The Reel World

Here’s the thing. Fans of the franchise should be pleased with the latest entry. The series has been a solid October tradition for some time now. When you consider the low cost of creating one of these films with the proven box office numbers, this was all really a no-brainer, to say the least. You’re going to get more of what you are expecting, and the film throws in enough new angles and tricks to keep the idea as fresh as possible. However, there is a flip-side to all of this. I don’t think it’s very likely that you can enjoy this film quite so fully if you have not seen any of the previous films.
Read More

Whenever the TV spots for Alex Cross promise that the movie features “Tyler Perry as you’ve never seen him before,” I can’t help but snarkily add “…in men’s clothing!” To put it lightly, I had my doubts when I heard the wildly successful actor/producer/director/playwright/crossdresser would be stepping into the title role, previously played on screen by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman. (Especially when Perry replaced the great Idris Elba on this project, though my giant man-crush on Elba possibly clouded my judgment.)
Read More

“Bad things happen to good people, and they deserve to have their stories told.”

I have to say that the horror film market has disappointed me of late. With October in full swing, I expect to be exposed to all kinds of horror films, from unknown independent projects to the standard franchise entries that pop up every year around this time. The trouble is that the films I’ve seen at the theaters so far have either been very disappointing or not really horror films at all. Thankfully, Sinister is not disappointing,
Read More

Ever since Ben Affleck stepped behind the camera and took on the role of director, I’ve found myself not only becoming a fan of his work but believing the man has greatness ahead of him.  When I first watched Gone Baby Gone, I was more than a little impressed; after all, it was his first time at the helm.  But then Affleck released his follow-up film, The Town, and it blew me away.  Sure, there were some great movies that came out that year, but the fact that it didn’t make the list of best picture nominees I just can’t understand.  But with the release of Argo it would seem the Academy will have a chance to right that wrong and shower this film with plenty of adoration.  Sure, this is pretty much a shoe-in for the best picture nomination, but not just because it’s great, but really, what is the competition?
Read More

To his credit, Tim Burton has managed to keep the art of stop motion alive and well in Hollywood. He’s also proven that it can still be quite effective and just as commercial with such classics as A Nightmare Before Christmas. Since that time he’s had a modest number of hits and misses but nothing that has come close to the holiday staple…until now. Frankenweenie is destined to become a Halloween tradition at our house, and I suspect I’m not alone.
Read More

“Ever since you were born I wanted to protect my little ghoul. So I created a place where all monsters could be safe from them.”

I love monsters. Both old and new, I’ve been in love with monsters for as long as I can remember. There were the Friday night Creature Features with Dr. Shock. My Dad and I would watch the old Universal classics, and while I didn’t know it then, I was getting my first lessons in cinema. I was being groomed to become the film lover I am today. I still love monsters even when they’re making us laugh (preferably on purpose).
Read More

Pitch Perfect is the best big-screen a cappella comedy I’ve ever seen. Of course, the new film pretty much wins that title by default because the hyper-competitive world of collegiate a cappella has been largely ignored by the movies. To make up for that oversight, Pitch Perfect tries to cram all aca-related matters into one movie. The result is a slightly flabby 112-minute running time. Fortunately(?), I’ve been to enough a cappella competitions to appreciate the fact that the movie gets a lot of things right. (Including the annoying habit aca-people have of sticking “aca” in front of everything.)
Read More

“Time travel has not been invented.  But thirty years from now, it will have been.”

What I like most about writer and director Rian Johnson is his ability to tackle a genre that has been recycled and done to death and deliver a film that is fresh and unique.  His first film Brick reimagined film noir and his second feature outing The Brothers Bloom gave us a heist film that was smart, sweet and classy.  In his third feature outing he is setting out to deliver his most ambitious film but also his most accessible film.
Read More

“You’ve broken the law and I am here to arrest you. I am fate with a badge and a gun protecting the prey from the predators, the good from the bad. We are the police.”

David Ayer is no stranger to police dramas. You might say it’s his favorite cinematic subject. Just look at his list of screenplays which include the likes of S.W.A.T. and Training Day and a director resume that includes Harsh Times. He’s not afraid to delve into the darker nature of the police. He’s at it again with End Of Watch which he both wrote and directed.
Read More

I’m a Minnesota Vikings football fan. Yes, I accept the condolences. However, I didn’t say that to get sympathy, and I’m not yet in need of the services of the suicide hotline. After two games, I will keep the number on speed dial, just in case. A thousand years ago we had a star player who made the by now infamous statement that he plays when he wants to play. For a young athlete with an already troubled past, it didn’t go over too well. But, over the last decade or so Clint Eastwood appears to be in that same mindset. He acts when he wants to. He’s only appeared in three films in the last ten years. The difference is that Clint has earned the right to be picky
Read More

If it were possible to buy stock in any Under-25 actress today, I’d pick Jennifer Lawrence first, Emma Stone would be a close second, and Kristen Stewart would be last. Lawrence has a pair of blockbuster movie franchises in her back pocket (The Hunger Games, X-Men), is a past Oscar nominee and is generating buzz for the upcoming Silver Linings Playbook. So if a studio were to have a Jennifer Lawrence film on its bench, September 2012 would probably look like some prime real estate.
Read More

