb8I5Cvw5POQcWvm56-POUphZu_vJEiP_KPfe6RSvekyiErm47GBJqVHn63N_PzJe6Ahc37Pp3RGbyR5z8oNMNW0L6P2Jt5A2bV_YIHrUyQL_YdXrT/s320/method.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>title</b>: A DANGEROUS METHOD<br /> <b>year:</b> 2011<br /> <b>cast:</b> Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen<br /> <b>rating:</b> **1/2<br /> <br /> The analysis for this biopic directed by David Cronenberg is that Carl Jung, played by a metronomic Michael Fassbender, and Viggo Mortensen’s quietly concentrating Sigmund Freud, didn’t agree on everything. The film begins in turn of the Century England as Jung, a psychoanalyst with a beautiful pregnant wife, takes on a new patient: a savagely unglued Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein, a gorgeous Russian woman whose spasmodic tantrums seem more parody than authentic. But Fassbender, remaining calm throughout the tensely nerve-wracking scenes, moves the story forward as he, practicing mentor Sigmund Freud’s methods of psychotherapy, wants to take things a step further – instead of simply diagnosing patients, to provide them a means of recovery. This gives Viggo a genuine, subtle performance, mentoring Jung who's drifting towards a surreptitious affair with Spielrein. Enter Vincent Cassel as Otto Gross, a philandering maverick that Jung’s supposed to treat but who, with a devilish gleam, steers the conservative doctor into the affair that eventually ruins Freud and Jung’s friendship; which had been established through breezy bouts of dialog, each discussing their methods that, despite the title and the usually controversial director, never feels that dangerous. And despite the risque sexual romps with Knightly and Fassbender, the film lacks edge and particular scenes, like both doctors traveling to America, wind up feeling incomplete – yet the acting, reminiscent of a royal stage play, makes up for what the story leaves out… But perhaps it’s the subconscious we’re intended to embrace.

biopic, courtroom drama, david cronenberg, michael fassbender, period piece, viggo mortensen

A DANGEROUS METHOD

title : A DANGEROUS METHOD year: 2011 cast: Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen rating: **1/2 The analysis for this biopic directed ...

CHRONICLE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUwDLL-9r0myB7r3T6Wslh0M-3uAq9vjKA5cwKrVYjglifXtInM3pDL8XeTalsHhIyRzh-FU_Qoh8o3SxJMXjBEtZtjs4lRY_5jitCXo8kHiFILGb6DUBQK-Es7gym3LXLb1BZ_GmW3jG/s1600/Chronicle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUwDLL-9r0myB7r3T6Wslh0M-3uAq9vjKA5cwKrVYjglifXtInM3pDL8XeTalsHhIyRzh-FU_Qoh8o3SxJMXjBEtZtjs4lRY_5jitCXo8kHiFILGb6DUBQK-Es7gym3LXLb1BZ_GmW3jG/s320/Chronicle.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2012<b> rating:</b> **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Three teenage boys, after discovering a mysterious hole in the ground, acquire telekinetic powers. The main character, Andrew, the nerdiest of the group with a dying mother and abusive dad, is determined – even before the transformation – to film everything on his home video camera.<br /> <br /> The best scenes involve the trio first discovering their skills by lifting smaller objects around, performing miraculous tricks at the school’s talent show, and eventually maneuvering vehicles: think if Sissy Spacek’s CARRIE directed JACKASS.<br /> <br /> The reactions of the wizardly teens, playing God with the unaware dolts around them, is infectious – you’ll wonder what they’ll think of next. But when things kick up a few notches, and they begin flying around like teenage superheroes, it resembles a computerized mainstream motion picture, losing the spontaneous edge of the “chronicling camera” device. Here's where the characters get lost in the mix: especially after Andrew becomes a formidable villain that can’t be stopped, resulting in an air battle you’d see in a video game. But as entertainment goes, this <i>does </i>entertain. It’s too bad the film – like the characters therein – eventually takes its powers, and itself, way too far and far too seriously.

2012, action, max landis, teen

CHRONICLE

year: 2012  rating: **1/2 Three teenage boys, after discovering a mysterious hole in the ground, acquire telekinetic powers. The main ...

