ADMISSION is a thoughtful comedy being tragically hyped as a comedy of the screwball variety. Its a disservice to a story that is both funny and intelligent, as well as to a ticket-buyer led to believe that he or she will be enjoying something mindless and fluffy. This is anything but. The theme is passion,… Read More »
SPRING BREAKERS
What is most interesting about Harmony Korine’s SPRING BREAKERS is the way it turns its imagery on its head while revealing harsh truths about the hollowness of American pop culture. Though the camera revels in shots of decadent excess, it never quite reduces them to mere cheap exploitation. Instead, by the end of this anti-fairy… Read More »
EVIL DEAD
The original version of THE EVIL DEAD was such a perfect little horror film. Written and directed by Sam Raimi in 1981, it simultaneously sent up the conventions of horror films while also unleashing the sort of nightmares that originate in the id, and then become progressively more terrifying as they percolate up to consciousness.… Read More »
OBLIVION
OBLIVION is a slow-moving behemoth of a film that has been art-directed into a coma. Sure, its gorgeous to look at, but is just as sterile and cold as the retro-futuristic home its hero occupies. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, it retains the static quality of the paper-bound format. In keeping… Read More »
IRON MAN 3
The important thing to know about IRON MAN 3 is that after an iffy start, it zooms into the stratosphere as easily and as dynamically as Tony Stark himself does in the latest incarnations of his Iron Man suit. The past, however, haunts the present, with the trauma of wormholes and aliens vying with demons… Read More »
STAR TREK –INTO DARKNESS
The best speculative fiction is rooted firmly in reality. Though set in faraway lands, planets or time, it speaks, nonetheless, directly to the issues and emotions of its audience. Smart writers know that, and this is why the continuing re-boot of the Star Trek franchise is so wildly successful. Set in an alternate timeline from… Read More »
ICEMAN, THE
That THE ICEMAN is a film eminently worth seeing is a tribute to Michael Shannon. The true story of Richard Kuklinski, aka The Iceman, is a conventionally told tale of organized crime, but Shannon, as the cold-blooded hitman with a schizophrenic tenderness for his family is riveting. Through the film is a lesser light, as… Read More »
HANGOVER III, THE
In this age of sequels and sequels to sequels there has come to be a standard clause in many contracts. If a film is a hit, the principals involved are obligated to take part in further installments of the story. Hence THE HANGOVER II, which substituted high-stages tomfoolery for the endearing character-driven nonsense of the… Read More »
AFTER EARTH
AFTER EARTH is a solemn, self-congratulatory flick showing all the symptoms of a vanity piece run amok. Based on a story devised by star Will Smith as a vehicle to launch 14-year-old son Jaden as an action star, it shows little internal logic while never giving the audience a reason to care about anything that… Read More »
THE INTERNSHIP
Google is a company for which innovation and original thinking are integral. THE INTERNSHIP, set at Google, is the exact opposite. A good-natured enough flick, it is, nonetheless, obvious, predictable, and painfully low on actual laughs. That last wouldnt be such a problem if it werent putatively a comedy. It gets worse. Starring and co-written… Read More »
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