I have been a movie fan for most of my life and a film critic since 1986 (my first published review was for "Platoon"). Since that time I have written for several news and entertainment publications in California, Utah and Idaho. Big fan of the Academy Awards - but wish it would go back to the five-minute dinner it was in May, 1929. A former member of the San Diego Film Critics Society and current co-host of "The Movie Guys," each Sunday afternoon on KOGO AM 600 in San Diego with Kevin Finnerty.
Like the infamous Roach Motel, once you check into Hotel Transylvania 2, you don’t check out. At least your brain doesn’t check back in until the concluding credits roll after its 90ish minute running time. Getting back together with former SNL writer (and creator of the often-hilarious cartoon parodies, “TV Funhouse”) Robert Smigel, Adam Sandler…
Many critics are calling Everest absolutely beautiful, but without the human emotion necessary to make it a truly great adventure movie. I take some exception to that, though, as I saw much emotional impact, but with the actors wearing googles, oxygen masks and heavy clothing, it was often difficult to distinguish one from the other…
My friend once told me a story of how he was visiting Las Vegas in the mid-1990s. He said that the person he was with, John, introduced him to a rather sharply-dressed man who told him, “Whatever you want here, just ask for it,” and then walked away. John said, “Do you know who that…
In Listening, Caltech grad students David Thorogood (Thomas Stroppel, a series of short films and minor TV appearances) and a ridiculously bald Ryan Cates (Artie Ahr, “Immigrant”) have been developing a headgear device that facilitates mind-reading by stealing university equipment and hiding it inside David’s garage to conduct unauthorized experiments (think of a teenage Steve…
The Transporter Refueled is more like “Transporter Rebooted,” as this is at least the fourth franchise update of the year (following “Mad Max: Fury Road” “Fantastic Four” and “Hit Man: Agent 47”). In this re-working of French producer Luc Besson’s action series, the main star is the automobile, an Audi (just like all of those…
Films inspired by video games usually fall into two categories: Bad (“Doom,” “Super Mario Bros.,” “Tomb Raider”) or terrible: (“Mortal Kombat,” “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li,” “Max Payne”). Hitman: Agent 47 (a remake of the 2007 picture starring Timothy Olyphant) neatly fits into that last category. There are many reasons for this, including poor…
For the sake of full disclosure, I will say right now that I am no fan of “Gangsta Rap.” I am not an advocate of an art form that glorifies and promotes violence, profanity and the degradation of women, no matter how many of those things are an everyday part of the rappers’ lives. Using…
