As a director, Michael Bay is a madman; he creates movies on speed. They never lack for over-the-top action, but they almost always lack a beating heart. Case in point: this one. It’s about fourteen […]
Tag: movie review
review – begin again
John Carney doesn’t just make movies where music is part of the story. He makes movies where you need to pay as much attention to the lyrics as you do to the dialog because the […]
review – edge of tomorrow
Here’s what’s surprising about this movie: it’s kind of fun in a goofy, self-deprecating way. Emily Blunt is all wide-eyed, incredulous and confident and she makes Tom Cruise more likeable and human; together they make […]
review – the fault in our stars
Let’s take a two-hour break from “the summer of sameness.” Let’s forget about reptilian behemoths, arachnid-bitten web-slingers, and razor-clawed time-travelers making the world safe for computer effects. Let’s spend time with people we care about, […]
review – maleficent
In tone and mood, this is closer to “Pan’s Labyrinth” than to “Peter Pan,” closer to the fairy tales as originally told by The Brothers Grimm than to the lighter Disney versions. Consider this “Sleeping […]
review – million dollar arm
This movie has “my kind of movie” written all over it. It was directed by Craig Gillespie who directed one of my favorite movies in recent times, “Lars and the Real Girl.” It was written […]
review – a million ways to die in the west
Hidden inside a slightly-stoned bear, Seth MacFarlane is a very funny guy. But on a big stage as himself (The Academy Awards) or on a big screen as a cowardly cowboy (this movie), he’s not […]
review – the other woman
Nick Cassavetes is back, but you can put away the Kleenex. After flushing your tear-ducts in “The Notebook” and forcing you to face heart-wrenching decisions in “My Sister’s Keeper,” Cassavetes has directed a comedy. There’s […]
review – fading gigolo
This movie is a combination of three stories – one preposterous, one scary, one completely unnecessary. First, the preposterous: characters played by Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara have to pay for sex with a character […]
review – transcendence
This may be a clear idea told in the most confusing way possible. Or it may be a muddled idea told in a way that exposes its lack of clarity. Or it may be an […]
review – the railway man
This is a war movie and so there are moments in here as inhumanely cruel as any you’ve ever seen; but Nicole Kidman is also in here and she transforms this movie from just being […]
review – noah
Yes, the story told on the screen strays from the story told in the Bible, but it’s those differences that help make this movie more human, more entertaining, and more emotionally involving. Most children know […]
review – divergent
This movie, like the book on which it’s based, understands its young audience very well. It’s all about what they’re going through — trying to figure out where they fit in, having to take tests […]
review – non-stop
Buckle in for a bumpy flight; Liam Neeson has delivered another tight and taut little thriller. At this time of year, the A-list star turns himself into a haunted and hulking B-movie brawler. And turns […]
review – in secret
Before seeing this, I would have told you that Elizabeth Olsen was never in a movie I didn’t enjoy. I would have said that she had never played a character I didn’t believe. But, now […]
review – winter’s tale
This is a tale of the enduring power of love, of a white winged horse, and of a little red-haired girl. In a month when romantic movies are often trite, trivial and predictable, this one […]
review – the lego movie
Have ever seen a really elaborate, professionally set-up dominoes game? You touch one domino and it sets everything in motion – down ridges, around corners, up hills, in multiple streams, with so much happening simultaneously […]
review – whiplash
Like the best independent movies, this one uses a small, tight story about music to tell a universal story about life. On one level, it’s the story of a first year student – a drummer […]
review – jack ryan: shadow recruit
I’ve never been a fan of the late Tom Clancy’s long, involved, sometimes convoluted Cold War thrillers, but somehow his character Jack Ryan has survived thirty years and four major actors (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, […]
review – august osage county
In some ways, this may be the “feel good” movie of the year because, no matter how dysfunctional your family is, this movie will make you feel good that yours is far less vitriolic and […]
review – the wolf of wall street
This is a three-hour movie. Any movie that needs three hours to tell its story – and intends to tell it in an interesting way — needs to have a lot of either “spectacle” or […]
Review – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Ben Stiller missed the point. Walter Mitty is a meek and mild-mannered person who has heroic daydreams. He doesn’t actually go on those adventures; he just imagines them. Being “a Walter Mitty” means you’re a […]
review – lone survivor
Let’s have a little quiz to get this party started. First question: Four Navy SEALs (Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch) start out on a mission in Afghanistan. How many return? (Hint: see […]
review – saving mr. banks
If you were to ask those who know movies to make a list of the most enjoyable musical films, with the most loved songs, ever, “Mary Poppins” — with music and lyrics by Richard and […]
review – american hustle
What we have here are two small-time dreamers trying to reinvent themselves. Because everybody hustles. She’s Sydney Prosser (Adams) from New Mexico; he’s Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) from the Bronx; they meet at a pool party, […]
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 