GLADIATOR II has all the spectacle and pageantry (can you say cast of AI thousands?) of its predecessor, and certainly the same amount of gruesome deaths as only Ancient Rome could devise them, but it is a lesser thing story-wise. Not a bad film, but one that comes down firmly on the side of that… Read More »
HOUSE OF GUCCI
HOUSE OF GUCCI is a ramshackle accretion of muddled plots studded with oddly incoherent character development and performances that range from stock (Al Pacino) to enigmatic (Adam Driver). This overlong effort takes a tale of sex, money, and power among the super rich and renders it into a dull slog brightened only by Lady Gaga’s… Read More »
ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD
The rich, as the oft-quoted saw goes, are different. That is the central premise of ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, a cautionary tale of money and family. The moving force, though only a supporting player in the proceedings, J. Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer), who at one point reminisces about a book he wrote entitled… Read More »
ALIEN: COVENANT
ALIEN COVENANT is a mixed bag. As a horror movie, it is unimpeachable, adding an extra self-refractive layer of pleasure to an audience that knows exactly what is lurking there in the giant deserted spaceship that our intrepid space colonists discover. As a vehicle for advancing the meta-story of the Alien franchise, it is far… Read More »
THE MARTIAN
THE MARTIAN asks some tough metaphysical questions as it answers some thorny scientific problems with nifty solutions. What’s worth living for? What’s worth dying for? And why should giving up never be an option? The premise is daunting. Mark Watney (Matt Damon), ace botanist and member of the Ares 3 exploratory expedition to Mars in… Read More »
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS and Missing the Mark
Lovely to look at with some fine performances in a muddled execution.
BODY OF LIES
In BODY OF LIES Hollywood continues its attempt to examine the War on Terror while still making it palatable for a mass audience. It so very desperately wants to be this year’s SYRIANA, and for the first hour or so does a credible job of exploring the complexity of current events before succumbing to the… Read More »
ROBIN HOOD
Those hoping for a whiz-bang re-telling of the legend of merry men stealing from the rich and giving to the poor will be sorely disappointed with Ridley Scotts ROBIN HOOD. This is an origins tale, one that starts slowly and, despite anxious and insistent hand-held camera work to give the illusion of drama, never rises… Read More »
PROMETHEUS
Riddley Scott is one of the very few filmmakers are given the privilege of taking a second bite from the cinematic apple that was so good to them. Fewer still when the original franchise took such a nosedive as the sequels just kept coming. The franchise is Alien, and while PROMETHEUS does not want to… Read More »
COUNSELOR, THE
Once upon a time there was a delightful play that spawned an equally delightful movie, both called ROZENCRANTZ AND GUILDERSTERN ARE DEAD. In it, two minor characters from Hamlet are given center stage, with the arch comedy suitable to the comic relief from a towering tragedy, as well as unexpectedly profound observations about the meaning… Read More »