HAMMER PRESENTS THE WOMAN IN BLACK

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNeY1kjEmhQ4i30rPgMg-CviHpgt7Wn7k4oOGxlJZzmAXgHXob6y-3AIrwnnVVVQpgcFyA0TR5ixzDYURtamcjczTeRgGlp6zwjIE5UJLwg172U1TLUywtxwpVIeHh-0FX8AeswqnKVo2a/s1600/TheWomaninBlack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNeY1kjEmhQ4i30rPgMg-CviHpgt7Wn7k4oOGxlJZzmAXgHXob6y-3AIrwnnVVVQpgcFyA0TR5ixzDYURtamcjczTeRgGlp6zwjIE5UJLwg172U1TLUywtxwpVIeHh-0FX8AeswqnKVo2a/s1600/TheWomaninBlack.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2012<b> </b><b>rating:</b> *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> In the spirit of the HAMMER FILMS of yesteryear, here's an old-school horror with a familiar premise: a handsome young lawyer's sent to a dark town that harbors secrets and winds up being stalked by an ominous presence.<br /> <br /> Using the implied method of building suspense, and never clearly showing the antagonist, does have its merits: except when there's more work than payoff. Daniel Radcliffe embodies the right amount of clean-slate expressions for the gloomy pawn, narrowly searching through the main setting – a haunted house where the ghost of a shrouded woman resides.<br /> <br /> Save for loud music erupting whenever the titular wraith peaks her head around a corner, or sulks through the mist-laden exterior, Radcliffe's <i>determined curiosity</i>... the basis of any horror tale... seems in vain. And by the time he attempts resolution for the menacing ghost, learning the motivations of her vengeful purpose to remain an active trickster in the doomed town, the audience is hoping for all those cheap, fun, and most important,<i> scary</i> thrills that are never quite realized.

2012, daniel radcliffe, horror, new hammer films

HAMMER PRESENTS THE WOMAN IN BLACK

year: 2012 rating: *1/2 In the spirit of the HAMMER FILMS of yesteryear, here's an old-school horror with a familiar premise: a h...

EASTERN PROMISES

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51S4e3sDCDtGuoolZr6EG5Htoml8OphoK4wUXLWSUoJ4NiansOtFYvuQXeLkkV2g0Ni480vSQxyOPJ-xx00QJAUxwnAwA8rtHREKNUN64MRP3aimVPBFLY9oB02huzY1JuBiHOz6LmD7I/s1600/VIGGO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51S4e3sDCDtGuoolZr6EG5Htoml8OphoK4wUXLWSUoJ4NiansOtFYvuQXeLkkV2g0Ni480vSQxyOPJ-xx00QJAUxwnAwA8rtHREKNUN64MRP3aimVPBFLY9oB02huzY1JuBiHOz6LmD7I/s1600/VIGGO.jpg" /></a></div> <b>title:</b> EASTERN PROMISES<br /> <b>year:</b> 2007<br /> <b>cast:</b> Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent Cassel <br /> <b>rating:</b> ****<br /> <br /> In David Cronenberg’s riveting mob exploitation, a dead young girl’s diary provides a posthumous narration while Naomi Watts, as the emergency room nurse who delivers her baby, seeks answers at a restaurant where the girl had worked – but there’s so much she doesn’t know: the owner is a dangerous Russian mobster who wants the diary since it provides information about his only son, a brash, unpredictable firebrand played with a sinister childlike edge by Vincent Cassel. His only friend is the family’s driver/hitman Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai – a Siberian thug  sent to recover the diary and who’d already “cleaned-up” the remains of a spontaneous hit that ignites the movie with the kind of (somewhat gratuitous) ultraviolence occurring throughout, reminiscent of the horror genre where Cronenberg made his ground. But as the director of a suspenseful mob film, and using only a few dark lit locations – each bathed in a stark, Noir inspired visage – he makes each moment seem as if anything can happen at any time. There are a good number of important twists that would be a crime to mention, but what really matters is the dark-edged, underplayed performance of Mortensen – who this reviewer’s been a fan of since his irascibly savage turn in 1991’s THE INDIAN RUNNER. Not since Sally Kirkland's ANNA has an American pulled off an East European accent so well, you don’t even think about it. Armin Mueller-Stahl, as the aged mob boss hiding his own secret, embodies the subtle pride of his Russian lineage with a lethally formidable countenance growing darker as Watts, wonderfully mixing a lithe vulnerability with a spirited strength, gets deeper into a world that she, and perhaps even Nikolai, doesn’t belong.

david cronenberg, mob, naomi watts, neo noir, suspense, viggo mortensen, zeroes

EASTERN PROMISES

title: EASTERN PROMISES year: 2007 cast: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent Cassel rating: **** In David ...

