There’s not much more frustrating than a film that comes so close to being thought-provoking and perceptive, but chooses instead to focus on apathetic plights and easy solutions. The Monuments Men embodies this all too well, dangling fascinating questions just out of reach, all the while cycling through a series of genre tropes from rousing…
Part good. Part bad. All modern. RoboCop, everyone’s favorite cinematic cyborg do-gooder, returns to the big screen after a 21-year absence, now in a shiny, sanitized package that smartly brings the character into our post-9/11 reality only to malfunction halfway through by blandly defanging the franchise’s satirical bite. The opening chunk of José Padilha’s 2014…
I’m a horror fan who teaches high school English, so a side effect of those combined characteristics is my knowledge of young adult (YA) fiction, and usually the darker stuff at that. I’ve read all of the Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games books like most people, and I’ve come away with mixed reactions (typically,…
The weathered feudal Japanese tale of ronin seeking revenge for their fallen lord, one would think, lends itself nicely to the themes of fantasy. Samurai, their unwavering courage and swordsmanship intertwined with magical elements and mystical creatures represents a marriage made in heaven. Unfortunately, in director Carl Rinsch’s 47 Ronin, this marriage does little justice…
While not every Terry Gilliam film has been good, he’s never been one to shy away from putting imaginative ideas onto the screen (“Twelve Monkeys,” “Time Bandits,” “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”). Nor has he had any trouble getting A-list actors to participate in his endeavors. The Zero Theorem continues along this path as two-time…
If Mary Shelley were alive today she would cry at the sight of I, Frankenstein, the latest movie that wrongly tries to make an action hero of a classic universal monster. Thankfully, though, she is dead, so turning over in her grave is the most we can expect to see from her. Adapted from a…
It’s been 12 years since Jack Ryan has been on the big screen. Since then, Jason Bourne was introduced and conquered and James Bond was rebooted to follow suit. Now, with the Russians plotting to cripple the American economic markets, and Shakespearean director Kenneth Branagh (“Thor”) directing Chris Pine (“Star Trek Into Darkness”) as Tom…
