We learn many things in M. Night Shyamalan’s GLASS. We learn that the Philadelphia police department has an abysmal response time. We learn that a fully staffed psychiatric hospital has only two orderlies its employ. And we learn that James McAvoy still cries more manfully than any other actor working today. Possibly ever. He is… Read More »
SURROGATES
Ever since 18th century philosopher/ mathematician Rene Descartes first dreamed up the image of the ghost in the machine to explain the relationship of mind to body, the image has held potent sway with popular imagination. The concept itself, where the body ends and the person begins, is a question that many philosophers have addressed,… Read More »
COP OUT
COP OUT is such a mess that picking out any single element for richly deserved damnation is to lessen the awful impact of a whole that is so much more than the sum of its parts. Badly written, uncertainly directed, and acted by his two stars, Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis, as though they had… Read More »
RED
Theres no doubt that RED is fun. The problem is that it should have been much more fun. A romp with a band of aging black ops agents who whoop the collectives tushys of the kiddies who inherited the CIA and other assorted agencies is a potent boomers daydream. Certainly the premise, a scintillating mix… Read More »
THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY
There is one overwhelming question about THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY. Why isn’t this a better flick? It certainly has all the right elements. The cast, led by Henry Cavill and Sigourney Weaver, are solidly committed. The story is the kind that Hitchcock loved. An innocent man plunged into a life-and-death situation not of his… Read More »
MOONRISE KINGDOM
MOONRISE KINGDOM is a piquant masterpiece that will be as fresh and as relevant 50 years from now as it is today. The ironic tone and the artificial conceit form a wry tension with the genuine sentiment at work here, forming a quintessence that parses the mystery and absurdity of the human condition with a… Read More »
A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD
It is the way of franchises. They begin with breathless delight and end with a wheezing sigh. And so it is with the Die Hard series. Bruce Willis, whose name was not above the title in the first installment, was a quipping wonder as police detective John McClane, a man out to save his marriage… Read More »
RED 2
RED was a delightful romp wherein seasoned and deadly retired secret agents of several stripes taught a callow world the advantages of age and experience. In RED 2, the world has learned its lesson, and so, while the characters are still delightful, they really have nowhere to go that isnt a re-hash of every spy… Read More »
TEARS OF THE SUN
TEARS OF THE SUN is a turgid exposition on the evils of ethnic cleansing, guerilla warfare, and casting Bruce Willis in an action flick. It is overwrought, underwritten and with glacial pace that makes for a piquant juxtaposition to its tropical Nigerian location. Once again Willis impresses mightily with his ability to be in virtually… Read More »
THE WHOLE TEN YARDS
Somehow encouraged by the distinctly lukewarm response to THE WHOLE NINE YARDS, Bruce Willis and company have decided to gift us with a sequel, THE WHOLE TEN YARDS. It is a dreadful morass, which may be the result of either hubris, or the need to produce a sure-fire money loser in order to create a… Read More »