CLIFFHANGER

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ogBQar7r42Va4rd5t-L-86C8yZwCeJnAJiYz0iobMLyQVboNk7bx3dEb_yf7V0xNesQhX7BzoinbkP258KJ9i-j-v010BMzG8oDPqhjQBx8De3wu6vTVmG3yFAQl3bT3yChXd_6pM0Zt/s1600/cliffhanger-rope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ogBQar7r42Va4rd5t-L-86C8yZwCeJnAJiYz0iobMLyQVboNk7bx3dEb_yf7V0xNesQhX7BzoinbkP258KJ9i-j-v010BMzG8oDPqhjQBx8De3wu6vTVmG3yFAQl3bT3yChXd_6pM0Zt/s1600/cliffhanger-rope.jpg" /></a></div> <b>title:</b> CLIFFHANGER<br /> <b>year: </b>1993<br /> <b>cast: </b>Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Janine Turner<br /> <b>rating: </b>***1/2<br /> <br /> The opening scene, as intrepid rescue worker Sylvester Stallone attempts saving a woman hanging onto a cable connected from a really high mountaintop to a helicopter, sets a nice stage to one of the better (or perhaps the only decent) Sly action flicks during the 1990s. Cut to a group of T-MEN embarking on a plane trip to move three suitcases of money, and wouldn’t you know: they just happen to crash on the same mountain where Stallone had worked before quitting and, eight months later, returning for his woman, who's content with the same job as a rescuer who, along with Michael Rooker, Ralph Waite and a reluctant Stallone, is thrust into “saving” the plane-wrecked villains led by a really nasty John Lithgow, wanting that cash residing in various locations throughout the storm-ridden mountaintops. And it’s up to Stallone and Rooker to recover it, or else. Stallone makes for a worthy action hero, which is no surprise, but since you can tell he’s doing most of his own stunts in genuinely dangerous settings, his physicality, along with Renny Harlin’s weaving camera, makes for a star-director collaboration that, although loaded with corny dialog, is a fun ride. With every scene there’s another goon to thwart (including Rex Linn in a great performance) and a new peak to climb. Janine Turner is more than eye-candy as Stallone’s independently daring girlfriend, while John Lithgow not only chews the scenery but blows bubbles with it. And that's okay – because even the silly stuff works.

action, janine turner, john lithgow, michael rooker, nineties, renny harlin, sylvester stallone

CLIFFHANGER

title: CLIFFHANGER year: 1993 cast: Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Janine Turner rating: ***1/2 The opening scene, as intrepid re...

DOUBLE IMPACT

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaq9OVR2ZH6Sh4qeHoeiIj8PqWf_I6E4aCvK3aEYER5JMO5K544gvfF6eP6rflQpOgdWr72YzIhc4DZIwcWEik99exmr0u7x0P3sj8EudKwLliEu807ErdTkD2fj0jcv6oUQkw9ALeL-0/s1600/vandammes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaq9OVR2ZH6Sh4qeHoeiIj8PqWf_I6E4aCvK3aEYER5JMO5K544gvfF6eP6rflQpOgdWr72YzIhc4DZIwcWEik99exmr0u7x0P3sj8EudKwLliEu807ErdTkD2fj0jcv6oUQkw9ALeL-0/s1600/vandammes.jpg" /></a></div><b>title:</b> DOUBLE IMPACT<br /> <b>year: </b>1991<br /> <b>cast:</b> Jean-Claude Van Damme, Geoffrey Lewis<br /> <b>rating:</b> ***<br /> <br /> If one Jean-Claude Van Damme was never enough, here's the movie for you: a decent action flick beginning with two infants separated during a bloody shootout in Hong Kong… Their father did a favor for a mobster who didn’t need his services any longer. Thanks to Geoffrey Lewis as a bodyguard turned uncle, one of the brothers, who winds up a pretty boy karate instructor to rich, horny women in Los Angeles, is saved. But he’s drawn back to cutthroat Hong Kong where he meets his shady twin, an arms dealer who couldn’t be more different. Together, along with Geoffrey Lewis and of course a beautiful love interest, they take on the mob boss who killed their parents, and even with two Dammes, it won’t be easy. The best scenes involve the milquetoast brother getting tougher through various fights, especially with the iconic ENTER THE DRAGON badass Bolo Yeung (fitfully scarred-up from the opening scene, making him even more intimidating). But the crooked brother, who had so much promise as a rogue maverick in the beginning, becomes but a jealous whiner as his put-upon lady starts preferring Abel to Cain. It’s a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and there’s an abundance of insert/close-ups that lead one to believe the budget wasn’t too high. But the characters are interesting enough to care about and it’s the fights that matter, occurring enough to appease hardcore karate buffs.

action, bolo yeung, geoffrey lewis, jean-claude van damme, karate, nineties

DOUBLE IMPACT

title: DOUBLE IMPACT year: 1991 cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Geoffrey Lewis rating: *** If one Jean-Claude Van Damme was never enoug...