I know what you’re thinking, and I was also incredibly disappointed to learn this film was not a biopic of Xena: Warrior Princess actress Lucy Lawless. (This hypothetical film would obviously star the ageless Kiwi because the actress still looks incredible.) Fortunately, Lawless makes up for its startling lack of Lawless by being one of the better films I’ve seen this year.
Read More

For the most part writer/director David Koepp has seen only moderate success when in the director’s chair with the films Stir of Echoes and Secret Window.  I mention this simply because he is one of the most prolific writers of our time, and most movie goers have no idea who he is or even what a screenwriter actually does.  A quick glance at his writing resume some titles that jump out are Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, Panic Room and Spider-man.  Koepp is pretty much your go to guy when a blockbuster film is in need of a writer. 
Read More

It did not surprise me at all to hear Dax Shepard admit in a recent interview that he loved Smokey And The Bandit. While there have been plenty of bad imitations, including a couple of misguided sequels, no one has really captured that special something that made Smokey And The Bandit comic gold. Now that’s not to say that Hit And Run is a rip-off of Smokey And The Bandit. They are actually very different films. But there is an obvious homage element throughout that can’t be ignored. The truth is, if you liked one, you’re probably going to enjoy the other.
Read More

“Meet Norman. His parents don’t get him. His sister doesn’t like him. And the kids at school always pick on him. But he does have some friends. It’s just that most of them aren’t exactly alive.”

The magic of stop-motion animation has been with us since pretty much filmmaking began. From the great master work of Willis O’Brien to the icon Ray Harryhausen, the process has brought some of the most imaginative films in history to life.
Read More

“War has rules, mud wrestling has rules – politics has no rules” – Ross Perot

When a political comedy starts out with a Ross Perot quote, you might start asking yourself if the comedy can be anywhere near as funny as the real thing. Of course, politics isn’t very funny these days. You’d have to go back the 19th century to find a time when America was more divided or when the stakes were this serious. And we sure don’t have Ross Perot to laugh at anymore.
Read More

Going into this film, I considered the Bourne movies to be an extremely rare breed among film franchises: each sequel was better than the movie it followed. The fantastic Bourne Ultimatum even wrapped up the Matt Damon trilogy with an ending that dovetailed perfectly with the first shot of the series. So when I heard they wanted to make another Bourne film (uh-oh) without director Paul Greengrass (uh-oh!) or star Matt Damon (UH-OH!!!), I was, to put it mildly, skeptical. After all, how can you make a Bourne movie without Jason Bourne?
Read More

“This is going to be hard for you to believe. Whatever you think you remember, it’s not real. This person you think you are now, it’s all a lie.”

Philip Dick’s original stories We Can Remember It For You Wholesale and Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep made the pulp-age science fiction writer a household name in the 1980’s. The later title became Ridley Scott’s breakout cult classic Bladerunner, while the former title became the troubled Total Recall. I say troubled because the film went through 40 actual script rewrites, three lead actors, and several directors before it finally made it to the big screen in 1990
Read More

With August just around the corner and the summer movie season coming to a close, this is usually the time when studios dump off the rest of their bigger-budget films before they head into the fall and begin prepping for the award season.  Occasionally we’ve been given a few gems, but for the most part there is nothing really to get too excited over.  It’s also not to favorable when a movie attempts to be released the week following an enormous blockbuster like Dark Knight Rises, but it seems The Watch has stepped up to see what monetary crumbs it can muster up from the moviegoers this weekend.
Read More

“You think this can last? There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you’re all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.”

In the spirit of full disclosure, let me state that my favorite comic book hero is Batman. As a child, even before the Sixties TV show premiered, I loved the tale of Batman. It is a story of a child who overcomes the fear and destruction of his childhood and becomes stronger because of it.
Read More

“I love a terrible turn of events.”

Ever wonder how the continents formed and the land masses on planet earth got their present shapes? The short answer appears to be nuts. Literally, nuts. For a decade our children have been getting their geologic time lessons from the folks at Dreamworks animated feature shop. Yes, the same folks who brought us the Shrek series. Ice Age came out in 2002 and took the box office like a blizzard piling up a drift of cash that amounted to almost $180 million before it was over.
Read More

“There’s rumor of a new species in New York.”

It would be easy to say that The Amazing Spider-Man is a remake of the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man film. It certainly looks that way. After just a single decade Sony Pictures has decided to go back to the origins of the popular comic character and pretty much start over. This film takes us back to the proverbial origin story. Once again we get to see young Peter Parker, this time played by Andrew Garfield, get bitten by that nasty spider and find himself with wonderful powers, and of, course great responsibilities.
Read More

What if your favorite childhood toy were to not only come to life but also be your best friend for life?  This is the scenario writer/director Seth Macfarlane (creator of Family Guy and American Dad) set out to explore in his first live action venture behind the lens in this summer’s comedy Ted.  With the freedom of an R rating I was curious to see what Macfarlane would bring us and what I came away with was something of a surprise.
Read More

“The ancients spoke of it. It is the heart of this fierce land. It is carried in the wind. Born of our legends, and when we are put to the test, it is the one thing that we must always be.”

Readers of this site already know that I have a particular fondness for most of the films that have come from Pixar. The studio pretty much invented the computer-animated feature film, and they’ve been setting the bar higher with each new release. I’ve always thought it was rather fitting that the studio ended up as part of Disney. After all, it was the Mouse House that invented the animated feature to begin with.
Read More