Category: 2016

REVIEW: ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ Highlighted By Acting, Claustrophobic Atmosphere

Since it’s right in the title, I’ll address the elephant in the room first. For those thinking this might be a sequel to the 2008 giant monster movie “Cloverfield,” you’re out of luck. The J.J. Abrams produced “10 Cloverfield Lane” has nothing to do with the creature that attacked New York City and does not serve as a sequel.

Instead, this film acts as a sort of anthology successor, maintaining the same mysterious tone of other Abrams’ pictures while still being its own film.

The movie starts off with a quick introduction of the protagonist, Michelle, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who has decided to leave her fiance. On the way out of town, though, she is caught in a car accident on the highway.

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REVIEW: ‘London Has Fallen’ Doesn’t Live Up To Olympus

“Olympus Has Fallen,” released in 2013, was actually an enjoyable action flick. Of course it was an obvious take on the “Die Hard” idea of one man being in a building against a whole group of baddies, but it was still a fun time at the theater.

The action was intense with a solid R rating and the “Die Hard” set up of being trapped in a single location always makes for suspense. Another strength the movie had going for it was the use of a cast that included Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo and Angela Bassett, similar in a way to “Air Force One.”

Unfortunately, because of the first film’s box office performance, a sequel had to get made, and this time things didn’t come together very well.

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REVIEW: Disney’s Win Streak Continues With The Fantastic ‘Zootopia’

Since John Lasseter took over Walt Disney Animation Studio, the company has continuously put out good material. “The Princess and the Frog,” “Tangled” and “Wreck it Ralph” were all well crafted features and “Frozen” and “Big Hero 6” were downright great. I’m very happy to report that “Zootopia” may be a film that tops them all.

In the movie, Zootopia is actually a major metropolis populated by all sorts of mammals. The film follows Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a bunny who becomes the first of her kind to join the Zootopia Police Department but is immediately given parking meter duty. She gets a big break, though, when she manages to work her way onto a missing persons case.

In doing so, she teams up with a Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a cynical con-artist who has a few clues as to what happened.

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REVIEW: Triple 9 Squanders Talented Cast With Disastrous Story

The cast of “Triple 9” includes Oscar winner Kate Winslet, Academy Award nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck and Woodey Harrelson, Golden Globe Nominee Aaron Paul and Independent Spirit Award nominee Anthony Mackie.

Simply put, this film was loaded with talent, and unfortunately it squanders it. The film follows a group of criminals who also happen to be corrupt police officers in Atlanta. The gang, which includes Michael (Ejiofor) and Marcus (Mackie) seem like they want to get out of the lifestyle they’ve fallen into, yet because they’re on the hook for the Russian mafia, led by Irina Vlaslov (Winslet), they’re forced into more heists.

Meanwhile Detective Jeffrey Allen (Harrelson) is investigating the recent heists and trying to solve who on the police force may be crooked.

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REVIEW: While Not Perfect, ‘Eddie The Eagle’ Still Pulls Off The Landing

“Eddie the Eagle” is the latest film that captures the Olympics and the second one that tells an underdog story at the 1988 games, with the other being “Cool Running.”

The film’s first half hour follows the titular character, Eddie Edwards (Taron Egerton), through childhood. Edwards is completely obsessed with going to the Olympics and much of his youth is spent trying out a selection of different sports, with them all ending in failure.

That is until he comes across skiing, which he is actually pretty good at. Unfortunately, the British Olympic officials decide to not take Edwards with to the 88 games in Calgary, which spurs the protagonist to find another route to the event. His solution is ski jumping and he finds help in a washed up, former champion named Bronson Peary (played by Hugh Jackman).

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REVIEW: ‘Gods Of Egypt’ Is 2016’s First Disaster At The Cinema

I’m not sure where it all went wrong, but the career of Director Alex Proyas has crashed. It’s really a shame, because in 1994 Proyas directed one of my favorites “The Crow” and 10 years later helmed a solid sci-fi film in “I, Robot.”

But then in 2009, Proyas directed the mess that was “Knowing” and just last week, his latest film “Gods of Egypt” hit the screens and it was a train wreck.

“Gods of Egypt” follows, as you may have guessed, Gods who live in Egypt. More specifically, it’s about the king of Egypt, Osiris (Bryan Brown), who is about to pass the crown to his son, Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). The ceremony is interrupted, though, when Osiris’ brother Set (Butler) shows up. Set, who was banished, kills Osiris out of jealousy and takes the crown for himself. In the process, Set steals the eyes of Horus to take his power away.

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REVIEW ‘Race’ Is An Inspiring Experience Despite Unnecessary Subplots

“Race” tells the story of Olympic legend Jesse Owens, the Ohio State University track star who went to the 1936 games in Berlin just before the start of World War II. The film begins as Owens (Stephan James) starts college and meets his coach, Larry Snyder, played by Jason Sudeikis.

Snyder immediately sees Owens’ talent and the movie follows the two as they prepare for the eventual Olympic Games.

Owens’ story is certainly impressive given the circumstances of the country (and the world for that matter) at that point in history. As its title implies, “Race” certainly does take on these issues with racial matters at the forefront, which makes for a compelling picture whenever these themes are played out.

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REVIEW: ‘Deadpool’ Is Good Fun Despite A Standard Story

The fans wanted the real Deadpool and Ryan Reynolds gave them the real Deadpool.

This latest film from Marvel comic book lore follows the story of Wade Wilson, (Reynolds) a former special forces member who gets by doing odd (usually a bit dangerous) jobs for people.

His life style begins to change, though, when he meets a woman named Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and the two hit it off right away. Life doesn’t allow Wilson to enjoy his surroundings very much, though, as he is soon diagnosed with terminal cancer.

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REVIEW: Coens’ ‘Hail Caesar’ Is A Fun Love Letter To Old Hollywood

George Clooney plays Baird Whitlock in “Hail, Caesar!,” the latest dramedy from writers/directors The Coen Brothers. Whitlock is a star Hollywood actor and is working on the set of a 1950s Hollywood mega production for the studio Capitol Pictures. After shooting one of the scenes for the picture, though, Whitlock is drugged and kidnapped.

That’s where the real star of the film enters, Eddie Mannix, played by Josh Brolin. Mannix is the head of production at Capitol and manages everything that goes on, whether it be angry directors or the social life of the contracted actors. Mannix is seemingly everywhere and if he didn’t seem overworked before, the kidnapping puts him over the top.

As most Coen Bros. movies go, “Hail Caesar!” doesn’t play by the conventional rules and they have once again made a rather oddball comedy. While this does provide for some solid laughs, especially directed toward the industry, it does make the movie a bit too disjointed in how it handles the main conflict.

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REVIEW: ‘The Finest Hours’ Is Worth A Watch Thanks To The Thrills

“The Finest Hours” takes audiences back to the days of the 1950s and follows the story of U.S. Coast Guard Officer Bernie Webber (played by Chris Pine) who is stationed on the coast of Massachusetts. The film’s main conflict comes when an oil tanker gets torn in half by a monster blizzard in the Atlantic Ocean resulting in Webber and a Coast Guard crew having to make a daring rescue.

Meanwhile, aboard the remaining section of the tanker, Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) is part of the crew that has to keep the ship afloat until help arrives.

The rescue-centric film is based on the true story of the actual Coast Guard mission and the flick certainly does capture a lot of intensity by portraying the grand moments of the epic tale. When the SS Pendleton is torn apart, the film breathtakingly displays the gravity of the situation.

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