The Oscar nominated cast and director of Warner’s latest vigilante pic suggest that the predictably graphic violence contained within is somehow an artistic necessity. I’d buy into the storyline if it wasn’t one that gets […]
Category: In Theaters
review – ‘enough said’
This is an old-fashioned love story for grown-ups. It’s a story about second chances jeopardized by second guesses, about ordinary days changed by an extraordinary coincidence, about two people who were not attracted to each […]
Salinger Doc Opens Strong Limited
The Weinstein Company opened ‘Salinger’ (dir. Shane Solerno) in a couple of markets after a strong premiere at the Telluride Film Festival. It will be interesting to see what kind of legs the doc can […]
‘Riddick’ Debut Continues Diesel’s Win Streak
Modern day Sylvester Stallone style mush mouth actor Vin Diesel continues his box office win streak with a decent debut for ‘Riddick’ at just shy of $19 million. The previous installment saw a large box […]
review – ‘closed circuit’
Red herrings are one thing. But this murder mystery seems filled with partially fileted fish of all kinds in the hands of a chef who can’t decide on a recipe. This is a dark and […]
review – ‘the butler’
This is a kind of ‘Forrest Gump’ with a focus on the Civil Rights Movement. It’s the story of segregation slowly, if incompletely, becoming integration – told through the story of one remarkable man – […]
Wolverine Disappoints In US, Told You So…Sort Of
Last week, we opined that ‘Wolverine’ would open much lower than expectations, predicting a $45 million dollar nod, while the larger industry predicted in the $65-$75 million range. Turns out the Hugh Jackman led film […]
reveiw – ‘grown ups 2’
Picture this: it’s a summer morning back in the days of your youth, nothing much going on, nothing planned. One by one, your friends – they all live in the neighborhood, as they did back […]
review – ‘deliver us from evil’
Somehow, these exorcism flicks still manage to get produced. I’m only surprised because of the lack of potential variety in the premise. Since “The Exorcist”, we’ve seen quite a lot of exorcisms in cinema. I’ve […]
‘The Heat’ Notches Another Solid Box Office Showing For McCarthy
It seems Ms. McCarthy has a knack for making pictures people actually want to watch. This is rather unlike the latest big budget bomb in ‘White House Down’, which was squarely trounced by ‘The Heat’, […]
Bruckheimer’s Future in Question Over ‘Lone Ranger’? Hah!
Let’s just start this conversation with a big fat “gimme a break”. I’m pretty sure Mr. Bruckheimer isn’t cutting back on the grocery list and making sure to turn off the lights to save money. […]
review – ‘the way way back’
This movie will touch you, it will tickle you, it will make you smile and nod in knowing recognition because this is a movie that remembers what it was like to be fourteen years old […]
‘Lone Ranger’ Disappoints…Told Ya’ So.
Like I’ve been saying for ages, I think the mighty Lone Ranger will be a mighty disappointment. I actually started the bet at work which said that Tanto and company wouldn’t cross $150 mil in […]
review – ‘the lone ranger’
For seventy years, the Lone Ranger has been about “…a fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver…” Here, it’s about mugging for the camera, massive special […]
Monsters v. Zombies
This weekend’s box office numbers are showing Monster’s University to be outperforming Brad Pitt’s latest endeavor World War Z. It appears from the article at the LA Times that Mr. Pitt’s popularity with the ladies may […]
review – ‘man of steel’
The budget for this film was $225 million. I wonder if any of it was spent on the script? The trailers had convinced me it would be my favorite super-hero movie of the summer – […]
review – ‘this is the end’
I need to trust my intuition. I had seen the trailer for this movie several times and it always looked like a piece of mindless garbage, a bit of very low budget stream-of-consciousness acting by […]
review – ‘fast and furious 6’
If you’re not a ‘car guy’ – and I’m definitely not a ‘car guy’ – this is a really long and very repetitious movie. But it’s not a disappointing one because what you get is […]
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Underperforms At B.O.?
Weekend Box Office: ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Slightly Underperforms, ‘Iron Man 3’ Continues To Earn Big. I’m almost certain that the powers that be at the snow capped logo that is Paramount are all lambasting […]
review – ‘francis ha’
The whole movie is one long conversation between, about, among and around two best friends, Frances (Gerwig) and Sophie (Sumner) who are, in the words of Frances herself, “…like an old married couple. We talk […]
review – ‘star trek: into darkness’
JJ Abrams has made a terrific movie. Despite the fact that I’ve seen all the ‘Star Trek’ movies, but seem unable to remember the plots of any of them…I loved this one. Maybe it’s because, […]
review – ‘pain and gain’
In the Movie Bible according to Michael Bay, this movie’s director, the first – maybe only – commandment is this: Thou shalt do everything to excess or thou shalt not bother doing it at all. […]
review – ‘mud’
“Mud” is a tale of elemental things — falling in love, and putting your faith in others, and spending summer days with your best friend when you’re fourteen years old. It moves slowly, carefully, laying […]
review – ‘ginger and rosa’
“I don’t want to die,” Ginger (Elle Fanning) says at one point in this quietly-insightful film. “I want to grow up and do things.” What Fanning is “growing up” to do here is to deliver […]
review – ‘the call’
The sound you hear is my heart still pounding in my chest. This is what a tight script, taut direction, tension-building editing, and a two-thirds-terrific – and sometimes terrifying – movie looks like. There is […]
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 