— by RON WILKINSON — Even in the middle of watching this hugely entertaining Johnny Depp slapstick-a-thon, the viewer may start to wonder whether the great actor’s best days are behind him. The edginess is mostly gone and in its place are double the cleverness and four times the action[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: A Most Violent Year
— by RON WILKINSON — The story is set in New York City in 1981, in what we are told is the most violent year in the city’s history. Before we go any further, it should be noted that J.C. Chandor’s wonderfully transporting story is not a particularly violent one. His previous hit, “[...]
Review: Blackhat
— by RON WILKINSON — Although “Blackhat” is a fun romp into a fantasy world of explicitly bloody, violent international espionage, director Michael Mann (written by Morgan Davis Foehl) has created a work of sound and fury that signifies nothing. The film gets off to a good start with[...]
Review: American Sniper
— by RON WILKINSON — “American Sniper” — Clint Eastwood’s latest directorial effort — is an entertaining combination of war movie and biopic. The book by the subject, Chris Kyle (co-written with Scott McEwen and James Defelice), contains a much better descriptio[...]
Review: Exodus: Gods and Kings
— by RON WILKINSON — The good thing about Ridley Scott’s latest special effects lollapalooza is going into it you know exactly what to expect. The story, rough as it is, is taken from the Bible so there are no spoilers to be had. From the opening battle scenes, where Ramses (Joel Edger[...]
Review: Predestination
— by RON WILKINSON — The Spierig brothers reunite with Ethan Hawke for their first feature in five years and it is a fascinating film. The screenplay is based on the science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein “—All You Zombies—”. Reportedly, the story was written i[...]
Review: Inherent Vice
— by RON WILKINSON — Those who have read any of Thomas Pynchon’s intractable tails must have been amazed that Paul Thomas Anderson would take on the hazardous task of transforming his 2009 novel into a movie. Continuing Pynchon’s ongoing war against the establishment, the “Inhe[...]
Review: The Imitation Game
— by RON WILKINSON — Benedict Cumberbatch pounds out a fantastic performance as one of the greatest nerds of all time, Alan Turing, the inventor of one of the first digital computers. Although the computer itself, built in the legendary Bletchley Park encryption think tank, threatens to [...]
Review: Zero Motivation
— by RON WILKINSON — Talya Larvie’s military dramedy “Zero Motivation” is fresh, untamed and funny. This is amazing, considering it shreds one of the top military organizations in the world. Featuring the women of mandatory conscription, the setting is a desolate Israeli mi[...]
Review: The Homesman
— by RON WILKINSON — The opening scenes of “The Homesman” are as bleak as death itself. Parched plains, patched together clapboard houses, poverty so deep it rises up to greet you at the front door, and wind that never, ever, lets up. Tommy Lee Jones’ second feature film sh[...]
Review: Bad Hair
— by RON WILKINSON — Nine-year-old Junior is on the war path with his mother. What else is new? The ageless story of kid versus parent is told again, this time in the tough streets of the projects in Caracas, Venezuela. His mother, Marta, has lost her job and is in the process of giving [...]
Review: Camp X-Ray
— by RON WILKINSON — Peter Sattler’s directorial debut is as bare and exposed as a prisoner in a cell. A stripped down film about warehousing human beings and waiting for the next step. The next step for the inmate is release, and it may come sooner than the next step for the jaile[...]
Review: Mending the Line
— by BEV QUESTAD — This is the perfect Veteran Day’s film. It is the story of a WWII vet named Frank Moore and his reconciliation with the unspeakable inhumanity he suffered in war interwoven with his passion for a fishing rod, nature and a beautiful wife. Miraculously, there is a save[...]