The Movie Guy

Grounded in goofiness without being grating, “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” knows exactly what it’s supposed to be- a 98-minute dopey diversion that amuses with its idiocy. By throwing enough improvised one-liners at the wall to ensure that something eventually sticks and by never allowing itself to be too crude or its characters to be too deep as to be construed as real, it rolls across you like a buffoonish breeze. In short, “Mike and Dave” succeeds with its stupidity; its likeable cast makes you remember the best part about summer vacations: thinking’s optional. Continue reading →

“Central Intelligence” is a movie lacking just that; it’s idiotically implausible and ultimately unoriginal, copying scenes directly from one of the best film comedies ever made.

I won’t beleaguer too much of what passes for “C.I’s” inept and lazy script. Suffice it to say, I walked out of this movie during the blooper reel before the end credits: yes, you heard me right- the blooper reel. For those who’ve experienced the horror, the blooper reel’s the death knell for any comedy that has tried to force laughs down your throat for two hours and then decides to cram whatever it has left in a last ditch effort to make you like it. It doesn’t work. Continue reading →

Despite the red flag warnings of being a horror-movie sequel or the tagline “based on a true story” attached to it, don’t be fooled: “The Conjuring 2” serves up another well-crafted spook story culled from the real-life casework of married ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren that continues to elevate this burgeoning franchise through James Wan’s expert direction and Patrick Wilson (“Insidious,” “Little Children”) and Vera Farmiga’s (“The Departed,” “Up In The Air”) strong performances as the Warrens. Continue reading →

The fun of a movie like “The Nice Guys” is watching the lead actors have fun. Writer/director Shane Black uses the conventional bird-in-the-hand of the L.A. detective story and gets his worth with his two birds- crow and gosling- in the proverbial twisted, tangled bush of an unraveling mystery. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling have such good chemistry together that, watching them strut to the film’s ‘70’s vibe, their fun is as contagious as the avian flu. Continue reading →

“Eye in the Sky” is an effective and efficient thriller: effective in balancing the actions of people involved in a covert military operation through the short span of a few hours; efficient in using its limited time to ratchet up the tension without wasting any of yours.

While concerned with time, “Eye’s” timely. Given our technological capabilities, we can now obliterate our enemies with drone aircraft hovering in the sky: just a trigger-pull and the drone can unleash Hellfire (the drone’s named missile in the movie) and voila, punk becomes powder. However, there are a lot of political and legal hoops to jump through before getting the clearance to kill. Morals factor into the decisions as well- just because you can, does that mean you should? “Eye” knows how to bring up these salient points without bogging down the drama with debate between “talking heads,” and that’s where the film’s at its most impressive. Continue reading →

To its credit, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” sets up a good scenario for the two legendary superheroes to clash capes. However, the movie is such a dark, brooding overblown and overwrought opus that you’ll wish the dawn came just a little bit sooner.

Given Marvel comics success with “The Avengers,” it’s easy to see why DC comics would want to capitalize on that success with their own arsenal of heroes- “B v S” is the gateway to that end, where the Justice League is established (bringing Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash et al into the fold). But as a stepping stone, “B v S” is a slippery stone at best. While there are genuine glimpses of catharsis within the characters of both Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill), director Zach Snyder is primed solely for action, and not one to let action slip into the carefully-crafted choreography of a skilled fight scene- no, Snyder fills “B v S” with such an inordinate amount of callous cartoon violence and mayhem full of projectile exploding dust-filled debris that his aim may be only to please himself (if his films “Sucker Punch,” “Watchmen,” or “Man of Steel” are any indication). Continue reading →

Robert Eggers won the directing award at last year’s Sundance film festival for his first feature “The Witch,” subtitled “a New England folktale,” and it certainly succeeds in being one of those classic spook stories you’d hear around a campfire. Of course, by faithfully capturing the atmosphere of the 17^th Century and using Old English dialogue, the spell Eggers casts on you may be more akin to the Sandman if you were someone who felt sluggish trying to decipher Shakespeare plays in English class- “The Witch” comes off as a very dry art film. However, its classic horror structure will win you over- much like a Shakespeare play, you gain an appreciation for “The Witch’s” symbolically scary story long after it’s over. Continue reading →

With two weeks left until the Oscars are presented on Feb. 28^th, I like to focus on the films and performances that I found the most memorable. In keeping with the tradition of the late Siskel & Ebert’s “If we picked the Oscars,” here are my standouts for 2015 using the nominees in the main Academy Award categories. While others may try to second-guess Oscar politics with who ‘should win’ or ‘will win,’ I like to keep it simple. In case you missed any of them, these are the films and performances that I’ll remember most- simply put, these are the ones:   Continue reading →

At its core, “The Revenant” is a throwback to those gritty revenge-fueled westerns that I’ve always loved: the protagonist sifting through the savage elements of the wilderness to exact frontier justice. Along the way, harsh weather, scarce food resources, and wild animals seem like child’s play against the real danger lurking out in the wild- man himself.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Hugh Glass, a guide to a group of fur-trappers collecting pelts for profit. After an invading horde of Pawnee Indians attack the group with an arsenal of arrows, the remaining small band of trappers flee by boat but are advised by Glass to abandon the water and retreat to their base by land to throw off the Pawnee. Glass knows the tracking ability and ways of Indians well, as evidenced by his half-breed son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) who stays at his father’s side. This doesn’t sit well with one of the trappers, Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) – not only doesn’t he agree with Glass’ plan, he has a true hatred for Indians after surviving an attempted scalping. Just seeing Hawk reminds Fitzgerald that Glass is not to be trusted. Continue reading →

If you’re lucky enough to live around one of the 100 theaters showing the limited-run 70mm print of Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight,” don’t miss it. It’s something that hasn’t been done in over 50 years; an extended version of a film before its wider theatrical release in a presentation that’s the best kind of Christmas present for a die-hard moviegoer.

Without boring you in explaining the technological benefits of 70mm film with the added visual and sound elements we’re accustomed to missing in our evolving digital age (sharper detail, wider framing, additional audio tracks), watching this exclusive engagement of “Eight” subconsciously reminded me of what I’ve also missed- going to a movie theater and feeling like I was actually attending a theatre: no preamble of previews, just an OVERTURE red-and-black frame of a stagecoach in front of mountains playing Ennio Morricone’s musical score to announce the start of the picture; after about 90 minutes and “Eight’s” first outburst of violence, a neat segue into a 15-minute INTERMISSION concluding with Morricone’s music signaling people back to their seats for the second-half of the movie. While cost-cutting measures and outdated equipment seemingly had this formatted-style of exhibition lost forever, Tarantino and the Weinstein Co. have lovingly recreated it to make this a truly special event. Of course, all of this praise would be irrelevant if “The Hateful Eight” wasn’t a good movie. For Tarantino fans, it doesn’t disappoint. In this special 70mm presentation, the experience makes “Eight” great. Continue reading →