Inspired by true events, Bilal: A New Breed of Hero tells the story of a real hero who earned his place in history after liberating himself and inspiring others to do likewise. This Arabic animated feature is intoxicating and beautifully drawn. The animation is textured and multidimensional, almost reminiscent of cutting-edge video game graphics. There…
A B-actioner with grade-A action seems like a cinematic contradiction, but what better way to describe “John Wick” and its sparkling new sequel? The cheesy one-liners, stock villains, thin plot, and characters built entirely on an actor’s presence all put John Wick: Chapter 2 in B-ish territory (an easier place for shoot-em-up pics to find…
In the battle of the 2014 Hercules flicks, Brett Ratner’s sly little smash-em-up, Hercules clearly emerges the victor over Renny Harlin’s unintentionally hilarious blunder, “The Legend of Hercules” from earlier in the year. This should come as no surprise to anyone who’s so much as glimpsed a shot from the cheapo origin pic or even…
Feeling very much like a a mix of “Gladiator” and “Clash of the Titans,” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures presents the first full trailer for Hercules. In it Hercules (played by everyone’s favorite wrestler turned actor, Dwayne Johnson) just wants to be left alone and care for his family. Unfortunately for the man who just so…
Cuban Fury is, among other things, the result of a drunken email in which Nick Frost asked his producer if she thought a movie in which he dances would be a good idea. Evidently she did, and so the film came about. It prescribes very much to Nick Frost’s style of humor, but many are…
The newest “fairy tale epic” production, Jack the Giant Slayer, when compared to others of its genre, fits neatly beneath “The Brothers Grimm,” above “Snow White and the Huntsman (thanks to the presence of British actors and the absence of Kristin Stewart) and FAR above last month’s travesty, “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.” It is…
Dare I say another fairy tale revisioning is coming to theaters in 2013? Okay, I’ll say it (just don’t accost me for doing so). Loosely based off of Jack and the Beanstalk comes Jack the Giant Slayer. The Warner Bros. movie uses most of the elements of the fairy tale — giants and a beanstalk…
