When I was young, “Poltergeist” scared me enough that I used to put a towel over my TV before I went to sleep. Obviously, this was a silly childhood fear, and I eventually outgrew the worry that my death would come at the hands of a spirit that emerged from my television. However, as I…
All of its potential and promise is thwarted by an incessant reliance on cliché. What’s left is a story that has nothing intriguing or ingenious to offer and so feels underwhelming from start to finish.
Matthew McConaughey (“Interstellar”) stars in Gold, a dreary rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches-to-rags tale directed by Stephen Gaghan (“Syriana”) that, while the Academy Award-winning actor (for “Dallas Buyers Club”) gives a passionate, above average performance (along with a perky Bryce Dallas Howard, “Pete’s Dragon”) in, the narrative of a 1980s mining company striking it rich is often muddled and…
Years ago, I remember going to my local run-down McDonalds and while impatiently waiting for my greasy order to arrive, my restless eyes laid upon a bronze rectangular plaque of a middle-aged man named Ray Kroc. I wondered, “Who is this dude?” As I read the brief epitaph on the plaque, I learned he was…
One’s enjoyment (or better yet, interest) in Legend, as written and directed by Brian Helgeland (an Academy Award winner for “L.A. Confidential” and a Razzie winner for “The Postman”), will most likely hinge on one’s ability to understand the deep Cockney accent everyone speaks here (even a universal translator would not help with much of…
Words cannot express how incredibly overwrought, insipid, hyperactive and foolishly exaggerated the third entry into the action-packed “xXx” film franchise is in the nonsensical and numbing operative spectacle, xXx: Return of Xander Cage. Monosyllabic muscle-bound action star Vin Diesel revisits the rollicking and roguish skin of athletic spy/sports enthusiast Xander Cage in yet another splashy…
The signs for Live by Night are promising. Ben Affleck’s previous directorial offerings — “Gone Baby Gone,” “The Town,” “Argo” — showed ever increasing confidence and skill. The period gangster sub-genre has delivered such classics as “The Godfather,” “The Godfather: Part II” and “Once Upon a Time in America.” The source material, Dennis Lehane’s epic,…
